Birth Date: October 3, 1969
Height: 5 ft 10 in
Occupation: Musician

Gwen Stefani was born in Fullerton, California, but grew up in Anaheim. Her father, Dennis Stefani, is Italian American, and her mother Patti Flynn is of Irish and Scottish descent. She has a sister, Jill, and two brothers, Eric and Todd. Jill appeared in No Doubt’s “Just A Girl” music video. Stefani attended California State University, Fullerton, and Loara High School (class of 1987), where she was on the swim team.

Her first job was scrubbing floors at a Dairy Queen, and she once worked at a department store. Her brother Eric was the keyboardist for No Doubt, but eventually left the band to pursue a career in animation on The Simpsons. Other members of the group include Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young.

The band’s third album, following their eponymous debut No Doubt (1992) and The Beacon Street Collection (1995), Tragic Kingdom, took three years to make. During this time, the band almost split up due to the break up of Kanal and Stefani. However, this was to become a major inspiration for Stefani lyrically. The album was released in 1995 and spawned several hits, beginning with “Just a Girl”. Following the success of Tragic Kingdom, Stefani became highly popular and recognizable. The tension this produced with the other members of the band was touched upon in their video for the song “Don’t Speak”. Stefani met Bush and now Institute frontman Gavin Rossdale in 1995 at a concert in which she was performing to promote Tragic Kingdom. The release of The Singles 1992-2003, a CD with the band’s best hits, and Everything in Time: B-sides, Remixes and Rarities prompted media speculation about a break-up, which the band denied in later interviews.

Outside of No Doubt Stefani has collaborated with other artists, most notably for the singles “South Side” and “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” with Moby and Eve respectively. 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 22, 2004 in Europe and Asia and on November 23, 2004 in North America. Stefani’s debut sold more copies in its first week (310,000) than any No Doubt album ever had in the United States. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and at number five on the Canadian albums chart; it reached number four in the UK and number one in Australia. Stefani had collaborated with singer-songwriter Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes on the album, along with The Neptunes, OutKast’s André 3000, and Dallas Austin among others.

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