Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefaniis an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and actress. She is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band No Doubt. During the band's hiatus, Stefani embarked on a solo career where she pursued an interest in mainstream popular music. The singer has explored a variety of genres throughout her career, including dance, dancehall, electro, hip hop, and reggae. She has been called a "pop princess" by numerous publications and has inspired several musicians over the years...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPop Singer
Date of Birth3 October 1969
CityFullerton, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I clearly remember writing songs [when I was young] and the power that it gave me of feeling like somebody. My whole life changed when I wrote those songs, even before anyone ever heard them. It wasn't a commercial thing.
To write an album takes so much focus and selfish time, to just write and think about your life. For me. Maybe not for other people.
I think when I first started discovering I could write songs, I was so naive. And it was after I got broken up with and had my heart sliced up into a bunch of little pieces that I was like, "I'm going to say this." I didn't even know how to play guitar.
I think after doing Push and Shove and having it not be successful, I lost a lot of confidence. Songwriting, for me, has always been traumatic, and I've always made all these excuses. But I've realized that you have to just accept that it was a gift: "I don't know where it came from, I don't know how I did it, but I did write all those songs, and I gotta do it again."
I was a different person before I started to write. When I realized I could be a songwriter and that people would listen - that was when I started feeling good in my life.
I'm just writing what I feel, and I really don't think I've done anything wrong that I need to hide. The biggest thing, and I don't even like to bring it up, is my children - you know, you've gotta protect them.
Out of all the artistic things I do, music is the most rewarding because it's so hard to write songs.
I wish I could write more make-believe. It's a lot easier to write about hard times and when things are going wrong. But I've never been a private person.
Writing songs is super intimate. It's a bit like getting naked.
When you write a great song, it just blows you away. When you write a song that connects with people around the world - I mean like it actually transcends language barriers - you see how it can affect people, and it's quite a tall order to follow up on.
Tony was the star on this one. He was willing to try anything, and i was like, "whoa!! my best friend is getting me off right now!" There was a real chemistry.
I've been in this business for 18 years; they're 18,
Yeah, it's fun. I love talking about myself. And its yummy right now in the heat ...
That was the first time we'd worked outside the group with songwriters, and it was really awkward. That's what defines us as a band, writing, so it was a brave and crazy experiment, It was uncomfortable in the studio, but Hella Good has become one of our staple songs,