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"What the Hell" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne from her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby (2011). It was released on January 10, 2011 by RCA Records as the lead single from the album. The song was produced by Max Martin and Shellback, who co-wrote the song with Lavigne. According to Lavigne, she wrote the song as her "personal message for freedom".

Upon its release, "What the Hell" received positive reviews from music critics with many complimenting its catchiness and comparing it to her 2007 single "Girlfriend". The song was successful, reaching number one in Japan, the top five in Asia, the Top 10 in Europe, Australia, South America, Mexico, Canada, and the Top 20 in the US and the UK, peaking at eleven and sixteen, respectively.

An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Marcus Raboy and premiered on 23 January. "What the Hell" was performed by Lavigne on several television programs such as Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, Daybreak, The View, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and on the Much Music Video Awards, America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent. Additionally, she added the song to the setlist of The Black Star Tour (2011).

"What the Hell" is written by Lavigne, Max Martin, and Shellback, while the latter two produced the song. It was recorded at Maratone Studios in , Sweden. This is the second song these three have written together, the first one being Miranda Cosgrove's "Dancing Crazy". On November 2010, Lavigne announced via a blog on her official website that her fourth album, Goodbye Lullaby, had been completed for a year and cited her record company as the reason for the album's delays. She revealed in the blog that "What the Hell" would be the first single from the album. The song was premiered on 31 December 2010 on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve during a pre-taped segment along with a performance of "Girlfriend". Lavigne described "What the Hell" as "a really fun, upbeat party song, so it worked out really well to play it for the first time on New Year's Rockin' Eve." The following day, "What the Hell" was available as a free download for 48 hours from Lavigne's official Facebook page.

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