Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton (/stəˈfɑːni/ stə-FAH-nee; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. She is a co-founder and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose singles include “Just a Girl”, “Spiderwebs”, and “Don’t Speak”, from their 1995 breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom, as well as “Hey Baby” and “It’s My Life” from later albums.
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 a critical and commercial success. It spawned six singles, including “What You Waiting For?”, “Rich Girl”, “Hollaback Girl”, and “Cool”. “Hollaback Girl” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies.
Gwen Renée Stefani was born on October 3, 1969, in Fullerton, California, and raised Catholic in nearby Anaheim. She was named after a stewardess in the 1968 novel Airport, and her middle name, Renée, comes from the Four Tops’ 1967 version of the Left Banke’s 1966 song “Walk Away Renée”. Her father Dennis Stefani is Italian American and worked as a Yamaha marketing executive.
