A
VRIL LAVIGNE WAITED
five years to return to the
road — and when she did,
the preparation process
was a scramble. She need-
ed new guitars and straps, as well
as a refresher on the bridges of hits
like “My Happy Ending” and “When
You’re Gone.”
“It’s funny,” says Lavigne, 34. “I’m
relearning, but it’s total muscle memory.
I’m like, ‘Wait, it goes like this, right?’
Then without even trying I’m like, ‘It’s
right here.’ ” (Even so, she always has a
teleprompter onstage, “just in case.”)
Since the pop mainstay, who has
sold 12.5 million albums in the United
States, according to Nielsen Music,
wrapped her Avril Lavigne Tour in Ja-
pan five years ago, she largely stepped
out of the spotlight as she battled Lyme
disease. For a long time, Lavigne (who
at one point was bedridden) wasn’t sure
if she would ever release another album
or be physically able to tour again.
Now that she has recovered, Lavigne
says her 15-date trek that runs through
Oct. 11 — in support of her long-await-
ed album, Head Above Water, which hit
No. 13 on the Billboard 200 in February
— is her most intimate yet.
“I was wondering what I was going
to be doing, and unsure if I could
work or not — and songs just flowed,”
recalls Lavigne. “After everything I
went through, I refell in love with
music all over again.”
The tour will largely pull from
material off the intense, emotive
Head Above Water, and its visuals are
inspired by the album’s title track and
the single “I Fell in Love With the Dev-
il,” playing on the contrasting themes
of water and fire. Yet Lavigne assures
the tour will also be nostalgic, for both
the audience and herself.
“The singles from the last 17 years
all hold memories,” she says. “ ‘Sk8er
Boi’ is a moment, ‘Girlfriend’ is a mo-
ment — and I get to go back with [my
fans] and enjoy that.”
She says “Devil” will almost certainly
be her big encore and a “really special
moment” complete with a red dress
and lots of fire. Elsewhere, fans can
expect wardrobe changes inspired by
her music videos, and familiar imagery
to appear in her visuals, like the “Sk8er
Boi” star from debut album Let Go or
the “Girlfriend” skull and crossbones
from The Best Damn Thing.
As for her choice to play 3,000- to
5,000- capacity theaters, Lavigne says
that an up-close-and-personal atmo-
sphere made more sense for a more
serious project. “It’s vulnerable and
raw and exposed, whereas in the past
it was loud guitars and fist-pumping,”
she says. “You’ll still feel that from me,
but with everything I went through, it’s
like, ‘OK, I’m here. I’m alive.’ I’m gliding
back into it. I’m just so grateful to God
that I’m still able to actually work and
have a life.”
CHECKING IN WITH...
Avril Lavigne
The pop veteran explains why her first tour in
five years is “raw and exposed”
BY LYNDSEY HAVENS
MALONE:TIMMOSENFELDER/GETTYIMAGES.^ O
SBOURNE:GREG^DOHERTY/GETTY^ IMAGES.BEHIND THE HIT
POST MALONE IN
THE LAND OF OZ
One of the biggest
hip-hop releases of
the year has also resulted in
the unexpected return of a
hard-rock legend to the pop
charts: “Take What You Want,”
the rollicking new Post Malone
track featuring Ozzy Osbourne
and Travis Scott, scores a No. 8
debut on the Sept. 21 Billboard
Hot 100 (see page 13), leading
to Osbourne’s first appearance
on the tally since his 2007
single “I Don’t Wanna Stop.”
“Post has been a huge Ozzy
fan since he was a kid,” says
Louis Bell, who co-produced
the song with Andrew Watt.
“This was definitely a dream
come true for him.” Watt, who
recently notched a No. 1 with
Shawn Mendes and Camila
Cabello’s “Señorita,” invited
Osbourne to his Los Angeles
studio during the summer to
create the song. The Black Sab-
bath leader wrote part of Post
Malone’s melody, while Watt
handled its wailing guitar solo.
“I recorded Ozzy on the
track, laid the guitar solo that
night and got Chad Smith from
the [Red Hot] Chili Peppers
over to play the drums on
it,” recalls Watt. “Then I was
FaceTiming with Post while we
were in the studio, and Ozzy’s
like, ‘Who the fuck is this? Are
you talking with the bloody
Post Man?’ And everyone’s
laughing their asses off.”
With the chart debut of
“Take What You Want,” Os-
bourne has now scored at least
one Hot 100 hit in four consec-
utive decades. And although
he has been sidelined for much
of 2019 as he recovers from
pneumonia and a subsequent
injury from falling, the 70-year-
old may soon be rallying — and
rejoining Watt in the studio. The
new song “is a really good taste
of Ozzy in 2019,” says Watt,
“and you’re going to get a lot
more coming out that’s going
to blow people’s faces off.”
—JOSH GLICKSMAN
Malone
(top) and
Osbourne.
Lavigne photographed by
David Needleman in 2018.
96 BILLBOARD • SEPTEMBER 21, 2019