Sk8er Queen Supernova: Avril Lavigne Rocks Sold-Out Sheds, Fests & Arenas

The pop-punk/emo fan has been, and continues to be, meme gold. There are endless social media posts poking fun at the fashion, haircuts, makeup and rebellious lifestyle captioned with that overused but popular expression, “It’s not a phase!” The stigma associated with the culture is so prevalent that there are even episodes of Mexican telenovelas about parents grappling with the fact that their kids were (as they pronounced it) “eh-moh.”

All one really has to do, though, to see the huge cultural influence and staying power of pop-punk and emo, is look at the genre’s massive box office tallies. Acts like blink-182 ($2 million average gross in the last 36 months, according to Pollstar Boxoffice Reports), The “Hella Mega Tour” with Green Day, My Chemical Romance, and Weezer (regularly cleared over $4 million per stadium) and Paramore (well over a million per show for the last 36 months) have all found continued success with their angsty, melodic rock anthems. And there’s the popularity of festivals like When We Were Young and Cruel World as well as fest headlining slots further demonstrating the oeuvre’s powerful and continued influence.

Then there’s Avril Lavigne, the sk8er queen supernova who was rockin’ up MTV two decades ago and who became the poster child for the pop-punk and emo movement of the early 2000s. With seven acclaimed albums, eight Grammy nominations and continued touring, Lavigne has paved a way for others and accrued fans, no matter the resurgence.

“I’ve watched how pop-punk and emo music have ebbed and flowed over the years, but I agree with those who say it never really went away,” Lavigne tells Pollstar. “This style of music has always had such a dedicated fanbase that has kept it alive, and it is so amazing to have this new generation discovering it.”

And the genres — though different, pop-punk and emo often overlap and influence each other — may garner new fans with Lavigne’s Greatest Hits album (Legacy Recordings) dropping June 21. Just take a gander at the 20 solid gold tracks featured on Lavigne’s Greatest Hits, you’d be hard-pressed not to use words like illustrious and iconic to describe her output throughout her 22-year career.  And her ambitious 28-date trek, which includes a mix of arenas and amphitheaters supporting the release, is taking her career to new peaks.

She kicked off the Live Nation-promoted tour – which features All Time Low, Simple Plan and Royal & The Serpent supporting on select dates – with a sold-out show at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada, on May 22 and later performed at the iconic Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, in front of another sellout crowd. The Canadian-born singer is taking a break from North American venues to perform at European festivals and headline two United Kingdom shows but will return Aug. 14 for the second North American leg, which will be at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Canada.

“Not to call it nostalgia, but there’s definitely an energy in the air and in the marketplace where these tours really are in high demand,” says Steve Ackles, Live Nation’s global tour promoter who worked on Lavigne’s tour. “This was one that went on sale and basically sold out immediately. … As a true fan myself, that’s what’s been exciting about working on Avril and blink-182 and a lot of bands in that genre. I grew up on this music. So, to have 20,000 tickets sold in an amphitheater with this artist is super exciting,”

Such a feat from an artist who became a punk fashion icon with her white tank top, necktie, baggy pants and skater shoes shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone watching how well these acts have fared across the globe the past few years, especially in the festival circuit. Lavigne’s “Love Sux Tour” last year included two sold-out shows at Alexandra Palace in London, England, that grossed nearly a million dollars, according to Pollstar’s Boxoffice.

“Avril is a star and has all the qualities of a multigenerational superstar,” says Creative Artists Agency Agent Andrew Simon, who has worked with Lavigne alongside CAA Co-Head of Music, Nashville, Brian Manning. “She has an amazing catalog, iconic fashion, songs that are current and an endless creative drive. People are drawn to that passion, creativity and confidence, and so are her peers in the creative community.”

Before bursting onto the scene in 2002 and making the pop-punk aesthetic mainstream by cracking MTV’s “Total Request Live” with her debut single (and currently her most popular hit on Spotify with nearly 850 million streams) “Complicated,” Lavigne grew up listening to a completely different genre. She often visited country fairs and her church to perform covers of The Chicks, Faith Hill and Deana Carter. Lavigne got the opportunity of a lifetime at the age of 14 when she won a radio station contest that allowed her to join Shania Twain, one of her heroes, on stage for a performance in front of 20,000.

Despite building herself as the punk rock princess, Lavigne has revisited her country roots as well as her Twain fandom by performing a tribute to her compatriot at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2022.

“That upbringing is who she is and part of her DNA,” says Nano Tissera, a senior vice president at The Familie entertainment company and Lavigne’s manager. “What’s really cool about it is as she started taking trips to Nashville and got to meet songwriters, producers and artists, she belonged in this mutual admiration society. The top folks in the game between the ages of 25-45 all grew up on Avril. And what’s cool is that when she talks to them, she connects with them, too.”

But in high school, Lavigne quickly connected to a different scene, one that spoke to her rebellious 15-year-old spirit. Bands like NOFX, Green Day, blink-182 and Nirvana quickly ascended to her musical pantheon, and the catchy, snotty music from the punk acts she grew to love shaped her personal and musical identity as well as her attitude.

She introduced herself to the world in 2002 with Let Go, and her first two singles, “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi,” propelled her to superstardom and placed a woman at the forefront of a male-dominated genre. The album sold more than 16 million copies worldwide, and millions of teens who identified with skate and punk culture finally felt seen and heard with her music and style.

“I think this genre resonates with the younger audience because of the themes of rebellion, individuality, and not taking the world for as it is,” says Lavigne, who has garnered more than 22 million monthly listeners on Spotify. “These themes are ultimately timeless because I think that is how people originally resonated with my music. Overall, I love seeing the scene thrive and seeing newer artists take it and make it their own.”

Lavigne went on to release six more albums, with each showcasing an evolved and refined singer-songwriter who managed to maintain her edge with a catalog that also includes pop songs about love and heartache.

“How do you become a rock star? You just start going down a path you really believe in musically, and you’re not really worried about achieving certain things,” Ackles says. “You’re just being authentic to what you want to do. That’s where I think you have long-term careers and touring careers.”

Avril’s eminently relatable vulnerability, authenticity and punk chic style deeply connected with a legion of fans and cemented her legacy as an icon in a genre that has ebbed and flowed for decades. She collaborated and battled with record labels and producers to develop the sound she always envisioned, one that had a major impact on a new generation of artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Phoebe Bridgers and even Rico Nasty.

“Knowing I have influenced a movement and so many artists is surreal and an incredible legacy,” Lavigne says. “When I started, I just wanted to make the music I wanted to make and wear what I wanted to wear. And then I would go to shows and people would be dressed like me, which was mind-blowing. I was just being authentic to myself and that resonated with an audience, and it continues to do so. I am really proud of my creative legacy, whether it is through my music, my fashion or my general attitude, and I am excited to continue to evolve as a creative and experiment with new things while always keeping that original authenticity that I started with.”

That authenticity is what her team wanted to tap into with the Canadian star’s “Greatest Hits Tour.” CAA’s Simon says the trek came at an opportune time because of several reasons: Lavigne found new followers two years removed from the 20th anniversary of her debut album; artists like Rodrigo professing their love for the rock singer; acts from the 2000s moving tickets at venues of all sizes, including stadiums; festival headlining opportunities as well as ones like When We Were Young Festival, emblematic of the resurgence of the pop-punk and emo music scene and proof that the genres never really went anywhere.

Tissera, her manager, says that success has afforded Lavigne to “level up” her show and take risks she hadn’t before.

“Technology has changed so much since she headlined a tour of this size, and so upping the quality of the content, we have to make sure it complements the performance. You’re not just using [a video] on the loop, making sure there is a happy marriage between lighting and video and the songs in her catalog themselves. We’re here to give a show and find great ways to accent those big moments with different production elements.”

Similar to how Taylor Swift approached her “Eras Tour,” Lavigne wanted her trek to celebrate her entire discography and show her evolution as a singer and songwriter across her seven albums without sacrificing the power and energy associated with pop-punk acts.

“We went through so many iterations of the setlist before hitting the one, and it really was important to me to keep the energy up the whole time,” Lavigne says. “I wanted every moment to be memorable. We put a lot of thought into production as well. This is the Greatest Hits, so I wanted to have things I have never done before like props moving on and off stage, and I wanted the design, visuals and overall nature of the show to reflect my growth as an artist.”

With hits across two decades, Lavigne has not only noticed her fanbase growing older but also getting younger. She relishes moments like one that happened in Auburn where a young girl was on her dad’s shoulders with a sign that said, “Avril was my mom’s first concert, and now you are my first concert.”

“That made me realize that my music is generational, and I am so excited to keep it going so that someday we have multiple generations all having it be their first show,” says Lavigne.

And it’s safe to assume many of those youngsters are dressed in black with either boots or skate shoes, and possibly wearing eye shadow as well as Lavigne’s signature necktie, a fashion choice that was always out of the ordinary, but then again, when has punk rock ever been ordinary?

“I think lifestyle is a big part of it,” Live Nation’s Ackles says. “When you look at how a lot of these artists came up, there were fashion elements that were also cosigned by them while they were doing the music thing, and when they broke, it was two-part. It goes back to the authentic energy that exists among these artists. It can be seen as a lifestyle as well as a huge pivotal moment in music.”

Punk music and attitude, which has been reproduced and repackaged since the 1970s, is just too cool to ever go out of style, and Lavigne’s music and fashion tapped into something few women have done in rock ’n’ roll.

With sold-out shows and festival appearances as a headliner in Europe, Lavigne is doing her part to keep the pop-punk and emo movement going, proving to children and moms alike that, for this music, “It’s not a phase!”