Goodbye Lullaby is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. The album was first released on 2 March 2011. Recording sessions began in November 2008, and took place over a period of almost two years, concluding in October 2010. The album's songs contain mainly stripped down instruments, such as the piano and acoustic guitar. It was said to be a return to her older style of music, like those on her first two records. Every song on the album was written by Lavigne, with half of the album being written with co-writers. The album debuted inside the top five in over 15 countries such as the United States and Canada, topping the charts in Japan, Australia, Greece, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Czech Republic. The lead single of the album, "What the Hell", was released on 7 January 2011, and achieved worldwide chart success; reaching the top twenty in the United States and United Kingdom, the top ten in Europe and Australia and the top five in Asia. The following singles, "Smile" and "Wish You Were Here", had moderate chart success worldwide. The album also includes an extended version of the soundtrack single for the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland, titled "Alice". The album has sold an estimated 1.7 million copies worldwide as May 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Avril Ramona Lavigne (pronunciation: /ˈævrɨl ləˈviːn/; AV-ril lə-VEEN; born 27 September 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $2 million. In 2002, when she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album Let Go.

Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach No. 1 in the UK, and the album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. By 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated", peaked at No. 1 in many countries around the world, as did the album Let Go. Her second album, Under My Skin, was released in 2004 and was her first album to peak at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007, becoming her third No. 1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featuring her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, "Girlfriend". Lavigne has scored six number-one singles worldwide, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm with You", "My Happy Ending", "Nobody's Home", and "Girlfriend". With more than 30 million copies of her albums sold worldwide, Lavigne is one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S., with over 10.25 million copies certified by the RIAA. Her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, was released in March 2011. Goodbye Lullaby gave Lavigne her fourth top 10 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart and her third No. 1 album in both Japan and Australia. Three months after the release of Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne began work on her fifth album, which will be released on Epic Records following her departure from RCA Records.