Gwen Ren?e Stefani (born October 3, 1969) is an American singer and
the frontwoman of the pop/rock band No Doubt who launched a successful
solo career in 2004.
Stefani was born in Anaheim, California. Her father, Denis, is Italian
American, and her mother Patti is of English and Scottish descent. She
has a sister, Jill, and two brothers, Eric and Todd. She attended
California State University, Fullerton, and Loara High School (class
of 1987), where she was on the swim team. Her first job was scrubbing
floors at a Dairy Queen, and she once worked at a department store.
Her brother Eric but eventually left the band to pursue a career in
animation on The Simpsons. He was the keyboardist for No Doubt. Other
members of the group include Tony Kanal (with whom Stefani had a seven
year relationship), Tom Dumont, and drummer Adrian Young. On September
14, 2002, Stefani married Gavin Rossdale, former lead singer of the
band Bush. In 2003, No Doubt took an unlimited break to concentrate on
other projects; Stefani pursued a solo career, releasing the album
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. to great success.
The band's third album (following their eponymous debut No Doubt
(1992) and The Beacon Street Collection (1995), Tragic Kingdom, took
three years to make. During this time, the band almost split up. The
album was released in 1995 and spawned several hits, beginning with
"Just a Girl". 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". Many of the album's songs, including "Don't Speak" and
"Spiderwebs", were inspired by Stefani's relationship and breakup with
fellow band member Tony Kanal. Stefani had dated Kanal for seven years
until he ended the relationship. She slipped into depression after
touring for Tragic Kingdom.
The album also spun off the moderately successful hits, "Excuse Me
Mr." and "Sunday Morning", which were released as the fourth and fifth
singles, respectively.
Stefani met Bush guitarist Gavin Rossdale in 1995 at a concert in
which she was performing to promote Tragic Kingdom. No Doubt went on
to tour as Bush's opening act for three months during which the
relationship between Stefani and Rossdale blossomed. On September 14,
2002, they were married firstly in London and later after a short
honeymoon had another ceremony in Los Angeles at Jimmy Iovine's house.
The Beacon Street Collection was re-released in October 1997 on the
back of the success of Tragic Kingdom and No Doubt returned in 2000
with the acclaimed Return of Saturn, followed by Rock Steady in 2001.
After winning two years in a row the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or
a Group award at the Grammys, the release of The Singles 1992-2003 and
Everything in Time: B-sides, Remixes and Rarities prompted media
speculation about a break-up, which the band refuted in later
interviews.
Solo career
Stefani's debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., was released in
the United States on November 23, 2004. It managed to sell more copies
in its first week than any No Doubt album (350,000), debuting at
number seven on the Billboard 200, impressive for a debut solo artist.
Her album was certified platinum (1,000,000 copies sold) after only
four weeks of sales. Stefani collaborated with songwriter Linda Perry
(4 Non Blondes) on the album.
The first solo single Stefani released was "What You Waiting For?" It
debuted at number one on the Australian singles chart and at number
four on the UK chart, and peaked at number forty-seven on the U.S.
chart, making it a relative American flop for Stefani. In Canada, it
managed to climb to number eleven, but almost instantly dropped out of
the top forty. The song was also only seldom played on Canadian radio.
Even though it did not perform all that well on the charts, it was a
dance hit, climbing to number one on the U.S. dance club play charts.
However, the song received little audience on dance radio, and
ultimately did not peak in the top forty.
The second single, "Rich Girl," another duet with Eve, was produced by
Dr. Dre. It is partly a cover of the song "If I Was A Rich Man"
written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, from the musical, Fiddler
on the Roof. It shot its way into the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at
number seven, and number three on the Pop 100. It was also featured on
a Pepsi commercial, starting on Super Bowl Sunday, 2005. The music
video lived up to its name, featuring Stefani and Eve dancing on a
pirate ship, where young Asian girls determined the outcome of their
adventure.
Stefani in a scene from the music video for "Hollaback Love. Angel.
Music. Baby.'s third single, "Hollaback Girl", produced and co-written
by the Neptunes, was released in April of 2005 and became one of the
fastest rising songs of the year. In only its sixth week, it hit
number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Stefani the first white,
non-urban, and non-American Idol artist to reach the top spot since
Nickelback in 2001/2002 with their hit, "How You Remind Me". The song
held this position for one month and subsequently remained in the top
ten for an additional two months. In Australia, the song debuted at
number one, where it hailed for one week, selling over 5,000 copies.
When the song was released in the U.K., it debuted at number eight.
The following week, it duplicated the same position, confusing many.
Due to its large audience in North America, critics assumed that it
was a sure-fire number one. Then, in its third week, it fell to number
eleven, unable to climb to a higher peak. Despite not being as
successful as predicted, it did manage to sell in excess of 50,000
copies. "Hollaback Girl" also helped Love. Angel. Music. Baby. climb
the charts. "Hollaback Girl" is now receiving a certified 5x platinum.
In May 2005, while "Hollaback Girl" was enjoying its success,
speculation about the next single from Love. Angel. Music. Baby. grew
intensely. At first, it was rumoured that "Bubble Pop Electric", an
urban-influenced track about a classic 1980s date was going to be the
next single. At the end of the month, "Cool", a happy-go-lucky pop
song about a disastrous relationship that didn't result so horribly,
was rumoured to be the next single.
As no other song on the album was being thrown into the mix, it was
evident that it was going to be one of the two songs. Finally, on June
16, 2005, "Cool" debuted on the Billboard Pop Airplay chart at number
forty-four, putting a rest to the ongoing rumours. The single went on
to reach number thirteen in the U.S., number two in Canada, and number
eleven in the United Kingdom.
"Cool" premiered on TRL on June 30, 2005. The video, filmed in Lake
Como, Italy, sees Stefani paying homage to her Italian heritage as
well as 1950s bombshells Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Sophia
Loren, and Brigitte Bardot. The song went gold, but was a very small
hit compared to the chartbuster Hollaback Girl, perhaps partly because
of competition with Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together".
It was confirmed on September 24, 2005 by MTV and Stefani herself that
Luxurious was to be the fifth single after "Cool". There was other of
rumours going around of what the fifth single would be. Many fans
wanted the zany and wild "Bubble Pop Electric" or the laid back and
cool "Serious". On October 24, 2005, the video for "Luxurious"
premiered in Canada on MuchMusic's MuchOnDemand (MOD) program. It is
now currently fifty-five on the Billboard Hot 100 ending on the week
of November 5, 2005.
Stefani has also confirmed that a new solo album will be out by Winter
2005, and MTV has revealed that one of the songs she recorded for the
new album (though it might not make the final cut) is called
"Fluorescent Lights".
At the 2005 Brit Awards show (in February), Stefani won the category
of International Female Solo Artist.
Trivia
* 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, Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, Nicole Richie,
Jenny McCarthy, Alicia Keys and Halle Berry have been seen sporting
her fashion line and LeSportsac bags.
* Stefani's nicknames are Sunshine and G-loc.
* Her parents still own and reside in the Anaheim, California home
that she grew up in, near her high school.
* She is dyslexic.
* Stefani's favourite bands include 311, Blur, Radiohead and
Jamiroquai.
* 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.
* Girls and young women who imitate Stefani's distinctive style of
dress are sometimes referred to as "Gwennabes" or "Gwenabees".
* Stefani made her acting debut playing Jean Harlow in the 2004 Martin
Scorsese movie The Aviator, but made a quick cameo appearance in the
movie Zoolander.
* Stefani was considered for the role of Jane Smith in a movie Mr. &
Mrs. Smith after Nicole Kidman dropped out. The role eventually went
to Angelina Jolie.
* When not touring, or working on her other projects, she shares two
homes with her husband, Gavin Rossdale. One in the Los Feliz
neighborhood of Los Angeles and the other in London.
* Her vinyl red gown that she wore on the cover of No Doubt's Tragic
Kingdom was stolen from the Fullertown Museum Centre in Orange County,
United States. Speculation circulates that the dress might have been
sold.
* Stefani's eyes are dark brown and her natural hair colour is brown,
though she has coloured it blue and pink at times. Her trademarks
include her famously platinum blonde hair and her red lipstick.
* Stefani has been quoted as saying: "I think I've been able to fool a
lot of people because I know I'm a dork. I'm a geek."