Tag: Tim Rice-Oxley

Gwen Stefani – The escape artist

New album? New tour? A possible No Doubt reunion in the near future? No problem. But this time around, Gwen Stefani’s got a baby on board.

Gwen Stefani wanted to be sure that her return from a between-albums hiatus was going to be, well, a wind-up. “I was thinking about how you disappear and come back, and I’m kind of coming back from being gone a minute,” Gwen hollas back over dinner at hip London eatery, Nobu. “The idea was to focus on the word ‘escape.’ I started thinking about the idea of Houdini. His whole gimmick was that his wife used to kiss him and pass the key through her mouth to him, and he would escape from his traps.”

Pry as we might, we can’t exactly confirm whether Gwen and husband Gavin Rossdale [Ed: Swoon!] are well-practiced in such techniques themselves, but we do know one thing she can’t escape from: her status as the coolest California Girl in popular music. Read the rest of this article »

‘I just want to make music and babies’

How can you balance 42 gigs in 70 days, a clothing label, a nine-month-old baby and a spot of yodelling? Gwen Stefani gives Chris Salmon some tips

La! Gur-la! Ah!” Gwen Stefani’s ninth-month-old son Kingston is making so much noise that his immaculately-dressed mother stops mid-sentence to look across the exclusive London members’ club to where he’s sitting with his nanny. “He’s OK,” says the singer brightly, “he’s just in a talking mood.” Read the rest of this article »

No doubting Gwen’s return to musical form

Facing the critics, working with Keane, recording with No Doubt again and Britney’s meltdown… We talk exclusively with superhot singer Gwen Stefani.

No Doubt about it
I had lunch with my band yesterday and we were just talking about the weird journey we’ve been on.

I made the last record not to intentionally go solo, it wasn’t like there was any problems in the band, it was just a fun album to make.

Then it got kinda drawn out because it was more successful than I thought. Then I wanted to tour, and I got pregnant, and I couldn’t see me doing a No Doubt record.

It didn’t seem like the right time. Creatively I wasn’t inspired by it, but the moment I finished recording this last record, I was like: “I think I know I want to record with No Doubt now.” It was so obvious that’s what I wanted. Read the rest of this article »

The good girl

Gwen Stefani’s new single, “Wind It Up,” celebrates her lifelong obsession with Maria from ‘The Sound of Music.’ Yet the singer says her latest stylistic muse is Michelle Pfeiffer’s drug-addled bombshell from ‘Scarface.’ As she prepares to release her second solo CD, the new mom talks about the unlikely people, places, and events that have shaped her career, her wardrobe – and her yodeling. By Clark Collis. Photographs by James Dimmock.

These are a few of Gwen Stefani’s favorite things: ‘The Sound of Music,’ ‘The Sound of Music,’ and, oh yes, ‘The Sound of Music.’ “I’m like a Trekkie, but for ‘The Sound of Music,’ ” says the No Doubt frontwoman and solo superstar. “The first time I ever went on stage, at a high school talent show, the dress that I wore was the dress that Maria wears when she sings ‘I Have Confidence.’ The drop-waist tweed dress. I had that dress. I made it.” Read the rest of this article »

Leopard changes her spots

Gwen Stefani is back. And guess what. Yup, she’s got a new look. By Dan Cairns

Okay, the hair, for starters. Gwen Stefani in the last days of 2006 has two new looks. Gone are the stacked Marie Antoinette constructions and the cascading, just-out-of-bed curls. This afternoon, in a London hotel room, she’s a rocker, and the shock-headed plume of peroxide in front of me isn’t moving an inch. Litres of lacquer have been spilt. When Stefani cocks or tilts her head, the stiff quiff remains unbending. Later, at the television studio, you could run a ruler along each perfect strand of blonde fringe, her alternate look. “Busy?” I ask her hairstylist. “Oh,” he says, his eyes rolling in their heavy mascara rims, “we’ve got lots to do.” Read the rest of this article »