Gwen Stefani

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Gwen Renée Stefani (born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and fashion designer.

She is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt that experienced major success after their breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom (1995) along with various successful singles, including “Just a Girl”, “Don’t Speak”, “Hey Baby”, and “It’s My Life”. During the band’s hiatus, Stefani embarked on a solo pop career in 2004 by releasing her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Inspired by pop music from the 1980s, the album was met with both critical and commercial success. It spawned three commercially successful singles: “What You Waiting For?”, “Rich Girl”, and “Hollaback Girl”, the latter reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies. In 2006 Stefani released her second studio album The Sweet Escape. The album produced two successful singles: “Wind It Up” and the album’s title track “The Sweet Escape”. Her third solo album This Is What the Truth Feels Like was released in March 2016 and became her first solo number-one album on the Billboard 200.

Stefani has won three Grammy Awards. As a solo artist she has received various accolades, including an American Music Award, Brit Award, World Music Award and two Billboard Music Awards. In 2003, she debuted her clothing line L.A.M.B. and expanded her collection with the 2005 Harajuku Lovers line, drawing inspiration from Japanese culture and fashion. Stefani performs and makes public appearances with four back-up dancers known as the Harajuku Girls. She was married to British musician Gavin Rossdale from 2002 to 2015 and they have three sons. Billboard magazine ranked Stefani the 54th most successful artist and 37th most successful Hot 100 artist of the 2000–09 decade. VH1 ranked her 13th on their “100 Greatest Women in Music” list in 2012. Including her work with No Doubt, Stefani has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. 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. She also revealed 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, a sneak peek of a new track from Stefani’s third album, named “Spark the Fire”, was premiered. The song was produced by Pharrell Williams. On November 23, the full song premiered online and was made available for download on December 1. 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 Furler worked together on a ballad, called “Start a War” which was expected to be released on Stefani’s third studio album as well, however it didn’t make 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 later that same day. The song was released to Mainstream radio in the U.S. 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 summer 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 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. The singer 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. On September 8, 2016, Stefani announced that she would be performing at the final two shows at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre for October 29–30, as part of an event called Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre Final Shows. Additionally, American rock band Young the Giant will open for the two shows

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