- I was just too young or I wasn't even born
to know what this is.
- She was the original e-girl. Look at her.
♪ (punk rock intro) ♪
- (FBE) Today, we're gonna be showing you a musical artist
who started making music all the way back in 2002...
- Oh my goodness. That was literally the year I was born.
- (FBE) ...and is actually still making music today.
- That's pretty long in the music industry.
I think that the shelf life of a pop artist really--
it depends on their ability to stay relevant
and to even be able to adjust with the time.
- ♪ Chill out ♪ ♪ What you yellin' for? ♪
- (gasps) Ohhh! It's Avril Lavigne.
- (gasps) Avril Lavigne! Oh my gosh.
(sings along) ♪ It's all been done before ♪
- Is this Avril Lavigne? All right.
I reacted to-- I think she had some Hello-Kitty-type song
way back in the day. I reacted to that on Kids React.
- (past Troy) This is just like a new K-pop, but it's worse.
- ♪ And if you could only let it be ♪
- (sings along) ♪ You will see ♪ - I was just too young
or I wasn't even born to know what this is.
- ♪ Driving in your car ♪ - I mean, come on. She's the best.
- (mouths along) ♪ One on one ♪ ♪ But you've become ♪
♪ Somebody else ♪ - Iconic! She was iconic.
- ♪ Like you can't relax ♪ ♪ You're trying to be cool ♪
♪ You look like a fool to me ♪ ♪ Tell me ♪
- (sings along) ♪ Why'd you have to go and make things
so complicated? ♪ - ♪ Tell me ♪
- She had such a cool vibe. - ♪ ...so complicated ♪
♪ I see the way you're acting... ♪
- I mean, come on. This is so good still.
- I remember literally wanting to be in the video
when I was a kid. - It kind of sounds like
a Disney... intro, like Hannah Montana.
- ♪ I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else ♪
♪ Gets me frustrated ♪ ♪ Life's like this, you ♪
- I've never seen any of her music videos.
- ♪ You take what you get ♪ - (sings along) ♪ And you turn it
into... ♪ - ♪ Honesty and promise me... ♪
- Okay, girl. - Yes.
- ♪ No, no, no ♪ - I have no idea what that was.
I'm so sorry. (laughs) - If you weren't 12 years old
and listening to this music, thinking about one friend
in particular and sobbing for some reason,
were you even in middle school? Were you even a child?
Did you exist? - ♪ He was a boy ♪
- (sings along) ♪ She was a girl ♪ ♪ Can I make it ♪
I love this. - ♪ He was a boy ♪
- Yes! Thank you, Griffin! Oh my god. My friend
was just singing this last night.
It's Avril Lavigne, right? Yes!
- ♪ Can I make it... ♪ - People still unironically
listen to this. By people, I mean me.
I still unironically listen to "Sk8er Boi".
- (sings along) ♪ What more can I say? ♪
Okay. This is still iconic. - She was the original e-girl.
Look at her. - ♪ He wasn't good enough for her ♪
♪ She had a pretty face ♪ - Everyone knows this song. Iconic.
- ♪ Come back down to earth ♪
- These songs slap. They're simple songs,
but they're so iconic. You play "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi"
at a party or something or when you're with your friends,
and everybody knows all the words.
- ♪ Don't pretend ♪ ♪ I think you know I'm damn precious ♪
- Oh my god. I love this song.
- She almost cussed. Radio is not gonna like that.
- ♪ Precious ♪ - (sings along) ♪ And hell yeah ♪
♪ I'm a mother-- princess ♪
- ♪ I can tell you like me too ♪ ♪ And you know I'm right ♪
- It's weird. There's no music videos like this at all anymore.
- I never knew this was Avril Lavigne.
- ♪ He's like ♪ - (sings along) ♪ So whatever ♪
♪ You can do so much better ♪
- ♪ I think we should get together now ♪
♪ And that's what everyone's talking about ♪
♪ Hey, hey, you, you ♪ - (sings along) ♪ I don't like
your girlfriend ♪ - ♪ No way, no way ♪
- (sings along) ♪ I think you need a new one ♪
- (sings along) ♪ Hey, hey, you, you ♪ ♪ I could be your girlfriend ♪
(claps along)
Iconic! There's no other word.
- ♪ You say that I'm messing with your head ♪
- She's had a lot of hits. I didn't realize.
- (sings along) ♪ All 'cause I was making out with your friend ♪
Okay, a little spicy here. A little spicy content.
- I can tell that she definitely stands
for the rebel teen girl or whatever.
- This is like the manic pixie dream girl music video basically.
- ♪ But honestly ♪ ♪ I just need to be a little... ♪
- The pink hair! Oh, god. - ♪ Crazy ♪
- (sings along) ♪ All my life I've been good and now ♪
- (mouths along) ♪ I'm thinking "What the hell?" ♪
- ♪ All I want is to mess around ♪
- She stole a car. She's edgy.
To be edgy, you have to steal a car and you have to break it
and you have to have dyed hair.
- Now this feels kind of like Paramore.
- ♪ And now ♪ ♪ What the hell? ♪
- Her music videos are so ridiculous.
They're kind of fun to watch, though.
- It just makes you feel like weirdly cool
despite the fact that there's nothing to indicate
that I am that way whatsoever. But I was definitely like,
"I'm wearing eyeliner. I'm wearing shorts
that are two inches shorter than they probably should be.
Like, what the hell? Am I right, Avril?" (laughs)
- ♪ I've gotta keep the calm before the storm ♪
- Oh, I haven't seen this. - ♪ I don't want less ♪
♪ I don't want more ♪ - She still looks and sounds great.
- ♪ Yeah, my life is what I'm fighting for ♪
- All right. So that's a little change of pace
from what I've seen so far.
- ♪ Hard to see ♪ ♪ Can't reach the shore ♪
- It's a lot different than the other ones.
- It's a way more dramatic, artsy music video.
Well, I mean, it fits the song better.
I can't imagine her stealing a taxi to this song.
- This is very angelic, which is so different
from what I'm used to seeing. - ♪ God, keep my head... ♪
- Wow. - ♪ Don't let me drown ♪
♪ It gets harder ♪ - It's a little Christian rock
type of thing going on. I like it.
- ♪ Don't let me drown ♪ ♪ It gets harder ♪
♪ I'll meet you there ♪ ♪ At the altar ♪
♪ As I fall down to my knees ♪ - It's definitely better
than the other ones. - ♪ Drown, drown, drown ♪
♪ Don't let me ♪ ♪ Don't let me, don't let me drown ♪
- I like that. I feel like so many pop songs
are just the typical love story. This definitely seems more raw
and more real. - If you played this on the radio,
I wouldn't know it's her. It's such a different song.
But I think that comes with getting older.
I'm not expecting to hear "Sk8er Boi"
from her again. - (FBE) So, those were all songs
by singer Avril Lavigne. Before we get into this,
have you ever heard of Avril Lavigne before
or listened to her music? - I've heard of her before.
I think my dad listens to her.
- She's got a great voice. She's got a great look, great music.
I love it. For somebody to be able to progress like that
in the music industry and still stay relevant
and still make quality music
that isn't the typical thing that you would normally listen to,
I think that's super great. Good for her.
- If you haven't heard of Avril Lavigne,
and you were a middle schooler at any point in your life,
you're wrong and you didn't go to middle school.
And I don't know how you managed to get past that stage in your life.
- (FBE) This episode was actually chosen by our FBE SuperFam.
Do you think they chose well? - They did choose well.
They have been choosing very well lately. Go FBE SuperFam.
- They did. It's really interesting to kind of watch that all together
and just kind of see her songs over the years
and how she's grown up, and it's inspiring.
- (FBE) Avril was really popular in the early 2000s,
with some people even calling her the pop punk queen
because of her impact on the punk genre
with her skate punk persona. - She definitely was
with her face, with her looks, and her music.
- (FBE) A lot of people believe that Avril was one of the artists
that actually really made punk music mainstream back in the day,
especially for female artists. Would you say that punk music
is still as popular today as it was back then?
- I feel like on the radio, it's not at all.
But at least in the people that I know and where I'm from, it is.
- It definitely is not as popular. I mean, I think everyone can agree,
hip-hop is number one. - It feels like it's kind of
making a comeback with the live instruments and stuff,
just because all of these artists are huge influences to a lot
of the artists that are coming out right now.
- It's much different now. Other, more modern pop punk artists
are trying to fuse different influences
and not just be the kind of yelling on the mic that I still love
and I still think is great. - I'm not sure if punk music
is as popular as it was back in the day,
just 'cause if you asked me right now, like, name some punk artists,
I don't think I could name anyone.
- (FBE) Avril Lavigne has actually sold over 40 million albums worldwide.
A lot of people have said that she's kind of in the process
of making a comeback after a reported five-year hiatus
from music to focus on her health after being diagnosed
with lime disease. - Oh, jeez. Wow.
That's not something you hear every day
from an artist is lime disease.
- (FBE) She's released new music in the past year,
such as the last song you heard today.
However, as you may have noticed, she's changed her sound
from what it used to be in the earlier days of her career.
Do you think generally artists are still able to maintain
their fan base even if their music sounds different?
- I think if the quality is still there, I think,
especially 'cause she's had a career for so long,
that her fans from 2002 are obviously grown up.
They are most like more mature and they're more into different types
of sounds, so I think if they're really a fan
of her voice and a fan of her music that they'll still move on.
- I feel like if you're gonna change how your music sounds,
you can't really do it immediately. You kind of just gotta ease into it.
And if you aren't gonna ease into it, you just gotta promote it a lot.
- It really depends on to what extent they change it,
over what period of time, if it's gradual enough.
For instance, if you have an established sound
and then all of a sudden you drop an album
that's like nothing you've ever done before,
it does risk alienating some people.
- (FBE) Something people often talk about when it comes
to Avril Lavigne is some pretty interesting conspiracy theories.
- Oh my god. I love these.
- (FBE) For example, one popular rumor online
is that Avril actually died in 2003 and her label
replaced her with a clone named Melissa.
- I mean, I haven't seen a lot of videos on it lately,
so I might need a refresher, but off the top of my head,
yeah... yeah. It's very different now.
- (FBE) Avril actually addressed these rumors in 2018, saying,
quote, "Some people think that I'm not the real me,
which is so weird. Like, why would they even think that?"
- So many people believe that she had a clone
named Melissa. Like, what is that?
Dude, how did that many people believe it
that she actually has to address that?
- That's too casual a thing to say about it.
That's just something too mysterious and too ambiguous
to be like, "Oh yeah, you're so right. Okay."
- (FBE) Why do you think people create these rumors
about celebrities? - It...
I don't even think-- how is it fun to create false [bleep]?
Like, y'all get pressed if people make up rumors
of you at school, but then you're making up conspiracy theories
about celebrities. It's the same exact thing.
- It just makes it entertaining. Just creating these theories
gets people talking about the artist.
So, in the end, yeah, they're weird
and come out of nowhere and most of the time
make no sense at all, but also, in the end,
it's really giving these artists more attention.
- It's so fun. You go down your own rabbit hole.
If you look hard enough for anything, you're gonna find it.
- (FBE) So finally, Avril Lavigne is actually going on tour this year,
so after today, do you think that you would wanna go
check her out on tour? - Definitely not.
Not my kind of music. - I probably won't, no.
- I feel like probably not. - No. It's not really
my style of music. - I wanna see her!
- Absolutely. Yeah. That'd be such a fun time.
- Yeah! That would be so much fun.
I feel like everyone from the 2000s is coming back.
My childhood is making a resurgence, you know?
- I would totally go see an Avril Lavigne concert.
I feel like that would be sick. That would be so cool
just going back and listening to all those old hits.
- I would totally be down to go see her and support her,
'cause in the end, she's still going.
And her music career is still popular
and still definitely-- it has longevity,
which I respect for sure. So, I might go check her out.
- Thank you for watching this episode of Teens React.
And shoutout to Superthor c. - Thank you to the FBE SuperFam
for choosing this episode. - Thanks for watching. Bye!
- Hi, guys! I'm JC, producer at FBE.
If you'd like to join the SuperFam and help choose episodes
like this one, head over to the React Channel
and click that Join button or click the links down below
for more information. We'll see you there. Bye, guys!