Avril Lavigne Performs New Song 'Head Above Water' on 'DWTS'

Avril Lavigne gave a rare television performance during the Dancing With The Stars season 27 [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Avril Lavigne gave a rare television performance during the Dancing With The Stars season 27 finale.

The 34-year-old "Complicated" singer performed her new single, "Head Above Water," while model Alexis Ren and pro dancer Alan Bersten performed a freestyle dance to the song.

Lavigne re-entered the public eye in April, four years after she was diagnosed with Lyme disease and put her recording career on hold. In September, she announced the release of her next album, also titled Head Above Water. The title track was issued as a single on Sept. 19 and the album is expected to follow in February.

Aside from the new record, Lavigne is using her star power to raise awareness about Lyme disease through her Avril Lavigne Foundation. She sold a T-shirt with the "Head Above Water" single art work to raise funds for those affected by the disease.

In her September message to fans, Lavigne explained why it was important for her to take advantage of her celebrity and raise awareness of Lyme disease.

"Because not only is it a part of my life, I need to bring awareness to the severity of Lyme Disease," she wrote at the time. "A single bug bite can f– you up hard. People aren't aware that Lyme must be treated almost immediately. Often if they are aware, they go untreated simply because they can't get a Lyme diagnosis! And even when they do get a diagnosis, a lot of times they simply can't afford the treatment."

Lavigne told Billboard she was not sure how she got Lyme disease or when a tick would have bit her.

"I had accepted that I was dying," she told the magazine. "And I felt in that moment like I was underwater and drowning, and I was trying to come up to gasp for air. And literally under my breath, I was like, 'God, help me keep my head above the water.' "

With Lavigne back under the spotlight, it meant that the infamous conspiracy theory that she died and was replaced by a fake after she released her second album could finally be debunked. Of course, Lavigne didn't die and the original source for the rumor even admitted it was fake. Lavigne was asked about the theory while on KISS 1065 in Australia earlier this month.

"Yeah, some people think that I'm not the real me, which is so weird! Like, why would they even think that?" Lavigne said. Mystery solved!

"Head Above Water" is now at No. 5 on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart.

Photo credit: Getty Images

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