Gwen Stefani Reveals She ‘Wouldn’t Be Here’ Without This Song — That the Label Made Her ‘Rewrite’ (Exclusive)

Gwen Stefani looks back on her musical legacy.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the pop icon says she wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for one song in particular: “Don’t Speak.”

“My brother wrote that song [No Doubt cofounder and ex-member Eric Stefani]. I’d stay up all night smoking cigarettes and eating burritos and writing,” says Stefani, 55, of the career-making hit that appeared on No Doubt’s 1995 album. A tragic kingdom. – It was completely different when he wrote it.

Gwen Stefani Recalls ‘Chaos’ Early Days When She Was Dating Blake Shelton — Telling Him ‘This Is Not Happening’ (Exclusive)

Gwen Stefani with her brother and former No Doubt bandmate Eric Stefani in 1998.

Gwen Stefani and brother Eric in LA in October 2023. Gwen Stefani with her brother and former No Doubt bandmate Eric Stefani in 1998. PHOTO:

Ron Galella, Ltd./Collection of Ron Galella via Getty Images

Gwen Stefani and brother Eric in LA in October 2023. PHOTO:

Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

When the band played their new material for their label, “They said, ‘We like the chorus. You should try to simplify the lyrics,'” Stefani recalls. “He sat down at the piano with me and said,”Ltd., Ltd., Ltd.,‘ and he started with this super edited version of the verse melody. Tony [Kanal, No Doubt’s bassist] he parted with me, and I was ready to die, and I wrote the words.”

Looking back, “It’s one of those crazy rewrites — probably the only one in history that actually turned out to be the heartbeat of my entire life,” Stefani adds. – I wouldn’t be here without that song.

Gwen Stefani reveals why ‘Yacht Rock’ brought her and Blake Shelton together when they first fell in love (Exclusive)

No Doubt (Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, Gwen Stefani and Adrian Young) 1997.

No Doubt perform at Coachella in April 2024. No Doubt (Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, Gwen Stefani and Adrian Young) in 1997. PHOTO:

Pat Pope/Shutterstock

No Doubt will perform at Coachella in April 2024. PHOTO:

John Shearer/Getty

Gwen Stefani ‘didn’t know how to protect her kids’ after divorce: My ‘dream’ was ‘crushed’ (Exclusive)

No Doubt came together in Anaheim, California in 1986 with Stefani as lead singer alongside Kanal, guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young. After recently taking a hiatus in 2015, the two-time Grammy-winning band reunited last April for a special set at the Coachella music festival in Indio, California.

“We worked so hard, we had so much chemistry between us, and we weren’t trying to ‘make it.’ Every time we went into the studio, it was like we were putting real life on hold to do what we were passionate about,” Stefani recalls of the band’s breakthrough in the 90s. “That’s why I feel like the music we were making at that time was so incredibly clean.”

The band gained mainstream fame with Tragic Kingdom’lead single, “Just a Girl,” 1995.

Gwen Stefani marks 20 years since her debut solo album LAMBreflects on filming: ‘Things were beyond repair’ (exclusive)

Gwen Stefani’s ‘Bouquet’ album cover.

Universal music

“Just a Girl is one of those miracles because I didn’t write it for anyone to hear. I was literally expressing what I felt at that moment in my early twenties,” Stefani says. “And it came from the girls who were looking at me. [and] they compete or ‘What are you doing up there? How dare you try to be a girl and be on stage?’ that they were my girls; we were one. I always thought I would [outgrow] that, but it almost seems more relevant than ever. And it’s such an innocent thinking about finding your own identity through your sexuality — or just thinking, ‘Where do I fit in?'”

Nearly three decades later, Stefani still finds solace—and joy—in songwriting.

“I like to write songs. That’s all for me,” she says. “If I want to feel like I have any purpose or any value or anything, it’s writing a song. That’s where I get my fulfillment.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education