Is it 2022 — or 2002? It was hard to tell when Avril Lavigne took to the stage with Travis Barker to perform one of her massive hits from the early millennium.
Look who is putting the “rocking” into Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve! While Ryan Seacrest holds down the fort in NYC on December 31, Ciara welcomed a slew of great performers to the LA stage to celebrate saying goodbye to 2021 and hello to 2022. Among them were two of the biggest names in music from the early 2000’s and today: Avril Lavigne and Travis Barker. The duo performed Avril’s biggest hit, Sk8er Boi, decked out in their NYE best. Returning to the stage after a decade away from Rockin’ Eve, Avril brought a solid punk look for the occasion, pairing a leather dress with a black tutu and a ‘Happy New Year’ paper headband on her head! As for Travis, well, he kept it simple with black tank and beanie. Hey, at least he matched!
But that’s not all! The West Coast had a number of other huge names hit the stage, with thrilling performances from acts like Big Boi and Sleepy Brown, D-Nice, Don Omar and Nio Garcia, French Montana, Macklemore with Ryan Lewis and Windser, Mae Muller, Måneskin, Masked Wolf, One Republic, Polo G and Walker Hayes.
But keeping with the early 2000 vibes, Ashanti & Ja Rule took over in Times Square just before Avril and Travis went on. The iconic pair performed their most beloved duets, “Mesmerize” and “Always on Time,” bringing the smaller that usual but still pumped Times Square to their feet.
🎶Can we make it any more obvious that we loved that performance @AvrilLavigne @travisbarker? 🖤
Tune in to #RockinEve on ABC right now!. pic.twitter.com/GXGV1SXtyk
— New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (@RockinEve) January 1, 2022
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve got off to a rocky start earlier in the week, when headliner LL Cool J was forced to pull out of the show, due to testing positive for Covid-19. Chlöe Bailey was also meant to be performing in NYC for the live show, but also pulled out this week, though the reason is unknown. But the show will go on, with performances from Journey, and Karol G all taking place in Times Square before the ball drops.
2021 has been good to the two rockers. For Avril, it meant the start of her comeback in full swing.
She released her first single in years in November, shortly after signing to Travis’ label, DTA Records, and has been riding the high ever since. Meanwhile, Travis has been making music, but people have been far more interested in his love life, given that he’s spent most of 2021 wrapped in the arms of Kourtney Kardashian. Will things get more serious in 2022? We’ll see!