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Avril Lavigne’s greatest hits album has all the music that fans would expect … except for one song. The “Girlfriend” singer decided to keep one track off the album that made numerous headlines back in the day. Unfortunately, most of those headlines were not positive in the slightest. Here’s a look at a song that Lavigne might want to forget.

A song Avril Lavigne left off her greatest hits album was widely viewed as racist

Nylon reports Lavinge’s greatest hits album, which is simply called Avril Lavigne — Greatest Hits, has all of the singer’s classic 2000s chart juggernauts, such as “Complicated,” “Girlfriend,” and “I’m with You.” The 2010s weren’t as kind to Lavigne, as she only scored a few minor hits during that decade, such as “What the Hell,” “Here’s to Never Growing Up,” and “Smile.” Unsurprisingly, those tunes also appear on the upcoming record.

One conspicuously absent song is Lavigne’s 2013 dance track “Hello Kitty.” “Hello Kitty” may have received more attention than any other song she released in the 2010s — but the attention was mostly negative. Lavigne received pushback for appropriating Japanese culture in the song and its music video. For that reason, “Hello Kitty” might be the most controversial song in her entire catalog.

The other reason ‘Hello Kitty’ might be absent from the greatest hits album

“Hello Kitty” also got pushback from fans for another reason. Prior to “Hello Kitty,” Lavigne had experimented with dance music, most notably on “What the Hell,” but she always kept a foot in the world of pop-rock. “Hello Kitty” is a Western imitation of J-pop music, which is to say it’s about as punk as Alvin and the Chipmunks covering Bing Crosby. That’s no disrespect to J-pop — it’s just that Lavigne made a wild shift in style and sound that repelled some fans.

Since “Hello Kitty,” Lavigne went back to her signature pop-punk sound, most notably with the critically acclaimed album Love Sux. It appears that she learned something from the poor reception of “Hello Kitty.” Don’t expect her next album to have a song about Godzilla.

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Avril Lavigne still loves Hello Kitty anyway

While Lavigne’s “Hello Kitty” sparked outrage, her love for Hello Kitty appears sincere. During a 2022 interview with Vogue, she was asked if she collected anything. “I collect tiaras and crowns from all of my photoshoots and videos,” she said. I probably have 30. 

“And Hello Kitty,” the singer added. “I have a Hello Kitty bedroom in my house. I have this huge pink couch that has all these Hello Kitty stuffed animals on it, from tours and from fans as gifts. The house was built around the bedroom. It’s big and has a stripper pole. It’s a guest bedroom and everyone wants to stay in there. I also have a whole wall of Doc Martens in every single color.”

The pop-punk princess seemed to connect her love of tiaras and Hello Kitty to an overall shift in her style, “If you look at me on the first album, I was really tomboyish, very baggy, not a lot of makeup,” she explained. “I have evolved. I’ve become a little more feminine over the years.”

Lavigne sure loves Hello Kitty, even if the world didn’t love her take on the brand.

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