Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne went in a different direction with her new album, Goodbye Lullaby, released yesterday (March 8), and it had her record executives a little nervous, reports Billboard.
"I’m older now. I’ve done the whole pop-rock, aggressive, bratty, playful, boy-bashing stuff. I’m not really there right now, so I definitely didn’t want to keep making the same record over and over," said Lavigne, who is now 26 – but was only 16 when she signed her first record deal.
After finishing the album a year ago, Lavigne began battling with record company executives who would have preferred she stay with her winning formula.
"The biggest challenge and only challenge of this album was my record company," Lavigne explained. "I had to fight and say no, but… I ultimately made the record I wanted to."
The first single off the album, What the Hell, debuted in January and made it to number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.