The frontwoman of No Doubt and a hugely successful solo artist, Gwen Stefani has been a singular, iconic presence in pop culture for more than 30 years – and as her new album Bouquet is released, she will be answering your questions about her music and career.
Stefani went against pop’s grain from the off, playing exuberantly skanking reggae and ska-punk amid the moping of the grunge era, and her mellifluous and almost jazzy singing on No Doubt songs such as Trapped in a Box was even more unusual. It initially spelled commercial failure, but the group’s third album, Tragic Kingdom, became one of the most successful that decade, thanks in part to the power ballad Don’t Speak.
After two more No Doubt albums – including Rock Steady, with its brilliantly cosmopolitan singles Hey Baby, Hella Good and Underneath It All – and a hit cover of Talk Talk’s It’s My Life, the band went on hiatus, returning for 2012’s Push and Shove and another reunion this year at Coachella festival.
Stefani had a killer guest spot on Eve’s rap track Let Me Blow Ya Mind, and continued to expand her pop horizons in a solo career, beginning with 2004 album Love Angel Music Baby, which featured varied collaborators including the Neptunes, André 3000 and Linda Perry, and an aesthetic somewhere between Marie Antoinette and kawaii. There were three more solo LPs but nothing since a 2017 Christmas album, as Stefani focused on parenting her three sons. “I don’t go to the studio every day and just self-indulge in like: ‘What do I have to say today?’” she told NME last month. “It’s like: ‘Hey, they’re at school, I got three hours so let’s see if I can get down there to write.’”
But now she is preparing to release Bouquet, an album informed by yacht rock that also features a duet with her country singer husband, Blake Shelton. Ahead of its release, she’ll join us to answer your questions – post them below before 4pm GMT on 7 November, and we’ll publish her answers on 15 November, the day of Bouquet’s release.
