After rising to fame at the head of bombastic ska-punk band No Doubt, Gwen Stefani was thrust front and center into the media spotlight. She'd get on stage and rock her emotional, empowered anthems like "Just A Girl" and "Spiderwebs"-holding her own against her band-mates' snarling guitar and pounding drums -and the sweaty audience would walk out absolutely in love with her. The strong-voiced and undeniably sexy Stefani was the star of every photo-shoot, much to the annoyance of her equally talented male band-mates. Gwen tried to play down her new icon status, claiming she was an old-fashioned girl who just wanted to settle down and get married. She was public about her relationship with Bush singer Gavin Rosdale and how she felt like just the luckiest little woman. But you can't keep star power like that bottled up, and Gwen was gradually seduced into the spotlight-first kissing Moby's bald head and collaborating with him on his Play hit "Southside," then hooking up with Eve on the seductive hip hop single "Blow Ya Mind." Finally, in 2004, Gwen dropped Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Mixing elements of hip hop, reggae and rock with funky-slick production by The Neptunes and Outkast's Andre 3000, the disc's first hit was a tricked-out cover of "If I Were A Rich Girl" from the musical Fiddler On the Roof via dancehall queen Tanya Stephens. The follow-up single, "Hollaback Girl," introduced the new term into slang vocabulary and saw Gwen touring with a bizarre entourage of Japanese popettes dubbed "The Harajuku Girls." The savvy Gwen Stefani has also designed her own hot clothing label, L.A.M.B., that mixes Japanese street style with California's sunny urban flavor.
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