Comprehensive information and links about Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani (born October 3, 1969Gwen Stefani is an American singer and actress, and is the frontwoman of the skarock band No Doubt.

Stefani first experienced mainstream success with the release of No Doubt's 1995 album , which spawned hits such as "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak". Follow-up albums did not match the sales of , but were successful on different levels of popularity and genre.

In 2004, Gwen Stefani wrote and recorded her first solo album , for which she consulted producers The Neptunes, singer-songwriter Linda Perry and OutKast frontman André 3000, among others. The album contained pop music and dance music tracks, including hip hop and slow jam-influences. The third single, "Hollaback Girl", was very successful, and became the first U.S. digital single to exceed sales of one million.

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Beginnings

Gwen Stefani was born in Anaheim, California. Her father, Denis 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. Stefani 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 was the keyboardist for No Doubt, but eventually left the band to pursue a career in animation on . Other members of the group include Tony Kanal (with whom Stefani had a seven year relationship), Tom Dumont, and drummer Adrian Young.

, took three years to make. During this time, the band almost split up due to the break up of Tony and Gwen. However, this was to become a major inspiration for Gwen lyrically. The album was released in 1995 and spawned several hits, beginning with "Just a Girl". Following the success of , 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 "Excuse Me Mr." were inspired by Stefani's relationship and breakup with fellow band member Tony Kanal.

Stefani met Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale in 1995 at a concert in which she was performing to promote 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 "Southside" and "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Moby and Eve respectively. In 2002, Eve and Stefani won a Grammy for Best Rap was released on November 22, 2004 in Europe and Asia and on November 23, 2004 in North America. Stefani's debut sold more copies in its first week (310,000) than any No Doubt album ever had in the United States. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and at number five on the Canadian albums chart; it reached number four in the UK and number one in Australia. Stefani had collaborated with singer-songwriter Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes on the album, along with Pharrell Williams and André 3000 among others.

"Rich Girl" was released as the second single from the album; it is a duet with rapper Eve, and produced by Dr. Dre. "Rich Girl" is an adaptation of a 1960s pop song by British reggae musicians Louchie Lou and Michie, which itself is partly a cover of the song "If I Were A Rich Man" from the musical , "Hollaback Girl" became Stefani's first North American and second Australian number-one single; it peaked at number eight in the United Kingdom. The song became the first U.S. digital download to surpass sales of one million. The fourth single "Cool" was released on July 5, 2005 in North America and August 22, 2005 elsewhere in the world, becoming a substantial hit but not did not match the chart success of its predecessor. It reached the top twenty in the U.S. and UK, the top ten in Australia and number one in Canada. The music video for "Cool," filmed in Lake Como, Italy, shows Stefani paying homage to her Italian heritage as well as 1950s bombshells Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Sophia Loren, and Brigitte Bardot.

"Luxurious" became the next single release from , and her sixth single "Crash" was released in early 2006 and is currently climbing the charts. Crash was released in lieu of the production of L.A.M.B.'s sequel, which Stefani postponed for a break (now known to have been postponed because of her pregnancy).

Gwen Stefani received five Grammy award nominations on December 8, 2005. She was nominated in the following categories: Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Best RapSung Collaboration. Unfortunately, Stefani did not recieve any awards at the Grammys on February 8, 2006.

Although Stefani is currently not working on solo material, it is said that No Doubt is to return to the studio in mid-2006.

The release of her solo album has also brought attention to Stefani's 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 center for teenagers. Following the of their namesake area, Stefani's Harajuku girls are usually flamboyantly dressed (sometimes in a somewhat "Gothic Lolita" , 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[1], 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,

dlStefani has taken the idea of Japanese street fashion and turned these women into modern-day geisha, contractually obligated to speak only Japanese in public, even though it's rumored they're just plain old Americans and their English is just fine... she's swallowed a subversive youth culture in Japan and barfed up another image of submissive giggling Asian women. magazine, stand-up comic Margaret Cho has labelled the Harajuku Girls as a "minstrel show" that reinforces racial stereotypes of Asian women.

Gwen Stefani with husband Gavin Rossdale, announced in December 2005 they are expecting their first child together. The baby is said to be due in late May or early June of 2006 [2]. She has been seen shopping for baby clothes in neutral colors, because she and husband, Gavin Rossdale, don't want to know the sex of their baby until she or he is born in June.

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, Carmen Electra, Nicole Richie, Jenny McCarthy, Alicia Keys and Halle Berry have been seen sporting her fashion line and LeSportsac bags.Although Stefani's natural hair color is brown and she has previously colored it blue and pink, she is known for her famously platinum blond hair and bright red lipstick. She has dark brown eyes., a PS2 and Xbox video game; before completion, however, the company opted not to use No Doubt band-members' voices.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. was stolen from the Fullerton Museum Centre in Orange County, United States. Speculation circulates that the dress might have been sold.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."[3]Stefani has been quoted in saying that she and Madonna share a common relative. Stefani has claimed that her great aunt married a man from Detroit, Michigan (the area of Michigan that Madonna is from) with the last name "Ciccone."Stefani lives between Los Feliz and London with husband, Gavin Rossdale. She still keeps close friendly ties with all members of No Doubt. - Adrian Young

Past members: John Spence - Eric Stefani

Collaborators: Bounty Killer - Elvis Costello - Lady Saw - Prince - Sublime - Pharrell Williams

Studio Albums: No Doubt - The Beacon Street Collection - Tragic Kingdom - Return Of Saturn - Rock Steady

Compilations: The Singles 1992-2003 - Everything In Time - Boom Box

DVD's: Live In The Tragic Kingdom - Rock Steady Live - The Videos 1992-2003