No Doubt/Gwen Stefani

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No Doubt released some classics and Gwen's solo album is also great

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No Doubt is an American alternative rock band whose music was initially influenced heavily by ska, punk and New Wave. Typically classed as pop, No Doubt are "genre benders." The earlier work of No Doubt was quintessential Ska but their latest album contains heavy elements of both pop and rock. No Doubt is heavily influenced by Jamaican culture and have teamed up with many Jamaican artists such as Lady Saw. No Doubt's multiple genre style is noted in the song "Move On" where they state "We meshed the styles of five alive and intertwined and fused it". Many believe that No Doubt have "sold out" by losing their Ska roots but others state that it shows their diversity.

No Doubt was formed by Eric Stefani (keyboards) in Orange County, California with his friend John Spence (lead vocals) in November 1986. Eric's younger sister, Gwen Renée Stefani, joined the group that same year as co-vocalist. The trio played their first gig on New Year's Eve 1986/1987. The band from then on began to play small gigs around the Orange County area. Tony Kanal went to one of these early shows and soon joined the band as a bassist. In 1987 lead vocalist John Spence committed suicide, leaving Gwen Stefani as lead vocalist. Although the band was hit hard by Spence's death, they continued on and began to develop a live following, mainly in the band's home state of California. In 1988 and 1989 two new members were added to the band: Tom Dumont (guitar) and Adrian Young (drums). In 1991 the band received their first big break and were signed to the American record label Interscope Records. No Doubt's self-titled first album was released in 1992 and featured the single "Trapped in a Box". The album was not a success and No Doubt's record label began to lose faith in the band. The recording for their second album, The Beacon Street Collection, was funded by the band and when released renewed faith in the band from the record label and gained No Doubt some new fans. In the fall of 1994 No Doubt would suffer yet another setback when Eric Stefani left the band because he did not like the direction the band was heading in and began to pursue an animation career on the cartoon TV series The Simpsons. Gwen Stefani also had a duet with Bradley Nowell from the band Sublime; the song was titled "Saw Red". She also dated the bassist from the band.

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After the exit of Eric Stefani, the band entered the recording studio again to work on their third album. The release of 1995's Tragic Kingdom and the single "Just a Girl" allowed the group to achieve mainstream commercial success. A second single, "Spiderwebs", was also successful, and their third single, "Don't Speak" (1996), which was written about the dissolution of Stefani's and bassist Tony Kanal's romantic relationship, was a number one hit for 21 weeks on the Billboard airplay chart.Tragic Kingdom has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and has been certified 10x platinum in the United States.

After some time in between albums No Doubt included their song "New" on the soundtrack to the movie Go in 1999. In 2000, the band released Return of Saturn, their highly anticipated follow up to Tragic Kingdom. The album featured a darker tone and was more lyrically advanced than No Doubt's previous work. The album was not as successful as their previous album was and the lead single "Ex-Girlfriend" failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The band has spoken unkindly of the album in more recent interviews for various reasons. Consequently, they have excluded many fan-favorite songs in post-2000 concerts such as "Home Now", "Comforting Lie", "Dark Blue" and "Artificial Sweetener".

Shaking off the commercial failure of Return of Saturn the band quickly began work on their next album. Highly influenced by Jamaican Dancehall music and recorded primarily in Jamaica, No Doubt's 2001 studio album, Rock Steady, produced two hit Grammy award winning singles, "Hey Baby" which featured Bounty Killer and "Underneath It All" which featured the first lady of dancehall, Lady Saw. Both singles managed to reach the top five in on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also released "Hella Good" and the unsuccessful "Running" as singles. Also in 2001 the band performed on Kelis's sophomore CD titled Wanderland. The song "Perfect Day" features the band playing the entire song with Gwen providing backup vocals.

An album featuring all their singles was released in 2003. It included a cover of the song, "It's My Life" which had originally been a hit for Talk Talk in the 1980s. No Doubt also released a 2-CD 2-DVD box set titled Boom Box. Rock Steady Live, a DVD of one of the band's Long Beach concerts, was also been released.

In 2002 lead singer Gwen Stefani began work on her side project which eventually evolved into the full-fledged solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., which was released November 23, 2004. Stefani is set to tour North America starting in October 2005. Stefani has also said that she will be releasing a follow up to Love. Angel. Music. Baby., with a release date set for the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006. It will mostly contain tracks already recorded for her first solo album that did not make the final cut.

In early 2005, Tom Dumont released his own solo music project, Invincible Overlord with friend and collaborator, Ted Matson. Their music is downloadable for free on the Invincible Overlord website, and will be backing up Matt Costa on his 2005 tour.

Gwen Stefani in 2005 confirmed that the band would re-enter the studio to record another album in January 2006.

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Gwen Stefani's debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., was released in the United States on November 23, 2004. It managed to sell more copies in its first week than any No Doubt album (309,000), debuting at number seven on the Billboard 200, impressive for a debut solo artist. Her album was certified platinum after only four weeks of sales. Stefani collaborated with songwriter Linda Perry (4 Non Blondes) on the album.

The first solo single Stefani released was "What You Waiting For?" It debuted at number one on the Australian singles chart and at number four on the UK chart, and peaked at number forty-seven on the U.S. chart, making it a relative American flop for Stefani. In Canada, it managed to climb to number eleven, but almost instantly dropped out of the top forty. The song was also only seldom played on Canadian radio. Even though it did not perform all that well on the charts, it was a dance hit, climbing to number one on the U.S. dance club play charts. However, the song received little audience on dance radio, and ultimately did not peak in the top forty.

The second single, "Rich Girl," another duet with Eve, was produced by Dr. Dre. It is partly a cover of the song "If I Was A Rich Man" written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, from the musical, Fiddler on the Roof. It shot its way into the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number seven, and number three on the Pop 100. It was also featured on a Pepsi commercial, starting on Super Bowl Sunday, 2005. The music video lived up to its name, featuring Stefani and Eve dancing on a pirate ship, where young Asian girls determined the outcome of their adventure.

At the 2005 Brit Awards, Stefani won Best International Female Solo Artist.

Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'s third single, "Hollaback Girl", produced and co-written by the Neptunes, was released in April of 2005 and became one of the fastest rising songs of the year. In only its sixth week, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Stefani the first white, non-urban, and non-American Idol artist to reach the top spot since Nickelback in 2001/2002 with their hit, "How You Remind Me". The song held this position for one month and subsequently remained in the top ten for an additional two months. In Australia, the song debuted at number one, where it hailed for one week, selling over 5,000 copies.

When the song was released in the U.K., it debuted at number eight. The following week, it duplicated the same position, confusing many. Due to its large audience in North America, critics assumed that it was a sure-fire number one. Then, in its third week, it fell to number eleven, unable to climb to a higher peak. Despite not being as successful as predicted, it did manage to sell in excess of 50,000 copies. "Hollaback Girl" also helped Love. Angel. Music. Baby. climb the charts. "Hollaback Girl" has now been certified 5x platinum.

In May 2005, while "Hollaback Girl" was enjoying its success, speculation about the next single from Love. Angel. Music. Baby. grew intensely. At first, it was rumoured that "Bubble Pop Electric", an urban-influenced track about a classic 1980s date was going to be the next single. At the end of the month, "Cool", an 80s influenced pop song about a disastrous relationship that didn't result so horribly, was rumoured to be the next single.

As no other song on the album was being thrown into the mix, it was evident that it was going to be one of the two songs. Finally, on June 16, 2005, "Cool" debuted on the Billboard Pop Airplay chart at number forty-four, putting a rest to the ongoing rumours. The single went on to reach number thirteen in the U.S., number one in Canada, and number eleven in the United Kingdom.

"Cool" premiered on TRL on June 30, 2005. The video, filmed in Lake Como, Italy, sees Stefani paying homage to her Italian heritage as well as 1950s bombshells Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Sophia Loren, and Brigitte Bardot. The song went gold, but was a very small hit compared to the chartbuster "Hollaback Girl", perhaps partly because of competition with Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together".

It was confirmed on September 24, 2005 by MTV and Stefani herself that Luxurious was to be the fifth single after "Cool". There was other of rumours going around of what the fifth single would be. Many fans wanted the zany and wild "Bubble Pop Electric" or the laid back and cool "Serious". On October 24, 2005, the video for "Luxurious" premiered in Canada on MuchMusic's MuchOnDemand (MOD) program. It is now currently twenty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 ending on the week of November 24, 2005, and at number fifty-three on the Canadian BDSM Airplay chart.

Stefani has also confirmed that a new solo album will be out by Winter 2005, and MTV has revealed that one of the songs she recorded for the new album (though it might not make the final cut) is called "Fluorescent Lights".

The release of her solo album has also brought attention to Stefani's entourage of four Harajuku Girls. Named Love, Angel, Music, and Baby by Stefani, the Harajuku girls are named for the area around the Harajuku Station of Tokyo, Japan, known as a popular shopping destination and fashion center for teenagers. Following the style of their namesake area, Stefani's Harajuku girls are usually flamboyantly dressed (sometimes in a somewhat "Gothic Lolita" style). They have been featured in her music videos and press coverage and on the album cover for Love. Angel. Music. Baby., and have a song dedicated to them on the album.

However, Stefani's adoption of this component of Japanese culture drew criticism from Mihi Ahn at Salon.com , and others who feel that Stefani has stripped Japanese street fashion of its authenticity and created yet another example of the 'submissive asian female' stereotype.