It started out as any other casual Friday night: I was laying in bed watching Netflix while texting my group chat. One of my friends had told me to go on our group conversation on twitter to see the tweet she shared with us. When I went to twitter and clicked the tweet, there was a thread about a conspiracy theory of Avril Lavigne and how she had died years ago and now her doppelgänger took her place to continue living on her fame.
avril lavigne is dead & was replaced by a look alike: a conspiracy theory thread pic.twitter.com/9eearQ2rte
— k (@givenchyass) May 13, 2017
Now pause. Does that sound crazy or does that sound crazy? In what world would someone allow someone else to have the life of a celebrity who died? IT DOESN’T HAPPEN. But then the twitter started to give some background on the pop punk celebrity.
Avril was born in Ontario, Canada in 1984. She was 18 when her first album, Let Go, was released. Her life had been normal until fame hit and the teenager couldn’t handle the paparazzi. It was then that the idea to hire a look alike rose to the surface.
so she decided to hire a look alike to walk around LA for her and pose for the paparazzi (avril on the left, look alike on the right) pic.twitter.com/wNSrDVh09i
— k (@givenchyass) May 13, 2017
Her name is Melissa Vandella and soon they became best friends. According to the twitter thread, there was an unknown source that says Melissa and Avril were hanging in the studio one day and thought it would be funny to teach Melissa to sing just like Avril. The twitter account then added into the tweet that it wasn’t proven and it was tipped to an unknown source.
In 2003, Melissa was still working for Avril as she was about to start her next album. Right around this time, Avril’s grandfather passed away. It had been known that he was her best friend and her biggest supporter. This struck Avril hard, to the point where she had just lost it. Avril was distraught, crying on stage, in interviews, and would lock herself in her apart and write for weeks on. She was heartbroken.
The twitter thread then mentioned how other sources said that Avril threatened to kill herself and even tried to attempt this several times because she felt she couldn’t go on without her grandfather. This is where the conspiracy starts to get interesting. It is believed that Avril actually succeeded in 2003 and hung herself.
In 2003, Avril was at her prime for fame. Everyone knew her name, everyone know her songs, and she was everywhere. Avril Lavigne was the punk princess. So instead of breaking the news of her death to the media, it was decided to use Melissa to live on the rest of “Avril’s” life. Everything was set into place and nobody would doubt that Melissa wasn’t Avril.
Then in 2007, Melissa came out with a new look and a new style, even her music had a different style and use of vocals. It had also been pointed out that Avril’s birthmarks that she had before were gone. In an interview it was brought up that there were no more birthmarks, when asked, she was very shaky and nervous. She was even trying to play it off as a joke and even said, “Well I’m here so that’s not true.” After the interview she performed, during her performance, she was stumbling on and off stage and even messed up the words.
At the end of the day, there are so many ideas that may lead you to believe that maybe Avril Lavigne is dead and Melissa is the new her. It almost makes me think of a little bit of the Hannah Montana life mixed with the Princess and the Pauper. Anyone else?
We all love a conspiracy theory every now and then, but what are our opinions on this one. Could the death of her grandfather influence a change in style and maybe even inspire surgery to change her look? Or could Avril really be dead? The only thing we know right now is Avril is back in the studio, fans are making some of the funniest memes around, and she has not spoken about the conspiracy theory. What do you believe?