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Gwen Stefani

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uuid=8b46d708-c338-4a28-91e6-6063b67fedb0 "Gwen Stefani - Profile"]. E!. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref> Gwen's parents were fans of folk music and presented music by Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris to her. Gwen is the second oldest of four children; she has a younger sister Jill, a younger brother Todd, and an older brother Eric. Eric was the keyboardist for No Doubt, but left the band to pursue a career in animation on The Simpsons.

Many of the women in Gwen's family were seamstresses, and much of her clothing was made by her or her mother. As a child, Stefani's musical interests consisted of musicals such as The Sound of Music and Evita. After making a demo tape for her father, she was encouraged not to take music lessons to train her "loopy, unpredictable" voice. Stefani's first on-stage performance came during a talent show at Loara High School, where she sang "I Have Confidence" from The Sound of Music in a self-made tweed dress inspired by one from the film. Stefani was on the swim team at Loara, and she worked scrubbing floors at a Dairy Queen and later at the makeup counter of a department store. After graduating from high school in 1987, she began attending California State University, Fullerton.

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Non-musical projects

Stefani made most of the clothing that she wore on stage with No Doubt, resulting in increasingly eclectic combinations. Stylist Andrea Lieberman introduced her to haute couture clothing, which lead to Stefani launching a fashion line named L.A.M.B. in 2004. The line takes influence from a variety of fashions, including Guatemalan, Japanese, and Jamaican styles. The line achieved popularity among celebrities and is worn by stars such as Teri Hatcher, Nicole Kidman, and Stefani herself. In June 2005, she expanded her collection with the less expensive Harajuku Lovers line, which she referred to as "a glorified merchandise line", with varied products including a camera, mobile phone charms, and undergarments. In late 2006, Stefani released a limited edition line of dolls called "Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Fashion dolls". The dolls are inspired by the various costumes that Stefani and the Harajuku Girls wore while touring for the album. In late summer of 2007, Gwen Stefani launched a perfume, L, her first, as a part of her LAMB collection of clothing and accessories. The perfume has high notes of sweet pea and rose.

In 2004, Stefani showed interest in making film appearances and began auditioning for films such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith. She made her acting debut playing Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese's biopic The Aviator in 2004. Martin Scorsese, whose daughter was a fan of No Doubt, showed reciprocal interest in casting Stefani after seeing her picture from a Marilyn Monroe-inspired photo shoot for Teen Vogue in 2003. To prepare for the role, Stefani read two biographies and watched eighteen of Harlow's films. Shooting her part took four to five days, and Stefani had few lines. Stefani lent her voice to the title character of Malice, a PS2 and Xbox video game in 2004; before completion, however, the company opted not to use No Doubt band-members' voices.

Personal life

Stefani's bandmate and ex-boyfriend Tony Kanal

Stefani had a crush on bandmate Tony Kanal when he joined No Doubt, but Kanal initially rejected her because her older brother was in the band and Kanal felt it was an unspoken rule that no one of the band date her. The two eventually began dating and were "inseparable" by the early 1990s. Stefani stated that she was heavily invested in the relationship, commenting that "all I ever did was look at Tony and pray that God would let me have a baby with him." Kanal ended the relationship because he said that he needed "space".

During her time with No Doubt, the band toured with ska punk band Reel Big Fish, whose frontman, Aaron Barrett, later wrote the song "She's Famous Now" for Reel Big Fish's 1998 album Why Do They Rock So Hard?. The song is commonly interpreted to be about a relationship between the two and Stefani's subsequent success with No Doubt; however, Barrett later stated that he "was just trying to start a rumor".

Stefani's husband, Gavin Rossdale

In December 1995, Stefani met Bush guitarist and lead singer Gavin Rossdale at a No Doubt concert, and the two became involved in a long distance relationship. The couple has kept details about its relationship private, avoiding talking to journalists together. They married in 2002, with a wedding in St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, London. A second wedding was held in Los Angeles, California two weeks later. According to Stefani, it was held so that she could wear a custom-designed wedding dress by British-Gibraltarian fashion designer John Galliano.

The couple discovered in 2004 that Rossdale had an illegitimate daughter Daisy (b. 1989) from a previous fling with model Pearl Lowe when Rossdale took a paternity test. Stefani was "devastated and infuriated" at the discovery, leading to a rocky patch in her relationship with Rossdale. Stefani does not have a relationship with Daisy, though Rossdale remains Daisy's godfather. Stefani's song "Danger Zone" was widely believed to be about the discovery and its aftermath; however, the song was written prior to the incident.

In December 2005, Stefani and Rossdale announced that they were expecting their first child together. The pregnancy was first reported by Us Weekly, and Stefani confirmed the pregnancy by shouting "I want you to sing so loud that the baby hears it" during a concert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after her press agent stated that it was untrue. On May 26, 2006, their son, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, was born via caesarean section at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Kingston weighed 3.4 kilograms (7 pounds, 5 ounces). Stefani plans to have another baby.

Public image

Stefani performing in May 2007, wearing the G logo on a belt buckle.

Stefani is often identified by her unique appearance. She began wearing a bindi in the mid 1990s after attending several family gatherings for Kanal, who is of Indian heritage. During No Doubt's breakthrough, Stefani wore the forehead decoration in several of the band's music videos and briefly popularized the accessory in 1997. First attracting attention in the 1995 music video for "Just a Girl", Stefani is known for her midriff and frequently wears shirts that expose it. Stefani's makeup design generally includes light face powder, bright red lipstick, and arched eyebrows; she wrote about the subject in a song titled "Magic's in the Makeup" for No Doubt's Return of Saturn, asking "If the magic's in the makeup/Then who am I?".

Stefani is a natural brunette, though her hair has not been its natural color since Stefani was in ninth grade. Since then, she has had platinum blonde hair. Stefani discussed this in the song "Platinum Blonde Life" on Rock Steady and played original blonde bombshell Jean Harlow in 2004. Stefani also dyed her hair blue in 1998 and pink in 2000, appearing on the cover of Return of Saturn with pink hair.

In 2006, Stefani modified her image, inspired by that of Elvira Hancock, a rich coke whore portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1983 film Scarface. The reinvented image included a symbol consisting of two back-to-back G's, which appears on a diamond-encrusted key she wears on a necklace and which became a motif in the promotion of The Sweet Escape. Stefani raised concerns in January 2007 about her rapid weight loss following her pregnancy. She stated she lost the weight through diet and exercise but admitted to obsessing over her weight due to the size zero trend. She later stated that she had been on a diet since the sixth grade to fit in size 4 clothing, commenting, "It's an ongoing battle and it's a nightmare. But I like clothes too much, and I always wanted to wear the outfits I would make."

Harajuku Girls

Stefani performing with the Harajuku Girls, dressed as nurses, on the Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005.

The release of Stefani's first solo album brought attention to her entourage of four Harajuku Girls, named for the area around the Harajuku Station of Tokyo, Japan. Stefani treats the back-up dancers, who appear in outfits influenced by Gothic Lolita fashion, as a figment of her imagination. Stefani's clothing also took influence from Japanese fashion, in a style described as a combination between Christian Dior and Japan. The dancers are featured in her music videos, press coverage, and on the album cover for Love. Angel. Music. Baby., with a song named for and dedicated to them on the album. They were also featured in, and the namesake for, Stefani's Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005.

Discography

Main article: Gwen Stefani discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

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External links

Gwen Stefani
Studio albums
Video albums
Singles
Featured singles
Promotional singles
Other songs
Concerts and tours
Television
Related articles
No Doubt
Studio albums
Compilations
Video albums
Singles
Promotional singles
Concert tours
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