Gwen Stefani

At 55 years old, Gwen Stefani has this physical status:

Her brother Eric introduced Gwen to 2 Tone music by Madness and the Selecter and, in 1986, he invited her to provide vocals for No Doubt, a ska band he was forming. In 1991 the band was signed to Interscope Records. The band released its self-titled debut album in 1992, but its ska-pop sound was unsuccessful due to the popularity of grunge. Before the mainstream success of both No Doubt and Sublime, Stefani contributed guest vocals to "Saw Red" on Sublime's 1994 album Robbin' the Hood. Stefani rejected the aggressiveness of female grunge artists and cited Blondie singer Debbie Harry's combination of power and sex appeal as a major influence. No Doubt's third album, Tragic Kingdom (1995), which followed the self-released The Beacon Street Collection (1995), took more than three years to make. Five singles were released from Tragic Kingdom, including "Don't Speak", which led the Hot 100 Airplay year-end chart of 1997. Stefani left college for one semester to tour for Tragic Kingdom but did not return when touring lasted two and a half years. The album was nominated for a Grammy and sold more than 16 million copies worldwide by 2004. In late 2000, Rolling Stone magazine named her "the Queen of Confessional Pop".

During the time when No Doubt was receiving mainstream success, Stefani collaborated on the singles "You're the Boss" with the Brian Setzer Orchestra, "South Side" with Moby, and "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Eve. No Doubt released the less popular Return of Saturn in 2000, which expanded upon the new wave influences of Tragic Kingdom. Most of the lyrical content focused on Stefani's often rocky relationship with then-Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale and her insecurities, including indecision on settling down and having a child. The band's 2001 album, Rock Steady, explored more reggae and dancehall sounds, while maintaining the band's new wave influences. The album generated career-highest singles chart positions in the United States, and "Hey Baby" and "Underneath It All" received Grammy Awards. A greatest hits collection, The Singles 1992–2003, which includes a cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life", was released in 2003. In 2002, Eve and Stefani won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Let Me Blow Ya Mind".

Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was released on November 12, 2004. The album features several collaborations with producers and other artists, including Tony Kanal, Tom Rothrock, Linda Perry, André 3000, Nellee Hooper, the Neptunes and New Order. Stefani created the album to modernize the music to which she listened when in high school, and L.A.M.B. takes influence from a variety of music styles of the 1980s and early 1990s such as new wave, synthpop, and electro. Stefani's decision to use her solo career as an opportunity to delve further into pop music instead of trying "to convince the world of [her] talent, depth and artistic worth" was considered unusual. The album was described as "fun as hell but ... not exactly rife with subversive social commentary". The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 albums chart at number seven, selling 309,000 copies in its first week. L.A.M.B. reached multi-platinum status in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

The first single from the album was "What You Waiting For?", which debuted atop the ARIA Singles Chart, charted at number 47 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top ten on most other charts. The song served to explain why Stefani produced a solo album and discusses her fears in leaving No Doubt for a solo career as well as her desire to have a baby. "Rich Girl" was released as the album's second single. A duet with rapper Eve, and produced by Dr. Dre, it is an adaptation of a 1990s pop song by British musicians Louchie Lou & Michie One, which itself is a very loose cover lyrically but closer melodically of "If I Were a Rich Man", from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. "Rich Girl" reached the US and UK top ten. The album's third single "Hollaback Girl" became Stefani's first US and second Australian number-one single; it reached top ten elsewhere. The song was the first US music download to sell more than one million copies, and its brass-driven composition remained popular throughout 2005. The fourth single "Cool" was released shortly following the popularity of its predecessor, reaching the top 20 in US and UK. The song's lyrics and its accompanying music video, filmed on Lake Como, depict Stefani's former relationship with Kanal. "Luxurious" was released as the album's fifth single, but did not perform as well as its predecessors. "Crash" was released in January 2006 as the album's sixth single in lieu of Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'s sequel, which Stefani postponed because of her pregnancy.

In 2004, Stefani showed interest in making film appearances and began auditioning for films such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith. She made her film debut playing Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator in 2004. Scorsese, whose daughter was a No Doubt fan, 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 18 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 the 2004 video game Malice, but the company opted not to use No Doubt band members' voices.

Stefani's second studio album, The Sweet Escape, was released on December 1, 2006. Stefani continued working with Kanal, Perry, and the Neptunes, along with Akon and Tim Rice-Oxley from English rock band Keane. The album focuses more heavily on electronic and dance music for clubs than its predecessor. Its release coincided with the DVD release of Stefani's first tour, entitled Harajuku Lovers Live. Sia Michel wrote that it "has a surprisingly moody, lightly autobiographical feel ... but Stefani isn't convincing as a dissatisfied diva" and Rob Sheffield called the album a "hasty return" that repeats Love. Angel. Music. Baby. with less energy.

"Wind It Up", the album's lead single, used yodeling and an interpolation of The Sound of Music, and peaked in the top 10 in the US and the UK. The title track reached the top 10 in over 15 nations, including number two peaks in the US, Australia and the UK. To promote The Sweet Escape, Stefani was a mentor on the sixth season of American Idol and performed the song with Akon. The song earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Three more singles were released from the album; "4 in the Morning", "Now That You Got It" which featured Damian Marley and "Early Winter". To promote the album, Stefani embarked on a worldwide tour, The Sweet Escape Tour, which covered North America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific and part of Latin America. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly on June 6, 2011, Stefani stated that she had no plans to continue work as a solo artist.

With Stefani promoting The Sweet Escape, No Doubt began work on a new album without her and planned to complete it after Stefani's Sweet Escape Tour was finished. In March 2008, the band started making posts concerning the progression of the album on their official fan forum. Stefani made a post on March 28, 2008, stating that songwriting had commenced but was slow on her end because she was pregnant with her second child. The Singles 1992–2003 became available on December 9, 2008, for the video game Rock Band 2. Adrian Young played drums on Scott Weiland's album "Happy" in Galoshes. No Doubt headlined the Bamboozle 2009 festival in May 2009, along with Fall Out Boy. The band completed a national tour in mid-2009.

The new album Push and Shove was released on September 25, preceded by the first single, "Settle Down", on July 16. The music video for "Settle Down" was directed by Sophie Muller (who has previously directed numerous music videos for No Doubt). Also around this time No Doubt were guest mentors for the UK version of The X-Factor. "Settle Down" peaked at 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the album peaking at number three on the US Billboard 200. On November 3, 2012, the band pulled its music video "Looking Hot" from the Internet after receiving complaints that it was insensitive towards Native Americans. In January 2013, No Doubt make a cameo appearance in a hot air ballon for the third season of Portlandia.

On April 12, 2014, Stefani made a surprise appearance at the Coachella festival, where she joined Pharrell Williams onstage during his set to perform "Hollaback Girl". On April 29, it was officially confirmed that Stefani would join the seventh season of The Voice as a coach, replacing Christina Aguilera. Nine years after the previous time, she attended the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. Stefani appears as a featured artist on Maroon 5's song "My Heart Is Open", co-written by Sia, from the band's album V, which was performed for the first time with Adam Levine and an orchestra at the 2015 Grammy Awards. Stefani also collaborated with Calvin Harris on the track "Together" from his album Motion.

On September 8, 2014, Stefani told MTV News during New York Fashion Week that she was working on both a No Doubt album and a solo album, and that she was working with Williams. Stefani released her comeback single "Baby Don't Lie" on October 20, 2014, co-written with producers Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco, and Noel Zancanella. Billboard announced that her third studio album was set to be released in December with Benny Blanco serving as executive producer. In late October, "Spark the Fire", a new track from Stefani's third album, was released. The song was produced by Pharrell Williams. On November 23, the full song premiered online. Both "Baby Don't Lie" and "Spark the Fire" were later scrapped from Stefani's third album. On January 13, 2015, Stefani and Williams also recorded a song titled "Shine", for the Paddington soundtrack. Stefani and Sia worked together on a ballad, called "Start a War" which was expected to be released on Stefani's third studio album as well, but it was not included on the final cut. On July 10, 2015, American rapper Eminem featured Stefani on his single "Kings Never Die", from the Southpaw film soundtrack. The track debuted and peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and matched first-week digital download sales of 35,000 copies.

On October 17, 2015, Stefani performed a concert as part of her MasterCard Priceless Surprises tour series at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, where she performed a new song about her breakup with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale, titled "Used to Love You". It was released as a download on October 20, 2015. The video was released the same day. The song was released to contemporary hit radio in the United States on October 27, 2015. The track is the first official single off her third solo album This Is What the Truth Feels Like, which she began working on in mid-2015. Stefani said much of the previous material she worked on in 2014 felt forced and inauthentic, the opposite of what she had originally wanted. The album's second single, "Make Me Like You", was released on February 12, 2016. This Is What the Truth Feels Like was released on March 18, 2016, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 84,000 album-equivalent units sold in its first week, earning Stefani her first number-one album on the U.S. chart as a solo artist. To further promote the album, Stefani embarked on her This Is What the Truth Feels Like Tour with rapper Eve in the United States. Stefani voiced DJ Suki in the animated film Trolls, which was released on November 4, 2016. She is also included on five songs from the film's official soundtrack. Stefani twice performed as part of the "Final Shows" at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on October 29–30, before the venue's closure due to The Irvine Company not renewing the venue's land lease.

Stefani was interviewed for the documentary series The Defiant Ones, which was released in July 2017. The same month, she announced plans to release new music by the end of the year. In August, several song titles from the singer's sessions were published on GEMA's official website, suggesting that she may be recording a holiday album. The songwriting credits from the leaked tracks had Stefani collaborating with busbee, Blake Shelton, and Justin Tranter. The album, titled You Make It Feel Like Christmas, was released on October 6, 2017. Its title track, featuring guest vocals from Shelton, was digitally distributed on September 22, 2017, as the lead single. To promote the record, Stefani hosted Gwen Stefani's You Make It Feel Like Christmas, an NBC Christmas television special that aired on December 12, 2017.

Stefani's first concert residency, titled Just a Girl: Las Vegas, began on June 27, 2018, at the Zappos Theater in Las Vegas. It concluded on May 16, 2020. It was named after No Doubt's song "Just a Girl". Proceeds from the show ($1 per ticket) were donated to the organization Cure4Kids. A deluxe edition of You Make It Feel Like Christmas was released in October 2018, and was promoted through the single "Secret Santa". On June 22, 2019, Stefani performed at the Machaca Fest in Fundidora Park. In the same month, The New York Times Magazine listed Stefani among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Stefani replaced Adam Levine as a coach for The Voice's 17th season after Levine left the show after 16 seasons as a coach. Stefani was replaced by first-time coach Nick Jonas for the 18th season. She returned for her fifth season of The Voice's 19th season as a replacement for Jonas. Her finalist Carter Rubin was named the winner, giving her the first victory as a coach after her fifth attempt, and the ninth coach (and fourth female after Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, and Kelly Clarkson) to do so. In November 2020, while the 19th season was still airing, it was announced Jonas would once again replace Stefani as a judge for season 20.

On December 13, 2019, Stefani featured on Shelton's single "Nobody but You" from his compilation album Fully Loaded: God's Country. The song peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 49 on the Canadian Hot 100. On July 24, 2020, Stefani and Shelton released another single titled "Happy Anywhere" inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stefani was initially scheduled to perform at Lollapalooza's 2020 festival, but it was postponed due to the pandemic. Lollapalooza was held as a four-day livestream in July and August 2020, but Stefani did not participate in it.

Stefani was featured on a Mark Ronson remix of Dua Lipa's "Physical", which is included on Lipa's remix album Club Future Nostalgia (2020). Stefani was initially approached to clear a "Hollaback Girl" sample for the Mr Fingers' remix of Lipa's "Hallucinate", and then asked to be a part of the "Physical" remix. To promote 2020 reissued edition of You Make It Feel Like Christmas, Stefani released a cover of "Sleigh Ride" as a single.

On December 7, 2020, Stefani released "Let Me Reintroduce Myself" as the lead single from her upcoming fifth studio album. She followed this with a second single "Slow Clap" on March 11, 2021, which received a remix featuring Saweetie the following month. Stefani also teased other new music through her Instagram account, announcing she recorded two new tracks titled "When Loving Gets Old" and "Cry Happy". In 2022, she was a featured artist on Sean Paul's single "Light My Fire", alongside Shenseea, and appeared in its music video.

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