Happy Birthday Gwen!
Happy Birthday to my girl, the fabulous Gwen Stefani. I have had the pleasure of interviewing Gwen a few times way, way back and she was always happy, funny and vibrant. Gwen is super nice and just a very cool chick. I compiled 25 fast facts to share with you so we can celebrate our Hollaback Girl on her big day!
1. Gwen Renee Stefani is a Libra and was born October 3rd, 1969 in Fullerton, California.
2. Gwen’s mother, Patti has Irish, English, Scottish, Norwegian, and German ancestry. Gwen’s father, Dennis is of Italian descent.
3. Her father worked as a Yamaha marketing executive and mom was an accountant. She is the second oldest of 4 children. Her older brother Eric was the keyboardist for No Doubt. He asked Gwen to sing back up in 1986 and she became the lead singer when original singer John Spence committed suicide.
4. Gwen fronted the ska band No Doubt and they released their huge album, Tragic Kingdom, in 1995. This album featured their first hit, Don’t Speak, which was inspired by her break-up with band member Tony Kanal.
5. Gwen is dyslexic.
6. Gwen married Gavin Rossdale on September 14th, 2002 in London and they sadly divorced in 2015.
7. Gwen released her first solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in November 2004.
8. A big fan of musicals, Gwen was inspired by The Sound of Music and Evita. She’s always loved singing and when she was 17 she started singing with No Doubt.
9. Gwen’s first job was at a Dairy Queen in Anaheim but she also worked selling makeup in her local department store in high school and she was a swimming instructor.
10. Gwen had 3 boys with Gavin Rossdale. Kingston (May 26th, 2006) Zuma (August 21st, 2008) and Apollo (February 28th, 2014).
11. Gwen was named after a stewardess from the 1968 novel, Airplane.
12. Gwen released a clothing line named L.A.M.B. (Love Angel Music Baby) in 2004. The line is influenced by Guatemalan, Japanese, and Jamaican styles.
13. Αt the 2005 Grammy Awards Gwen received 5 nominations – Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
14. Gwen was a coach on The Voice where she met her now boyfriend, Blake Shelton.
15. Gwen is a triple threat – performer, songwriter and recording artist and she has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
16. Stefani made a special appearance alongside Pharrell Williams at the 2014 Coachella festival to perform Hollaback Girl.
17. Gwen collaborated with Maroon 5 on their 5th album on a song entitled My Heart Is Open.
18. Gwen and Eve’s “Hollaback Girl” was the first digital download to exceed sales of 1 million.
19. Gwen’s nicknames are Sunshine and G-loc.
20. Gwen is a distant cousin of Madonna. Her great-aunt’s mother-in-law shares the last name with Madonna.
21. Gwen has collaborated with brands like OPI, Urban Decay and Revlon. She is planning on launching her own beauty line called “P8NT”.
22. Gwen signed a 25-date residency deal to perform at the Zappos Theater in Las Vegas and that began on June 27th and is scheduled to wrap March 16th, 2019. The residency is named after the No Doubt song, “Just A Girl”.
23. Gwen has won 3 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.
24. Gwen announced that she will release a deluxe edition of her 2017 album “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” which comes out October 26th. It will feature 5 new tracks, including covers of “Winter Wonderland” and “Feliz Navidad” as well as two original songs, “Cheer for the Elves” and “Secret Santa.”
25. Gwen has made a few televison cameos but she made her film debut as sex symbol Jean Harlow in The Aviator starring Leonardo DiCaprio in 2004.