Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend” hit #1

Girlfriend Avril Lavigne

Writer(s): Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Karl Sandberg (Max Martin), Avril Lavigne (see lyrics here) Released: February 27, 2007 First Charted: March 11, 2007 Peak: 11 BB, 11 DG, 11 RR, 13 A40, 2 UK, 14 CN, 16 AU, 11 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.0 UK, 12.38 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.2 radio, 792.79 video, 621.18 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Avril Lavigne was born in Canada in 1984. She “was essentially the small-town Canadian version of a talent-show kid.” SG She signed with Arista Records as a teen. She released her debut album, Let Go, in 2002 and it generated three top-10 hits with “Complicated,” Sk8r Boi,” and “I’m with You.” She came along “right after the teen-pop boom of the late ‘90s, right before the MySpace emo boom of the mid ‘00s.” SG Her “bratty howl came to define a very divisive wave of major-label pop-punk” SG and although she “dressed like a Hot Topic kid, and some of her music had a bit of pop-punk pogo to it” SG she wasn’t punk. “Instead, she was a fully-formed pop star.” SG She “was deep in the major-label system before she adapted the aesthetic signifiers of early-'00s mall-punk.” SG “Girlfriend” is “an obnoxiously insidious hook-monster.” SG “There’s no nuance…It’s just one big, ridiculous chant.” SG It is “big and brash and loud…The song is all booming drums and trebly shouting, and its tiny bursts of melody are almost incidental.” SG “It’s just Avril Lavigne yelling at some dude, telling him that his girlfriend sucks and that he should date Avril Lavigne instead.” SG It “can sound like an anthem” SG but is “also a fundamentally silly song” SG and Avril “sounds like she’s having fun.” SG “It’s got hooks and sass and energy. Its lyrics are simple enough that you can probably sing along by the second time you hear it – not just with the chorus but with the entire song.” SG Avril wrote the song with Dr. Luke and Max Martin, whose resume includes hits by Kelly Clarkson (“Since U Been Gone,” “My Life Would Suck Without You”), Pink (“Who Knew,” “U + Ur Hand”), and Katy Perry (“I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot n Cold”). After “Girlfriend” became a hit, “two members of Berkeley power-poppers the Rubinoos sued…claiming that they’d plagiarized the Rubinoos’ 1979 single ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.’” SG Avril and Dr. Luke denied the charges but settled out of court. Resources: SG Stereogum (3/13/2023). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan Related Links: First posted 1/22/2025.