Avril Lavigne, Where Are You?

Now turning to that other September 27th birthday, I suppose I should join the global fandom that was everywhere on my social media feeds yesterday wishing a Happy Birthday to the legendary singer-songwriter and rock star Avril Lavigne. Indeed, Happy Birthday Avril!

But I can’t help asking the question that I’m surprised no one else seems to be asking, and that is “Where are you, Avril?” It’s hard to ignore the fact that nothing has been seen or heard from her since November 2025. All of her social media accounts are still up, frozen with last year’s posts. Maybe she’s taking a break (?) — which would make me happy. Avril turned 42 yesterday, and it wouldn’t hurt her to take some time to reflect and … y’know … GROW UP a bit. And also continue to branch out artistically. Avril has shown that she has the chops to take her music in new directions, and she seems to want that creative freedom. If that accounts for her recent absence, then that’s great. But somehow it doesn’t seem that way. It’s a bit odd, in light of her recent career trajectory which seemed “full-speed-ahead” until it froze suddenly last Fall.

Oh, the celebrity life! The whole experience seems so dysfunctional … and yet I also watch the spectacle of “public people,” and have a sense of a “bond” with them that is not entirely illusory. They share themselves through their talents in our implosive “global village,” and their work enters into the experiences and memories of ordinary people. Some of them are just crazy-good at what they do, and audiovisual media bring them into our ordinary perception more and more, sometimes to our profound edification but usually with the ambivalence and confusion of the dominant secularized milieu and its increasingly shrinking and shallow sense of the dignity of the human person. 

As someone from the first generation that never knew a world without television, I know only too well this milieu and the discernment and care required to appreciate the artifices that arise within it. There is much to appreciate, much that is flawed but at least in certain respects aims for genuine goodness and creativity. But it can come at a high price, an “inhuman,” excessive price.

It makes me weep to see the real lives of celebrities horribly, suddenly, and publicly fall apart. I’m trying to understand this whole thing better, and bring it (and them) to the Lord in prayer. As I have mentioned before, I “spiritually adopt” some of these people and pray for them particularly and frequently.

With Avril, I have special reasons to be concerned, and to pray for her… a lot. And as a chronic worrier, I can’t help wondering, “What the heck is going on?”

Since her re-emergence onto the music scene in 2018 after battling Lyme Disease into remission, Avril had been quite visible releasing new music, doing collaborations, appearing at award ceremonies, popping in to the big Fashion Weeks in Paris, Milan, or New York, and posting on Instagram (or TikTok) consistently. Since 2022, she had toured over large parts of the world. After promoting her seventh album, she didn’t seem to want to slow down. In 2024, she released a “Greatest Hits” album, which only Avril Lavigne could get away with in the Age of Spotify (when we can all make our own “greatest hits playlists” for ourselves). She toured “Greatest Hits 2024” and “Greatest Hits 2025” in North America and Europe, causing a crowd-control crisis at the Glastonbury Festival in the U.K., selling out venues everywhere including Madison Square Garden, and having lots of success. Latin America and Asia were totally expecting a “Greatest Hits 2026.” But sometimes I looked at those Instagram concert videoclips and thought to myself, “Hmmm…, she looks… tired.” 

Of course, knowing Lyme Disease the way I do, I was a bit concerned. I hoped and prayed that she was taking care of herself. “Creative personalities” often don’t know how to turn down the intensity. The impulse to “overwork” comes with the experience of being an artist, along with lots of other problems of psychological balance. And there may be personal sources of stress we know nothing about.

Has Avril had a Lyme flare-up? Look, it does happen. Often we can “push” through it, if necessary. We develop a “bag of tricks” to keep going. “Taking a break” can be a very helpful trick. But for Avril, it’s been so long and so silent. No social media greeting for last Christmas, New Year’s, Valentines Day, Easter, Canada Day? She’s been pretty consistent on those things in the past. No public appearances anywhere, not even the Juno awards. No weird or goofy posts at all? Avril is a “ham,” so something’s not making sense here. 

We know she’s still alive. Apparently, she attended Taylor Swift’s big private wedding. Taylor Swift, along with basically every other woman in the past 20+ years of popular music, will cite Avril as one of her great inspirations. Also, I recently saw a picture going around that placed her at another recent celebrity party. Not sure it was even real.

But Avril has historically made a big deal about her birthday. Always shares pictures, gushes with gratitude to all the fans who post greetings, and tries out some new pose. Avril still has that unusual charisma that lets her get away with things that would seem ridiculous for other people. As of this belated date, however, there has been nothing from her on her 42nd birthday.

It’s unusual. I guess there are lots of possible explanations, including personal circumstances that are none of our business. I’m not interested in gossip. I just hope she’s okay.