Articles & Interviews MTV Interview: She's Punk Princess It's tough being the new kid in school. As soon as you arrive, all eyes are on you, scrutinizing your look, your dress and your haircut. Everything you've ever been up to this point is inappropriate — the new crowd has already formed strong opinions based on this first impression. As the newest addition to the MTV News team, I know the atmosphere. So must Avril. Since emerging on the pop scene, this brash 17-year-old has given off a first impression that split her audience into two factions: those who view her as a strong-willed wild child and those who think she's a poser and a major-label product. "She's not just some chick who follows the whole pop scene and preppy thing," one fan wrote to our You Tell Us forum. "She sticks to her own image of herself and doesn't wear a lot of slutty clothes, unlike some of her peers," opined another. More Interview: No Looking Back It's not surprising that Avril Lavigne, at just over five feet and barely on the healthy side of 100 pounds, can almost fit into her luggage. What's remarkable is that the large black suitcase she clumsily hoists onto her bed carries all the clothes a 19-year-old girl will wear for the next six weeks. "I'm not dissing them or anything, but people like Britney Spears and Beyoncé have wardrobe people," she explains as she begins to unpack. "I have a suitcase. More Adult, But Still Herself A female singer in her teens emerges seemingly overnight with a multiplatinum smash, winning millions of fans and launching scores of imitators. A couple of years pass and, poised on the brink of adulthood, she must release a new album that proves her initial success was no fluke and shows signs of personal and creative growth. A few years back, the young woman in that position was Britney Spears. But a different kind of artist will face the pressure Tuesday, when Avril Lavigne's... More Avril Lavigne's Dark Side Despite more than ten years difference in age, fellow Canadians Chantal Kreviazuk and Avril Lavigne formed a relationship of mutual respect and sisterhood -- and become songwriting partners -- after they met last summer. "We became really good friends, and no one knew we were writing together," says Lavigne. "Every single night for two weeks, we would write a new song. And then I was like, 'OK, I'm ready to record them.'" More Try To Shut Her Up Avril Lavigne’s success is nothing short of phenomenal. With a multi-platinum record that stayed on the No. 1 spot around the world for weeks, various award nominations, including five Grammy nods, and a list of achievements within the past six months that runs a mile long, it’s an undisputed fact that she is the hottest thing right now since the bust up of the teen pop explosion. And the awful truth? Avril Lavigne doesn’t like doing press. More Avril Lavigne: Complicated Princess With the release of her smash debut, things are getting complicated for 17-year-old Avril Lavigne. Seventeen-year-old singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne is holed up in Vancouver, British Columbia, rehearsing a new band for her first-ever promotional tour, where she'll be playing for radio stations and appearing on TV shows. Lavigne can't remember when the tour begins, exactly ("Um, it's next week, but I'm not stressed. I'm a laid-back person."), but with the release of her debut, Let Go, a few weeks in the offing, she has other things on her mind. Let Go's lead single, "Complicated," is a vivid blast of pop-rock currently tearing up radio station play lists. The track's fire-in-the-belly directness has already earned Lavigne frequent comparisons to fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette. "I get that a lot," Lavigne says. "I don't mind that, because she's awesome." Michelle Branch comparisons are slightly more troubling. "I am going to be compared to her because of our age, we both write our songs, and both play guitar. But we're pretty different. I just really want [folks] to know who I am. Rolling Stone Interview: Avril the Teen-Pop Slayer Britney Spears set the model for teenage girls who top the charts: Flash lots of cleavage, but be devout and polite. Then there's the Avril Lavigne approach, more rock-delinquent than juvenile virgin-whore: "The other night, I got into three fights," says Lavigne. "I was at a club and some girl was giving me attitude. When folks are drinking, they get mouthy. She pushed me, and I got her down on the floor. Security came, and because I was on top, they threw me out." Lavigne's managing has warned her that if she gets arrested and deported from the U.S., it might be mortal to her career, which is off to a quick start with the single "Complicated." Lavigne grew up in Napanee, Ontario, Canada, population 5,000. (The name is French and is pronounced AH-vreel la-VEEN.) Her father worked for the phone company; her mom stayed home. "I had a great time growing up," she relates. All her life, she dreamed of being a star. Not only would she sing in front of the mirror, she'd pretend she was being interviewed. More