Gwen Stefani

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Gwen Renée StefaniSome sources give Stefani's first name as Gwendolyn, but her first name is simply Gwen. Her listing on the California Birth Index from the Center for Health Statistics gives a birth name of Gwen Renée Stefani. (born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, fashion designer, and actress; and is the frontwoman of the pop/ska/rock band No Doubt. Stefani is married to Gavin Rossdale. They have one son, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale.

Stefani first experienced mainstream success with the release of No Doubt's 1995 album Tragic Kingdom, which spawned hits such as "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak".

In 2004, Gwen Stefani wrote and recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. The album contained pop music and dance tracks, including hip hop and R&B-influences. The third single, "Hollaback Girl", was very successful, and became the first U.S. digital single to exceed sales of one million.

Stefani is currently recording with No Doubt on an album that's expected to be released sometime in 2007.

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. 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 The Simpsons. Other members of the group include Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young.

Career

1992-2004: No Doubt

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 due to the break up of Kanal and Stefani. However, this was to become a major inspiration for Stefani lyrically. 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". 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. It was yielded by the first single "What You Waiting For?", which was a top twenty success in Asia and Europe. The album made its debut on the U.S. Billboard 200 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. Stefani had 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. "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. It was also the first U.S. digital download to surpass sales of one million, and its brass-driven instrumentation remained popular throughout 2005. The fourth single "Cool" was released shortly following the success of its predecessor, but failed to match its chart success, reaching the U.S. top ten 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, and 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. The sixth single "Crash" was released in early 2006 in lieu of the production of Love. Angel. Music. Baby. sequel, which Stefani 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 Rap/Sung Collaboration. Stefani did not receive any awards at the Grammys on February 8, 2006.

While Stefani had an extremely successful solo career with Love. Angel. Music. Baby., she plans on recording with No Doubt in 2006. The other members of No Doubt have returned to the studio and it is claimed that bandmate Tony Kanal has already wrote new songs. The upcoming album is expected to be released in 2007.

Harajuku Girls

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 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.

Personal life

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, they welcomed a son, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Kingston weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces (3.4 kilograms)http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/05/27/1148524919261.html], [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=103779 http://et.tv.yahoo.com/celebrities/14864/ and was born by caesarean section due to breech presentation.

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart Positions									World Sales
		U.S.	UK	CAN	AUS	MEX	GER	AT	CH	NL
2004	Love. Angel. Music. Baby.	5	4	3	1	2	11	12	17	14	7 Milion

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions							RIAA Certification
		U.S.	UK	CAN	AUS	GER	AT	SW
2000	Southside (duet with Moby)	14	align="center"
3	align="center"
align="center"
align="center"
align="center"
Not Certified
2001	Let Me Blow Ya Mind (& Eve)	2	4	29	align="center"
5	6	1	2x Platinum
2004	What You Waiting For	47	4	24	1	22	7	17	Platinum
2005	Rich Girl (featuring Eve)	7	4	12	2	14	10	5	2 x Platinum
2005	Hollaback Girl	1	8	12	1	3	5	4	5x Platinum
2005	Cool	13	11	1	10	20	15	3	Gold
2005	Can I Have It Like That (& Pharell)	48	3	99	22	37	47	67	Not Certified
2005	Luxurious (featuring Slim Thug)	21	44	10	25	67	66	39	Gold
2006	Crash	49	align="center"
87	align="center"
align="center"
align="center"
align="center"
Not Certified

Grammy Award history

Category	Genre	Song	Year	Result
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance	Pop	"Hollaback Girl"	2006	Nominated
Record of the Year	General	"Hollaback Girl"	2006	Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Album	Pop	Love.Angel.Music.Baby	2006	Nominated
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration	Rap	"Rich Girl"	2006	Nominated
Album of the Year	General	Love.Angel.Music.Baby	2006	Nominated
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance	Pop	"What You Waiting For?"	2005	Nominated
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration	Rap	"Let Me Blow Ya Mind"	2002	Won

Best Male Video Award

2001: Moby ft. Gwen Stefani - Southside

Best Female Award

2001: Eve ft. Gwen Stefani - Let Me Blow Ya Mind

Best Group Video Award

2002: No Doubt - Hey Baby

2004: No Doubt - It's My Life

Best Pop Video Award

2002: No Doubt - Hey Baby

2004: No Doubt - It's My Life

Best Choreography Award

2005: Hollaback Girl

Best Art Direction Award

2005: What You Waiting For

Trivia

• Stefani has created a successful fashion line, named L.A.M.B., which showcases clothing that Stefani is often seen wearing herself. She reportedly received an $8 million advance for associating her name with the line. 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.
• Stefani's nicknames are Sunshine and G-loc.
• She designed and promoted a camera for Hewlett-Packard.
• Stefani has said that the part of her body she values most is her feet.
• Stefani has the honor of being the only person to win in the Best Male Video and Best Female Video categories at the MTV Video Music Awards, and in the same year. In 2001, Moby won Best Male video for "Southside", which Stefani was featured in, and Eve won Best Female video for "Let Me Blow Ya Mind", which also featured Stefani.
• Stefani's favourite bands include Sublime, 311, Blur, Radiohead, Madness and Jamiroquai.
• Stefani is close friends with Shirley Manson, lead singer of the band Garbage.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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."Alison Rosen. [Bursting into Stardom]. Axcess Magazine. April/May 1996
• Stefani had three weddings; one in London, one in California and a private wedding for close relatives.
• 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."
• As a friend and former crush to Bradley Nowell, of the ska/punk band Sublime, Stefani staged a benefit concert in Southern California following his death. She also sung opposite Nowell in the 1994 Sublime song "Saw Red" and the 1995 song "Total Hate 95".
• She still keeps close friendly ties with all members of No Doubt.
• The original Italian pronunciation of her surname Stefani is Stèfani (first syllable stressed)
• The name of her debut solo album, Love.Angel.Music.Baby. shares the name with her clothing line, L.A.M.B. (L. for Love, A. for Angel, M. for Music, B. for Baby)

See also

• Harajuku Girls
• Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• List of artists who reached number one in Ireland

Notes

External links