Gwen Renée Stefani ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American recording artist and fashion designer. Stefani serves as lead vocalist for the rock band No Doubt. Formed with influences ranging from punk rock to new wave music, their third wave ska oriented third studio album Tragic Kingdom (1995) propelled them to stardom, selling 16 million copies worldwide. It spawned the singles "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak". The band's popularity went into decline with its fourth album, Return of Saturn (2000), but Rock Steady (2001) focused on dancehall production traits, and generally received positive reviews.

Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was primarily inspired by music of the 1980s,Murison, Krissi. "Gwen Stefani : Love Angel Music Baby". NME. Retrieved May 10, 2007. and emerged an international success with sales of over seven million. The album's third single "Hollaback Girl" became the first U.S. digital download to sell one million copies.Hiatt, Brian. "Stefani, Peas Lead Singles Boom". Rolling Stone. January 19, 2006. Retrieved May 13, 2007. Stefani's second solo album The Sweet Escape (2006) yielded "Wind It Up", a moderate worldwide success, and "The Sweet Escape"."Billboard Hot 100 (46/2006): Charts". Music Square. Retrieved April 29, 2007. Including her work with No Doubt, Stefani has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. She won the World's Best-Selling New Female Artist at the World Music Awards 2005.

Stefani is known as a fashion trendsetter. 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 married British grunge musician Gavin Rossdale in 2002 and they have two sons: Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, who was born May 26, 2006, and Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale, who was born August 21, 2008.

Early life

Stefani was born and raised in Fullerton, California,Jeffries, David. "Gwen Stefani > Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved April 14, 2007. and grew up in a Roman Catholic household.Van Meter, Jonathan. "The First Lady of Rock". Vogue (April 2004). Retrieved from Style.com April 16, 2007. Her mother named her after a stewardess in the 1968 novel Airport, and her middle name, Renée, comes from The Four Tops' 1968 cover of The Left Banke's 1966 hit song "Walk Away Renée".Entertainment Weekly, issue 910. Page 94, sidebar. December 8, 2006. Her father, Dennis Stefani, is Italian and works as a Yamaha marketing executive. Her mother, Patti (née Flynn), is of Irish and Scottish descent and worked as an accountant before becoming a homemaker."Gwen Stefani - Profile". E!. Retrieved September 28, 2008."Escape Artist". ELLE, issue 258, page 220. February 7, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2007. Her parents were fans of folk music and presented music by Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris to their daughter. She is the second oldest of four children; she has a younger sister, Jill Stefani, a younger brother, Todd, and an older brother, Eric. Eric was the keyboardist for No Doubt but left the band to pursue a career in animation on The Simpsons on the FOX TV network.