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Gwen Stefani (born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and occasional actress. Stefani made her debut in 1992 as the frontwoman of the pop–rock band No Doubt. The release of the group's second album Tragic Kingdom (1995) propelled them to stardom and it sold more than fifteen million copies worldwide. It spawned the singles "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and the airplay number-one "Don't Speak". The band's popularity went into decline with Return of Saturn (2000), but Rock Steady (2001) introduced reggae production into their music, which was generally well-received. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album contains pop and dance records and influence from hip hop and R&B. Its third single "Hollaback Girl" became the first U.S. digital download to exceed sales of one million and "Cool" was one of 2005's most popular radio singles. The Sweet Escape, Stefani's second solo album, will be released on December 5 2006 in North America and on December 4 elsewhere. The album's first single is "Wind It Up".
Early life Gwen Stefani was born in Fullerton, California, but grew up in Anaheim. Her father, Dennis Stefani, is Italian American, and her mother Patti Flynn is of Irish and Scottish descent. She has a sister, Jill, and two brothers, Eric and Todd. Jill appeared in No Doubt's "Just a Girl" music video. Gwen attended California State University, Fullerton, and Loara High School (class of 1987), where she was on the swim team and marching band. Gwen's best friend growing up was current band member Becky DelliCarpini. The two are still inseperable. Her first job was scrubbing floors at a Dairy Queen, and she once worked at the makeup counter of a department store. Her brother Eric was the keyboardist for No Doubt, but eventually left the band to pursue a career in animation on The Simpsons. Other members of the group include Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Stefani had a 7 year relationship with the band's bassist Tony Kanal. The relationship was kept a secret from the band for a while. Unfortunately, Stefani already had the image of marriage in mind, which scared Tony, and eventually they broke it off. Through this difficult time, Stefani went through a period of depression and began to write her own songs. Thus, the birth of their third album Tragic Kingdom. Most of the CD is written about Tony through her time of heartbreak, eventually resulting in one of their most successful CDs. Stefani's breakthrough came in 1995. 1986–Present: No Doubt The band's third album Tragic Kingdom, which followed their eponymous debut No Doubt (1992) and The Beacon Street Collection (1995), took three years to make. During this time, the band almost split up due to the break up of Kanal and Stefani. However, this was to become a major inspiration for Stefani lyrically. The album, released in 1995, was certified diamond in the US for shipping over 10 million copies and sold 15 million copies worldwide. Following the success of Tragic Kingdom, Stefani became highly popular and recognizable. The tension this produced with the other members of the band was touched upon in their video for the song "Don't Speak". Stefani met Bush and now Institute frontman Gavin Rossdale in 1995 at a concert in which she was performing to promote Tragic Kingdom. The release of The Singles 1992-2003, a CD with the band's best hits, and Everything in Time: B-sides, Remixes and Rarities prompted media speculation about a break-up, which the band denied in later interviews. Outside of No Doubt Stefani has collaborated with other artists, most notably for the singles "South Side" and "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Moby and Eve respectively. In 2002, Eve and Stefani won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Let Me Blow Ya Mind." 2004–2006: Love.Angel.Music.Baby. Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was released in November 2004 across the world. The album made its debut on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart at number seven, selling more than 310,000 copies in its first week. In early 2005 it reached a peak position of number five in the U.S. and number three in Canada. Love. Angel. Music. Baby. topped the albums chart in Australia. Unexpected success came in Mexico for Love.Angel.Music.Baby., as 4 of the 6 singles released for the album reached the top 10: "Cool" and "Hollaback Girl" peaked at 1, while "What You Waiting For?" and "Rich Girl" peaked at 9 and 8, respectively. Remixes of the songs maintained the singles on the Mexican charts until March 2006 when after more than half a year of sales and airplay, "Hollaback Girl" exited the Mexican Top 100. The album itself peaked at number 2, and was the highest selling English album in the country for over a month. Stefani collaborated with singer-songwriter Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes on the album, along with The Neptunes, OutKast's André 3000, and Dallas Austin among others. The first single released from the album was "What You Waiting For?", which was a top twenty success in Asia and Europe. "Rich Girl" was released as the album's second single from the album; a duet with rapper Eve, and produced by Dr. Dre, it is an adaptation of a 1990s pop song by British musicians Louchie Lou and Michie, which itself is a cover of "If I Were a Rich Man", from the musical Fiddler on the Roof, written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. "Rich Girl" proved successful on several formats, and reached the UK and U.S. top ten. Love. Angel. Music. Baby.s third single "Hollaback Girl" became Stefani's first U.S. and second Australian number-one single; it peaked at number eight in the UK and at number twelve in Canada. The song was the first U.S. digital download to sell more than one million copies legally, and its brass-driven composition remained popular throughout 2005. Its lyrical content features the word "shit" thirty-eight times. The fourth single "Cool" was released shortly following the success of its predecessor, but failed to match its chart success, reaching the U.S. and the UK top twenty. However, "Cool" was Stefani's first Canadian number-one single. The song's music video, filmed in Lake Como, Italy, depicts Stefani's former relationship with No Doubt bass guitarist Tony Kanal. The song's music video shows Stefani paying homage to her Italian heritage as well as the 1950s bombshells. It received strong rotation on Canada's MuchMusic. "Luxurious" was released as the album's fifth single, but did not perform as well as its predecessors. "Crash" was released as the album's sixth single in early 2006 in lieu of the production of Love. Angel. Music. Baby. sequel, which Stefani postponed because of her pregnancy. The song "Serious", a fan-favorite of Love. Angel. Music. Baby., was also considered to be released as a single. A video was shot in 2005 before Stefani's pregnancy, but "Crash" was used instead. This video has been confirmed to be released as a bonus feature on the upcoming DVD release of Gwen's 2005 Harajuku Lovers Tour. A clip of the video has been recently leaked on the internet and can be found featured on the choreographers reel at: * Stefani received five Grammy Award nominations on December 8, 2005. She was nominated in five categories: "Album of the Year", "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance", "Best Pop Vocal Album", "Record of the Year" and "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration". Harajuku Girls The release of Stefani's first solo album brought attention to her entourage of four Harajuku Girls. Named Love, Angel, Music, and Baby by Stefani, the Harajuku girls are named for the area around the Harajuku Station of Tokyo, Japan, known as a popular shopping destination and fashion centre for teenagers. Following the style of their namesake area, Stefani's Harajuku girls are usually flamboyantly dressed (sometimes in a somewhat "Gothic Lolita" style). They have been featured in her music videos and press coverage and on the album cover for Love. Angel. Music. Baby., and have a song dedicated to them on the album. However, Stefani's adoption of this component of Japanese culture drew criticism from Mihi Ahn at Salon.com, and others who feel that Stefani has stripped Japanese street fashion of its authenticity and created yet another example of the 'submissive Asian female' stereotype. Wrote Ahn, According to the Jan/Feb 2006 edition of Blender magazine, stand-up comic Margaret Cho has labeled the Harajuku Girls as a "minstrel show" that reinforces ethnic stereotypes of Asian women. 2006-Present: The Sweet Escape Stefani had an extremely successful solo career with Love. Angel. Music. Baby., and is working on a second solo album, The Sweet Escape. The release date has recently been confirmed as December 4th, 2006 internationally, and December 5th in the United States. She is working again with Pharrell, Tony Kanal, Akon, and Swizz Beatz. It Will Contain 15 songs. No Doubt has also begun recording again in 2006. The other members of No Doubt have returned to the studio and it is claimed that bandmate Tony Kanal has already written new songs. In addition to the new album, a DVD release of her recent tour, entitled "Harajuku Lovers Live", will be released along with her new album on December 4-5th, 2006. The DVD will be available in two versions: explicit and edited. The DVD will include the unreleased video for "Serious". In honor of the Harajuku Girls and her recent tour, in the fall of 2006, along with the release of her new album, Gwen plans to release a line of dolls, which will range from a "Hollaback Girl" doll to a "Luxurious" doll. These high-end dolls will be sold in stores internationally later this year. Along with the announcement of her upcoming album and DVD release in late 2006, Gwen Stefani also announced on her website recently that she will be embarking on an international tour starting in April 2007. This tour will visit North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Tour dates have not yet been confirmed. Non-musical projects Stefani has created a successful fashion line, named L.A.M.B., which showcases clothing that Stefani is often seen wearing herself. The line also includes handbags and purses. Celebrities such as Nicky Hilton, Pamela Anderson, and Carmen Electra have been seen sporting her fashion line and LeSportsac bags. No Doubt bassist (and former boyfriend) Tony Kanal donated an X-Ray of his broken finger as an image for L.A.M.B T-shirts. In fall of 2006, Gwen Stefani will release a limited edtion line of dolls dubbed "Gwen Stefani Fashion Dolls." Stefani will release a Limited Edition series of eight dolls entitled Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Inspired by her multi-platinum album and tour, each doll will reflect Gwen's eclectic onstage incarnations. Ranging from her Hollaback Girl to the fashion-forward Harajuku Girls of Tokyo, the dolls in this high-end line will reflect the distinctive style and personality which have made Gwen Stefani an icon. She also designed and promoted a Harajuku girl-themed camera for Hewlett-Packard. Stefani made her acting debut playing Jean Harlow in the 2004 Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator and made a quick cameo appearance in the movie Zoolander. Stefani lent her voice to the title character of Malice, a PS2 and Xbox video game; before completion, however, the company opted not to use No Doubt band-members' voices. Personal life Stefani has had three weddings: one in London, one in California and a private wedding for close relatives. Stefani met Bush and now Institute frontman Gavin Rossdale in 1995 at a concert in which she was performing to promote Tragic Kingdom. On September 14, 2002 Stefani and Rossdale married, and they have homes in California and the Primrose Hill district of London . In December 2005 they announced that they were expecting their first child together, the pregnancy being announced during a concert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During an August 8, 2005 appearance on the radio show Loveline, Rossdale said that he and Stefani preferred to keep their relationship entirely out of the media. He also said that he grew up in a chaotic home, and stated that having a stable environment for his family was important to him. On May 26, 2006, their son, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, was born at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Kingston weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces (3.4 kilograms) and was born by caesarean section due to breech presentation. Stefani has been quoted as saying that she and Madonna share a common Italian relative. Stefani claimed that her great aunt married a man from Detroit, Michigan (the area of Michigan that Madonna is from) with the last name "Ciccone." Albums Singles Grammy Award history MTV Video Music Awards Best Male Video Award Best Female Award Best Group Video Award Best Pop Video Award Best Choreography Award Best Art Direction Award Trivia Notes See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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