Gwen Stefani opens up about No Doubt headlining Coachella, marriage to Blake Shelton
Gwen Stefani says headlining at Coachella this month with No Doubt has been a "long time coming."
In an interview with Nylon, Stefani, the magazine's 25th anniversary issue cover star, reflected on her career, which began with the popular ska/punk/rock band, the challenges of balancing motherhood and music, and her marriage to Blake Shelton.
'Like riding a bike again'
"It's been a long time coming. It's been something that we were going to do," Stefani said about performing with No Doubt at Coachella this month.
In January, No Doubt shared a video on Instagram with its band members -- Stefani, the group's frontwoman; bassist Tony Kanal; guitarist Tom Dumont; and drummer Adrian Young -- on a video call.
The video shows the band members agreeing to do a show after sharing how they want to hang out more.
After their video was released, the lineup for Coachella 2024 music festival was announced featuring No Doubt as a headliner, along with Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat and Tyler, The Creator.
Stefani said reuniting with Kanal, Dumont and Young will be like "riding a bike again."
"I already know what it's going to feel like because we're just so in sync when we're on stage," she said. "We're going to be laughing, and we're going to look at each other and go, 'Oh my gosh -- there you are."
On motherhood and her solo career
No Doubt was first together from the late '80s until 2004 and released albums including the RIAA Diamond-certified "Tragic Kingdom" in 1995.
In 2004, Stefani launched her solo career with the release of her debut studio album, "Love. Angel. Music. Baby.", which included hits like "Hollaback Girl," "Cool," "Rich Girl" and "What You Waiting for?"
After her first solo tour for the album in 2005, Stefani learned she was pregnant with her first child Kingston, whom she shares with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale.
Stefani said it wasn't long before she was called back into the studio to record "The Sweet Escape," her second solo studio album, which was eventually released in 2006.
"I was like, 'What are you talking about?'" Stefani recalled when Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine called her at the time to start recording the album. "'The baby's 9 weeks old!'"
Stefani said she ended up recording the album's title track with Akon in what "felt like 10 minutes." The song includes lyrics that Stefani said she still gets emotional about to this day.
"It makes me cry," she said. "I listen to the lyrics of that song, and it's like: 'Whoa!' There was so much loaded f------ stuff in that song that was going on in my private life that it's just crazy. It's foreshadowing the future."
'They were kind of waiting'
Following the release of "The Sweet Escape," Stefani said she found out she was pregnant again with her son Zuma. At the time, she said she had just wrapped up the Sweet Escape Tour and was also busy working on her L.A.M.B. fashion line.
"I think everyone was disappointed," Stefani said, referring to her No Doubt bandmates. "I don't think they would say that. No one's going to be mad you're having a baby. But while I was busy, they were kind of waiting."
The band ended up touring together in 2009, and in 2011, they finally began recording their sixth studio album, "Push and Shove."
Stefani said balancing motherhood with everything else going on in her life left her feeling "so much insecurity."
"...Things change when you have two babies," she said. "There was nothing left in me. I had no ideas."
She continued, "If I didn't come home with a song [after spending time with the band writing], I'd be like, 'Oh my God, I'm such a loser -- I didn't have dinner with my family, and I didn't write a song. I wasted an entire day of my life trying to be in No Doubt again.'"
"Push and Shove" was released in September 2012. The group went on a second hiatus a year later, in 2013.
The bandmates went on to have successful music careers outside of No Doubt, both onstage and as music producers and songwriters. Stefani became a judge on the reality competition show "The Voice" in 2014 and ended up collaborating with a number of other musicians on various projects, including recording a song for the movie "Paddington." She released a third solo studio album, "This Is What the Truth Feels Like," in 2016 and had a Las Vegas residency from 2018 to 2021.
Stefani also welcomed a third child, Apollo, in 2014 with ex Rossdale.
The time apart doesn't appear to have changed No Doubt's love for one another.
"We still haven't really hung out or done anything," Stefani said, referring to the lull following No Doubt's Coachella announcement earlier this year. However, she noted that the speed at which the group's Coachella gig was pulled together was a "a sign of their eagerness to play together," according to Nylon.
"[Coachella will] be a really nice bow to tie on the relationship, because we were kids [when we met]," Stefani said. "I already know what it's going to feel like because we're just so in sync when we're onstage. It's going to feel like riding a bike again. We're going to be laughing, and we're going to look at each other and go, 'Oh my gosh -- there you are.'"
'I am in love with my best friend'
Between her solo work and Las Vegas residency, Stefani also released a handful of songs with her husband Blake Shelton, whom she married in July 2021. Their latest song, "Purple Irises," was released in February this year.
"The truth is I am in love with my best friend," she said, referring to Shelton.
Stefani also addressed divorce rumors surrounding the couple, saying, "When you're in love and have truly aligned values, nobody can get to us. You can say whatever you want in our relationship -- I mean, a week ago we were getting divorced again or something."
"It's just lies," she added. "The truth is the truth, and we know what that is."
