‘I had no clue what I was doing’: Gwen Stefani on fame, her signature style and her personal evolution

Amid controversy over her new album, Gwen Stefani explains her complicated feelings about being famous – and why she wears ‘whatever I want’.

It’s my life! Gwen Stefani. Picture: AFP

Nearly 30 years after she became a global pop star as frontwoman of rock band No Doubt, Gwen Stefani still marvels that it even happened at all.

In an exclusive interview with Stellar, the 55-year-old talks about her signature style, what she’s learnt raising three sons and why she was determined to make her new album – “even if it meant that no-one would hear it”.

Stellar: You’ve kept your style consistent over the years with a signature look. Has that been a conscious decision? What role does your personal style play in the sort of music you write, and does one influence the other?

Gwen Stefani: I do question my style sometimes. As you get older, you want to still be yourself, but also to evolve and not feel like you’re stuck in the past. Now, I find myself going back to the same thing that I love. I’ve always done that. I’ve never really changed. It’s hard because part of me wants to be like, “who cares how old you get, just be you.” And then other parts of me want to evolve and not be that person, because you’re not in high school anymore. It’s difficult because if we’re talking about style and art and all those things, who makes the rules? These things all go through my mind. To be honest, one minute I’m thinking, I don’t care and I’m going to wear whatever I want, and the next it’s like, hey, maybe you should grow up a little bit.

‘I’ve never really changed!’ Gwen Stefani at the Met Gala in 2019. Picture: Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

In her No Doubt era, at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Inc)

Stellar: Your beauty trademark is red lipstick. What’s your tip to achieving a Stefani-approved red lip?

Gwen Stefani: I do love a red lip. There’s just something that feels so classic, feminine and happy about it. In the past I’d show up to my kids’ school in the morning with a red lip thinking that was normal. Nowadays, I tend to go a little more muted with a gloss for daytime. Stage always has to be a red lip – it feels like my armour.

Stellar: How does being a mum to three boys [Stefani shares sons Kingston, 18, Zuma, 16, and Apollo, 10, with her ex-husband Gavin Rossdale] inspire and challenge you?

Gwen Stefani: Being a parent is not what you think it will be when you’re a little girl and you’re like, “I’m going to be a mom!” It’s so deep. Their happiness is my happiness. Having any kind of sanity is making sure they’re safe, happy and loved. The responsibility is bigger than you could ever imagine and there’s so much pride you have through your children, and countless rewards that come along with the sacrifices, anxiety, worries and stresses that are automatic.

Stellar: Your new album Bouquet features the single ‘Somebody Else’s’, on which you sing: “Now that I found the real thing, you don’t compare – and I don’t care.” What is your advice to women about toxic relationships?

Gwen Stefani: It’s a reflection on my personal journey and how time heals, and how you can figure out who people are or what life is when you come through a situation, and you look back. A lot of times when you’re in something, you can’t see things clearly. It’s just a reflection on a healing journey, to show how dark things got and how much better things are now.

With husband US country singer Blake Shelton, right. Picture: Getty Images

Picture: Getty Images

Stellar: When you compare it to your first solo album, 2004’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby, how does Bouquet mark your evolution as an artist, and as a woman?

Gwen Stefani: When I go back and do some of the songs from the past, especially L.A.M.B, that was a very creative time for me. I was able to dive into myself and show what I love, my insecurities, and collaborate for the first time with other people outside of my relationship with No Doubt [the band Stefani co-founded in 1986, and with whom she found fame as lead vocalist], which was a beautiful relationship, but as you mature and grow as an artist, forcing yourself into new situations with other talented people forces you to grow. During L.A.M.B, I was growing so quickly, and I had so much output. I was the most creative I’ve ever been, and I didn’t have a filter at all. It was a completely different time of my life.

Gwen Stefani reunited with No Doubt at Coachella in April. Picture: Getty Images for Coachella

Gwen Stefani (continued): Bouquet was a little bit more of a fight because I had to spread myself between all of the other responsibilities in my life, like being a mother first and foremost, a wife [Stefani is married to country star Blake Shelton], and all the other projects that I’ve committed to. Doing music made me feel like I was selfish to go to the studio and take time to write. At the same time, there was an inner voice that made me feel like I need to do it creatively. It took me back to the first time of making music, before we were famous. We had to get it out. It felt pure in that way.

Stellar: In an industry that’s obsessed with the next big thing, how have you achieved longevity – when so many others haven’t?

Gwen Stefani: It always surprises me when another day comes and I get the opportunity to do something – performance-wise or even a photo shoot. It never gets old. I never in a million years would have guessed that I’d get to do one song, let alone have this career. When it comes to being calculated or trying to figure out my next move, it doesn’t work like that. I needed to make this album for me, even if it meant that no-one would hear it – or if they would hear it, that none of that really mattered. I just needed to do it.

‘I question my style sometimes!’ Gwen Stefani has remained loyal to the red lip, seen in 2012 at a dinner in West Hollywood, California. Picture: Getty Images

Stellar: What do you think of the music from the new breed of pop stars, from Charli XCX’s album Brat to Addison Rae’s song ‘Diet Pepsi’?

Gwen Stefani: I never get tired of seeing the new ladies that come up, and what they’re going to do. For me, it comes down to someone that is true to themselves, authentic – and I love lyrics. That’s what I look for in new artists: how clever and real they are.

Stellar: Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of No Doubt’s seminal breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom. How will you mark the milestone?

Gwen Stefani: I’m not a huge anniversary person. I don’t make a big deal out of that. Coachella was the celebration of the past when it comes to No Doubt [the band reunited for two performances at the US music festival in April]. It’s so mind-blowing that that record even came out – it took so long. And that somebody like me, who at the time had absolutely no clue who I was, what I was doing, how to write a song … that those songs would go out in the world and still be played and listened to and talked about. It’s truly a testament to God’s work and I’m just honoured that God chose to give me those songs.

Gwen Stefani’s new album Bouquet is out now via Universal Music.

Read the full interview with her in the latest issue of Stellar, out on Sunday via The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), Sunday Mail (QLD) and The Sunday Mail (SA). For more from Stellar and the podcast Something To Talk About, click here.

Originally published as ‘I had no clue what I was doing’: Gwen Stefani on fame, her signature style and her personal evolution