Category: Article

For Gwen Stefani, never a doubt

The singer-songwriter always knew No Doubt would rise again. No matter how long it took. By Randy Lewis

Gwen Stefani may be a superstar pop singer, hit songwriter, fashion maven and role model for millions of girls and young women, but on a brutally hot afternoon late last week, on a loading dock outside a largely empty sports arena in Ontario, she was just a mom, trying to keep her 3-year-old son entertained while she took on an impromptu decorating project.

“I don’t have time to do this, but you know me — once I get obsessed with something . . .,” Stefani said while splattering globs of sky blue, neon orange and electric pink paint across three large squares of white fabric. She and a couple of friends were creating tapestries that will hang in the backstage dressing rooms during the first full-scale concert tour in seven years by No Doubt, the once-scrappy ska-rock group that emerged from Anaheim to become one of the biggest-selling pop music acts of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Nearby, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, the first of Stefani’s two kids with rock star hubby Gavin Rossdale, frolicked over a separate sheet of material reserved for him. Eager to include his 8-month-old brother, Zuma, in the fun, James (as Stefani usually calls him) plopped his hands on his young sibling’s head. Read the rest of this article »

Summer reunion

No Doubt kicks off tour in Borgata by Alan Scully

When No Doubt went on hiatus in 2004, nobody in the band faced a bigger adjustment than Tony Kanal, the band’s bassist and along with singer Gwen Stefani, a key songwriting contributor for the band.

For Stefani, the break gave her the opportunity to launch her solo career, which she did with great success. She made two CDs – “Love.Angel.Music.Baby” and “The Sweet Escape” – each of which went platinum and allowed her to stretch musically into a sound that liberally mixed hip-hop and dance styles with pop. She also married former Bush singer Gavin Rossdale, with whom she has had two sons.

Guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young, who are also married and parents, got in some family time, pursued outside music projects and also had time for their favorite hobbies – surfing and golf, respectively. Read the rest of this article »

Reunited

Gwen Stefani and No Doubt kick off reunion tour at Borgata by Ed Conran

When a recording artist possesses star quality, it’s usually fairly apparent. That’s typically so well before a singer-songwriter goes national. While having drinks, hot water and whiskey, with Courtney Love, circa 1991, it was obvious that the virtually unknown, yet larger-than-life rocker was destined to become a star. But then there was Dave Matthews. After chatting with the laidback Matthews before an early club show once, I never in a million would have guessed the soft-spoken, unassuming songsmith would become an icon.

And then there is Gwen Stefani, who fits somewhere in the middle between Love and Matthews. It was obvious that the bottle-blonde No Doubt vocalist from Orange County, Calif., wanted to become a pop sensation. Read the rest of this article »

Back in the saddle

No album, no game plan, no problem!

But as No Doubt embark on their first tour in five years, Gwen Stefani and her droogs face the biggest challenge of their career: uncertainty. By David Marchese. Photographs by Marc Hom

“We need this so badly,” says Gwen Stefani in the perpetually questioning accent of a native Cali girl. “We’ve been in a drought for, like, years.” She’s talking about the rain currently pelting the greater Los Angeles area. Presumably.

On an early March afternoon, the platinum blond singer, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail, is looking through the kitchen window of the recording studio where she and bandmates Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, and Adrian Young have been working on a cover of Adam and the Ants’ “Stand and Deliver.” It’s the first music they’ve recorded together in half a decade. Read the rest of this article »

No Doubt’s drummer and me

Up close, my famous friend looks about the same, but richer. By Eric Carpenter

With his green-plaid pants and his bright red mohawk and his fame, Adrian Young gets a lot of stares as he walks the lobby of the recent National Association of Music Merchant’s trade show.

Hey, that’s the drummer for No Doubt, I hear again and again as I walk next to Young. A few people stop to shake his hand or ask for him to pose for a photo.

But, initially at least, fame doesn’t get him on the convention floor. The trade show isn’t open to the public, and Young forgot his wallet at home in Lakewood. No I.D. No entry. No exceptions. Read the rest of this article »

Gwen’s glam life

Gwen Stefani talks about family, music and her cuting edge style inspirations – plus why she loves Bloomingdale’s. By Melissa Walker

Red lips, platinum blonde hair and bold prints – that’s Gwen Stefani’s signature style. The musician and designer’s rocker-meets-school-girl look, which ranges from bright plaids to fitted leopard-print dresses to black-and-white stripes, has eveolved into serious glamour. “The L.A.M.B girl is me,” says Stefani, speaking of her clothing and accessories line, an acronym of “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.” Interpretation: The pieces are meant for someone individual, chic and always experimenting. The L.A.M.B-Bloomingdale’s partnership has been very successful. “I love Bloomingdale’s,” says Stefani. “They have been very supportive of L.A.M.B from the beginning.” Read the rest of this article »

Gwen’s baby weight panic

When Gwen Stefani was carrying her son Zuma, she gained an estimated 45 pounds – and often joked to friends that she was “huge.” But insiders tell InTouch that the pop star’s jabs at herself were no laughing matter. “Gwen was very insecure during her pregnancy with Zuma. She thought she wasn’t sexy,” reveals an insider. “She would look at pictures in magazines and comment on how skinny other women were. Being pregnant was a blessing, but it also was very hard to let her body go.”

Gwen’s husband, Gavin Rossdale, 40, admitted recently that she feels pressure to get her sexy body back. “It’s very hard because everyone’s so judged,” he said. Read the rest of this article »

Gwen vows to lose 3st in just 3 months!

New mum Gwen Stefani goes on a strict diet and exercise regime to get her abs back

Just three weeks after giving birth to her second son Zuma, Gwen Stefani has embarked on a post-baby weight-loss plan and intends to shed almost 3st within three months.

The 5ft 7 singer – who’s also mum to two-year-old Kingston – has hired Jennifer Lopez’s personal trainer to help with her six-days-a-week workouts, and gone on a strict diet to snap back to her pre-baby shape, a pal told Closer.

“She’s really excited about getting to the gym and getting her abs back, and has told everyone she’s determined to lose 2st 12lbs over the next three months,” the pal said. Read the rest of this article »

It’s a Boy!

Kingston, meet your little brother! Stefani and Rossdale welcome a second son in LA via C-section.

Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale

Born: August 21, 2008 Los Angeles

Weight: 8 1/2 pounds

“You ready to take your baby home?” Gwen Stefani asked her 2-year-old son, Kingston. The singer, in a long black robe and her hair in a ponytail, and her husband Gavin Rossdale were rolling their new baby boy in a bassinet out of the nursery of LA’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center August 24. Kingston seemed more than ready to assume his new role as big brother to Zuma Nesta Rock, who had arrived three days earlier, referring to the newborn as “my baby.” Read the rest of this article »

Gwen Stefani talks babies

As their happy family grows to four with the birth of Zuma Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale share their thoughts on parenthood and marriage.

Gwen Stefani and her rock star husband Gavin Rossdale were the picture of contentment as they brought baby Zuma Nesta Rock back to their Los Angeles home last week after his birth at the Cedar Sinai Medical Center.

The new arrival, whose unusual first name is thought to be inspired by a beach near their home, is a brother for two-year-old Kingston. It means the 38-year-old pop star has to meet the demands of two small children at the same time as recovering from a Cesarean, but Gwen insists she’s happier than ever. Motherhood, she says, is “one of the most incredible events in my life”. Read the rest of this article »