Multi-platinum singer/songwriter Avril Lavigne will release The Best Damn Thing - her eagerly awaited third full-length studio album -- on Tuesday, April 17, on RCA Records. The Best Damn Thing is the Canadian pop-punk dynamo's first album since 2004's eight-million selling Under My Skin.

The new album includes the defiantly rocking single "Girlfriend," which was co-written by Lavigne. Thanks to digital sales, "Girlfriend" debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 chart at Number Five (Lavigne's highest debut ever), and is now not only Number Two on the Top Digital Songs chart, but has also achieved gold status, selling more than half a million downloads.

"Girlfriend" is also rocketing up radio's Top 40 chart and is Number One phones everywhere. The song's playful video, which features Lavigne playing several roles, has charted every single day on MTV's TRL since its debut, and has been viewed nearly 10 million times on video-sharing site YouTube.

The album also features Lavigne's current smash hit power ballad "Keep Holding On," which she co-wrote at the request of 20th Century Fox for the soundtrack to the studio's fantasy-adventure film Eragon. The single went Top 20 on Billboard's Hot 100 and climbed to Number 3 on the Hot Adult Top 40 chart.

Brimming with confidence, "The Best Damn Thing," with its spirited melodies, gutsy guitar riffs, and sing-along choruses, celebrates rebellious rock'n'roll attitude, empowerment, and sheer lust for life. With Lavigne calling it "hands down, the best I've ever made," the album finds its power and pulse in up-tempo pop-punk anthems like "I Can Do Better," "The Best Damn Thing," and "Girlfriend."

It also showcases the 22-year-old's growth as a songwriter as she reaches intense emotional peaks on three new ballads: "When You're Gone," "Innocence," and "Keep Holding On." The album features the production skills of Dr. Luke, Butch Walker, Rob Cavallo, and her husband, Deryck Whibley from Sum 41.

-Avril Lavigne Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)