Avril Lavigne says Britney Spears inspires her.

The Canadian rocker says her mother took her to see a Britney concert when she younger in preparation for her own launch into the music world.

She told Jane magazine: "My mom made me go to a Britney Spears concert when I was young. I was like 'No, I don't want to.'

"She was like 'If you're going to be a performer, you need to see other people.' "

The singer-and-actress recently revealed she opted for a traditional wedding over a gothic ceremony because it was her childhood dream.

Avril, 22, married Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley last July and surprised their rock fans by having a conventional service.

Avril - who stars alongside Richard Gere and Claire Danes in new movie 'The Flock' - said: "I wanted to say, 'Let's totally have a rock 'n' roll, goth wedding.'

"But at the same time I thought, 'I've been dreaming about my wedding day since I was a little girl. I have to wear the white dress.' I wanted to be a princess.'

"People thought that I would have some black wedding dress, and I would have.

"But at the same time, I was thinking about the wedding pictures, and I wanted to be in style. I didn't want to be thinking 20 years later, 'Oh, why did I wear my hair like that?' "

Taken from M&C