The Unexpected Way Shania Twain Helped Avril Lavigne's Career

Shania Twain may not be the first person you think of if you were asked to name a musician who helped or influenced Avril Lavigne's career. Twain of course is the country/pop diva behind staple camp classics like "Man! I Feel Like A Woman" and "That Don't Impress Me Much," while Lavigne is more famous for her punk pop skater style obvious on hits like "Girlfriend" and "Sk8er Boi."

We do know that Twain was a big influence for a lot of today's famous faces though, with the likes of Kelsea Ballerini singing the star's praises and paying homage any chance she gets. Ballerini even dressed as the star to honor her at the ACM Honors in September when Twain won the ACM Poet's Award, performing "Man! I Feel Like A Woman" while dressed in a Twain-esque tuxedo. "MAN! I FELT LIKE A WOMAN getting to honor my hero and friend @shaniatwain (with her epic vegas residency dancers) on the @acmawards honors," she captioned a video of her performance on Instagram.

So, while Ballerini is a more expected choice to be influences by Twain, what's the real story with Lavigne?

For how Shania Twain helped Avril Lavigne, we're going to have to throw it back to before Lavigne was the famous punk girl we know today and was an unknown 14 year old singing hopeful from Canada. It turns out Lavigne was a fan of Twain's at the time and entered a radio competition to meet the "Life's About To Get Good" singer and perform with her on stage. And she won! "I got to sing onstage with her at this sold-out arena in Ottawa in Canada. She gave me an opportunity to get up onstage as a young kid, and that definitely helped me in my career," Lavigne recalled to Alternative Press in March. Though they may seem unlikely friends, the two Canadian superstars have actually stayed in touch to this day, with the "I'm With You" singer having nothing but praise for her fellow star. "She's so epic — like her songwriting, writing from a woman's perspective about things we go through. [She and Alanis Morissette] were quite inspiring throughout my life and had a real impact," she added.

Lavigne also touched on that poignant moment with Twain on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" that same month, explaining that moment led her to start writing her debut album, "Let Go," which is when she really began to develop her signature sound.

It seems that childhood admiration for Shania Twain is still alive for Avril Lavigne. The latter has shown her love for the musician on multiple occasions, including in September when she performed Twain's "No One Needs To Know" at the ACM Honours. Lavigne posted the performance on Instagram, gushing, "I relate to her in so many ways and she has helped me so much throughout my musical journey. She had a clear vision of who she was. She did the impossible by starting in country music and crossing over to pop. Took creative control. And showed me you can dream big when you are from a small town in Ontario, Canada."

The two have actually shown their super cute friendship on social media a few times, like when Lavigne shared a backstage photo with Twain back in 2014. "Thank you to the Beautiful Shania Twain for coming to my show..." she captioned the Facebook photo. More recently, Lavigne returned the favor when she stepped out to see Twain at Boots And Hearts Country Music Festival in August, which made for a super adorable backstage photo and a video of Lavigne singing along on the "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under" hitmaker's Instagram. "I'm so happy I got to spend some time with @avrillavigne yesterday," Twain wrote alongside a heart eye emoji. "So fun to see the videos of the girls partying side of stage, love it!"

This friendship? Love it!