Tag: Don’t Speak

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 »

The Making Of Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’

‘It’s a song that says you don’t have to answer back,” Gwen says. By Jennifer Vineyard

Going solo wasn’t as easy as Gwen thought it would be.

She’d originally intended to just take a break from No Doubt and make a fun little dance record. But, encouraged by her label boss and others, she’d decided to swing for the fences, and now that she was deep in it, the album suddenly didn’t seem like it was going to be all that much fun — and it definitely wasn’t going to be little.

Stranded without her longtime bandmates and plagued by writer’s block, she nervously turned to a host of producers, songwriters and musicians for creative help. This strategy proved useful, but it had a downside: The music came so easily to everyone else that it made her feel insecure — and jealous. “I’ve had a hard time with my ego,” she said, “because it gets bruised.” Read the rest of this article »

Gwen Stefani

Whether with No Doubt or solo, pop’s blonde bombshell is hardly “just a girl”

Do you remember what you were doing in 1985?
I remember exactly what I was doing. I was in high school and in love with this guy named Matt. He was on the drum line. I had a bob haircut and wore black-and-white tights and little mod-style outfits, listening to Madness or the Specials. I was hard-core into ska and thrift-store shopping, and making my own shit – trying not to be like everyone else. Read the rest of this article »

Rock idol

Equal parts punkette and starlet, gwen Stefani is about to go super-stellar. Scorsese’s new star and pop’s hottest hybrid, she’s far from just a girl, says Charlotte Sinclair. Photographs by Lorenzo Agius. Styled by Andrea Lieberman.

Gwen Stefani is half way through our cover shoot when there’s a security breach at the country house that’s serving as our location. While on a tour of the building, a group of blue-rinsed ladies stumble into the music room where Gwen is being photographed. If the peroxide blonde with flowers in her hairs stirs recognition in the octogenarians, it probably owes more to their memories of Forties starlets than any familiarity with the sexy, stylish, stiletto-wearing tomboy who fronts the Californian rock band No Doubt. Gwen is non-plussed, and smiles graciously, arching a perfectly penciled eyebrow at the group as they are ushered outside outside onto the lawn, their chorus of interest (‘Goodness, wasn’t she pretty?’ and ‘Who was that?’) drifting in through the open window as the shoot resumes. The renegade OAPs could be forgiven for their ignorance, but Gwen Stefani – whose currency as a bona fide rock chick, fashion icon and budding actress is already soaring – is about to hit the big time. Read the rest of this article »

The Greatest Show on Earth?

Well, No Doubt’s greatest hits, anyway – which is what they’ll be playing on their last tour before Gwen Stefani drops a solo CD. By Chris Willman.

Shooting what little breeze there is on a hot, insufferably still LA day, Gwen Stefani suddenly feels the need to cull a statistic from a bandmate. “How many times do you think you’ve thrown up in your life, Tony?” she asks. Tony Kanal looks like he’s not certain he wants to play this game. “I’m not sure it’s a lot,” the bass player answers with a nervous chuckle. Better to focus on the immediate future. “This time,” he insists, “it’s gonna be much more mellow and healthy.” Fifty points if you’ve already figured out our subject of the day: rock touring. Their little O.C.-teem-ska-band-that-could, No Doubt, is hitting the amphitheater circuit in June, pairing up with blink-182 for one of the summer’s most anticipated tours. (One of the most economical too: Ticket prices top out in the mid-two-figure range, or about $250 cheaper than it’d cost you for a similar seat to see Madonna.) It’s a nationwide victory lap in honor of their recent blockbuster hits collection, The Singles 1992-2003, whose new song, a cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life,” afforded them yet another top 10 smash (their tenth). This could be the optimal point in their history to catch the band: They’ve been together long enough to almost count as seasoned elder statesmen – 17 years, which is about 170 in rock years – but, being still in their 30s, they’re vigorous, scrappy, and in no danger yet of outgrowing their audience. Read the rest of this article »

She’s a rebel

No one tells Gwen Stefani what to do – thank God! We get to the roots of her rock’n'roll style. By Gia Kourlas. Photographed by Gilles Bensimon.

Gwen Stefani doesn’t like to be made over and why should she? “I always do my own makeup and hair,” she declares. “Every time I’ve experimented, it’s been a disaster.” Once you get past the obvious – that her powerful vocals have been a trademark of No Doubt for 15 years and that she writes most of the music herself – the coolest thing about Gwen is that totally original look. And at 32, she says she’s having more fun with her look – and her life – than ever. No Doubt’s latest album, Rock Steady, is an irresistible dance party in disc form, and Gwen’s relationship with fiancé Gavin Rossdlae of Bush seems pretty rock steady too. Great! Because what we really wanted to grill Gwen about was her personal style, and, lucky for us, she was willing to play along… Read the rest of this article »

This girl rocks!

No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani on Britney, learning to walk in heels and the trouble with zippers.

Gwen Stefani is the kind of girl that other girls want to be. She’s in control and in No Doubt… where she writes most of the songs and gets to live out her rock-star fantasies night after night. Then there was that video with Eve, the platinum blonde hair (and life), bee-stung lips and the gawky grace of her sun kissed bod. And did we even mention the fact that her snuggle-bunny is Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale? Read the rest of this article »

Power POP Orbit

Tom Dumont launches more hooks for No Doubt’s Return of Saturn. By Kyle Swenson.

The moment the world got smashed over the head with No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” from 1996’s Tragic Kingdom, it was widely assumed the band was an overnight sensation. Not exactly.

The band formed in 1986, watched their major-label debut album flop in 1992, and logged years of recording an performing before its new wave/reggae/ska sound made a blip on the rock and roll radar.

In fact, as Tragic Kingdom was exploding towards number one on the charts, lead singer Gwen Stefani stated on the band’s Web site: “Last year, we were hanging by a thread. We were ready to quit and save ourselves from becoming a bunch of losers.” Read the rest of this article »

Girl without a doubt

No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani’s Happy Sound Delights Millions of Young Fans

Halfway through No Doubt’s feminist-lite hit “Just a Girl,” vocalist Gwen Stefani invites the boys in the Worcester Centrum audience to sing along: “I’m just a girl… I’m just a girl in the world.”

The boys comply, so Stefani gloats – “Haa-ha!”

“Now what about the girls? What about all the cute, sweet, innocent, sexy girls?” she asks. Her voice is sugary and almost Betty Boop. “Okay, girls, ready? It goes like this: `{Expletive} you, I’m a girl!’ ” The filled-to-capacity arena explodes with shrieks and giggles. The girls are self-conscious and red-faced as they repeat after Stefani, but they’re also as defiant as you can be when you’re 12 years old and have come to your first-ever concert with your mom. Read the rest of this article »