Gavin Rossdale

Gavin Rossdale

Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1965) is a British musician most famous as the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Bush. He later was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and is now pursuing a solo career.

Rossdale was born in Swiss Cottage, London, to parents Lucy Stephan (b. Scotland) and Douglas Rossdale. His father was a doctor of Russian Jewish descent whose surname was originally Rosenthal. His parents divorced when he was eleven years old, and he was raised primarily by his father and aunt. His mother remarried and moved to Tampa, Florida. Rossdale has a younger sister, Soraya, and an elder one, Lorraine. Rossdale's half brother, David, is the Bishop of Great Grimsby in the United Kingdom.

Rossdale modelled briefly, producing some fashion shots. He learned to play bass guitar after hanging out with his sister Lorraine's boyfriend, who was in a band called The Nobodyz, but he switched to rhythm guitar. At 17, he left the Westminster School, played semi-professional football until side-lined by an injury, and formed a band called Midnight (formerly Little Dukes), which produced a couple of singles and many publicity photos. In 1991, Gavin moved to Los Angeles for 6 months, lived where he could, and took whatever part-time jobs were available, including production assistant on video shoots. He spent some time in NYC before returning to England where he hooked up with future manager Dave Dorrell (MARRS), whom he had met in LA. In 1992, Gavin formed Future Primitive, whose original line-up (under the name The Diceheads) included screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, who left to pursue a film-making career. The band changed its name to Bush in the summer of 1994 and released the promo Sixteen Stone.

Gavin was the lead singer/songwriter for the British post-grunge rock band Bush. Their first album, Sixteen Stone (1994), was a huge commercial success. Almost overnight, Bush went from playing small pubs in London to headlining arenas in the US, the result of extensive, non-stop touring. However, some critics labelled them as an inferior derivative of bands such as Nirvana and Pixies, and this criticism followed them throughout their career as a band. In particular, Rossdale's forced, raspy singing voice and random, stream of consciousness-style lyrics were dismissed by some as an imitation of Nirvana's lead singer, Kurt Cobain. Although the band reached superstar status in the U.S., they failed to have much impact in the UK, which at the time was rather preoccupied with Britpop. The sole exception to this was their single "Swallowed", which reached #7 in the UK charts. A change in record labels, management and an extended hiatus did not bode well for the band, who unofficially split in 2002.

Bush's albums include Razorblade Suitcase (recorded by Steve Albini), Deconstructed, The Science of Things, and Golden State, none of which matched the sales success of the debut album, Sixteen Stone.

Rossdale made a song titled "Adrenaline" for the soundtrack of the movie xXx, which is featured during the end credits. The song was also the official theme song for WWE's Unforgiven pay-per-view event in September 2002.

He also guest appeared for Blue Man Group's "The Current" and is featured in its video. The song was used in the ending credits of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

In 2004, after Bush had been on hiatus for two years, Rossdale formed Institute. Their first album, Distort Yourself, released September 13, 2005 achieved moderate success and the single "Bullet-proof skin" was used in the motion picture Stealth. In an interview published in November 2008, Rossdale noted that the Institute record was, "for all intents and purposes, a solo record. It was just a bad marketing decision to call it something else". Institute broke up in 2006, after just one album.

In 2005, Rossdale appeared in the motion picture Constantine (2005) playing the villain Balthazar. Rossdale has also appeared in the films Zoolander (2001), The Mayor of Sunset Strip (2003), Little Black Book (2004), and The Game of Their Lives (2005). He also co-starred in the heist film How to Rob a Bank alongside Nick Stahl and Erika Christensen. Rossdale will next be seen in the crime/drama/horror film "Frost Flowers", due out in 2009.

In 2007, Rossdale announced on his website that he was working on new music for a solo album. He wrote that he was very happy with the sound of the album, citing he went back to his roots with Bush. Rossdale's single, "Can't Stop the World," is the introduction theme to Fox's programme, Drive.

In 2007, he covered John Lennon's "Mind Games" for the album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Later that year, Gavin finished recording his first solo record entitled WANDERlust, to be released June 3rd 2008. Gwen Stefani, Rossdale's wife, sings on the track "Drive." He also made a guest appearance on the DT8 Project album Perfect World, taking lead vocals and co-writing the track Falling.

On December 12, 2008, at the Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington, Virginia, Gavin officially announced that Bush would be back in 2009.

Recently it was announced that Gavin would appear as a guest vocalist on Slash's solo album "Slash and Friends" which is due to be released in the spring.

Rossdale has homes in Primrose Hill (London), and Los Angeles (California), and is a regular on the celebrity tennis circuit in the latter.

He is an avid tennis fan and is friends with Roger Federer.

In 2004, a paternity test revealed that Rossdale was the father of Pearl Lowe's daughter, Daisy Lowe (b. 1989), as opposed to Lowe's ex-husband, as previously thought. Rossdale and Lowe had a brief relationship and Rossdale had been the godfather of Daisy. Following the revelation, Rossdale cut all ties with the Lowes.

On September 14, 2002, Rossdale married Gwen Stefani, American pop-rock singer and lead singer of the ska punk band No Doubt. During an August 8, 2005, appearance on the radio show Loveline, Rossdale said that he and Gwen preferred to keep their relationship entirely out of the media. He also said that he grew up in a chaotic home, and that having a stable environment for his family was important to him. On May 26, 2006, Rossdale and Stefani had a son, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Kingston weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces. In an interview with Teen Vogue, Rossdale said Kingston liked accompanying him on tour, but when Rossdale was on tour without him, Kingston "played my video while I was on the road and around the room and scream 'Dada.'" On August 21, 2008, Stefani gave birth to the couple's second son, named Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale, in Los Angeles. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces.

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No Doubt

No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, founded in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album, No Doubt, failed to make waves due to the popularity of the grunge movement at the time. The band's diamond-certified album Tragic Kingdom helped to launch the ska revival of the 1990s, and "Don't Speak", the third single from the album, set a record when it spent sixteen weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, later broken by the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris".

The group released its next album, Return of Saturn, four years later, but despite positive reviews, the album was considered a commercial failure. Fifteen months later, the band reappeared with Rock Steady, which incorporated reggae and dancehall music into their work. The album was primarily recorded in Jamaica and featured collaborations with Jamaican artists Bounty Killer, Sly and Robbie, and Lady Saw. The album produced two Grammy-winning singles, "Hey Baby" and "Underneath It All".

No Doubt released the compilation The Singles 1992–2003 and box set Boom Box in 2003, both of which contained a cover version of the Talk Talk synthpop song "It's My Life". Frontwoman Gwen Stefani launched her solo career the next year with several collaborations, including bandmate Tony Kanal and Neptune Pharrell Williams, while guitarist Tom Dumont began his side project, Invincible Overlord. During its career, the band has won two Grammy Awards and sold 27 million records worldwide to date. The band will embark on a national tour throughout the summer of 2009.

John Spence, Eric Stefani, and Eric's sister Gwen Stefani formed a band called Apple Core in 1986, having worked together at a local Dairy Queen. Eric, who had taught himself to play songs by 2 Tone band Madness on the piano, played keyboards for the band, and Spence was the lead vocalist with Gwen, who Eric had previously used to test out ideas for vocals, as a co-vocalist. The trio recruited several more members within the month and had an unsteady line-up for several years. It played small gigs around the Orange County area, with Spence's on-stage antics carrying its performances. Tony Kanal went to one of these early shows and soon joined the band as its bassist. After initially rejecting her advances, he began dating Gwen, but they kept their relationship secret for a year, feeling that it was an unspoken rule that nobody date her.

In December 1987, Spence committed suicide several days before the band was to play a gig at The Roxy Theatre for record industry employees. No Doubt disbanded but decided to regroup after several weeks with Alan Meade taking over vocals. When Meade left the band, Gwen replaced him as lead singer, while No Doubt continued to develop a live following in California. In early 1988, Tom Dumont left Rising, a heavy metal band of which he was a member with his sister, stating that local metal bands "were into drinking, wearing Spandex" but that he wanted to focus on music. He joined No Doubt and replaced Jerry McMahon as the band's guitarist, adding a distinct metal influence to its sound. Adrian Young replaced Chris Webb as the drummer the following year.

Impressed by the presence of rabid, stage diving fans at No Doubt's concerts and Gwen's mesmerizing on-stage presence, Tony Ferguson signed the band to a multi-album deal with the newly created Interscope Records in 1990. No Doubt's self-titled debut album was finally released in 1992, but featured no radio singles, although a video was made for "Trapped in a Box". The album's distinctly upbeat ska/pop/cartoon sound sharply contrasted with the ubiquitous and inescapable grunge phenomenon of 1992. Because the music world's focus was redirected squarely at Seattle, No Doubt's album was not supported by the record label and considered a commercial failure for selling only 30,000 copies. The band embarked on a national tour in support of the album, though Interscope refused to support the tour. The band failed to bring the audiences that it had attracted in Southern California, and often found that No Doubt was not even available in the cities where it was playing. Eric Stefani began to withdraw from the band, sometimes choosing to disappear from the band or stay in the band.

The band began work on its next album the next year, but Interscope rejected much of its material, and the band was paired with producer Matthew Wilder. Eric did not like to relinquish creative control to someone outside the band and eventually stopped recording and rehearsing. He left No Doubt in 1994 to resume an animation career with the cartoon TV series The Simpsons. Kanal then ended his seven-year relationship with Gwen, saying that he needed "space". Unsure of what to do with the band, Interscope sublicensed the project to Trauma Records in 1995. No Doubt released The Beacon Street Collection, consisting of outtakes from its previous recording sessions, that year on its own label, Sea Creature Records. Mixing 1980s punk rock and some grunge influences into the band's sound, the album contains a rawer sound than No Doubt, and it sold more than three times as many copies as its predecessor. Later that year, the label released Tragic Kingdom, much of which dealt with the relationship between Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani.

The release of 1995's Tragic Kingdom and the single "Just a Girl" allowed the group to achieve mainstream commercial success. No Doubt began touring in support of the album late that year, and it grew into an 27-month international tour. In 1996, the second single, "Spiderwebs", was successful, and "Don't Speak", a ballad written about Stefani and Kanal's break-up, was released as the third single and broke the previous record when it topped the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay for sixteen weeks. No Doubt was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards. By the end of the year, half of the songs on Tragic Kingdom had been released as singles, and the album was certified eight times platinum. Later, they were nominated for two more Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, both for "Don't Speak". The Recording Industry Association of America certified the album diamond in February 1999, and with worldwide sales of sixteen million, it is one of the best-selling albums in history. The band's self-titled debut album began selling copies again off of the success of Tragic Kingdom and reached total sales of over a quarter of a million copies.

The album's release fueled a dispute between Trauma and Interscope Records over No Doubt's recording contract. Trauma sued for US$100 million for breach of contract, fraud, and extortion and sought to have its joint venture agreement ended, claiming that Interscope had reneged on its contract after the band had become more successful than expected. No Doubt had previously stated that it had switched to Trauma Records and that the transition was "really great...because now we have the attention and the focus of a small indie label." The case was settled out of court with a $3 million payment.

The band finished its tour in December 1997 and had several releases during the two-year writing process to make its follow-up to Tragic Kingdom. Live in the Tragic Kingdom, a live long-form video of the band's performance at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, was released and The Beacon Street Collection was re-released while the band was on tour that year. The band recorded "I Throw My Toys Around" with Elvis Costello for The Rugrats Movie, and it contributed to The Clash's tribute album Burning London: The Clash Tribute. Stefani began to make recordings without the band, contributing vocals to tracks for The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Prince, Fishbone & Familyhood Nextperience, and her boyfriend Gavin Rossdale's band Bush. After some time in-between albums, No Doubt included its song "New" on the soundtrack to the movie Go in 1999. "New", inspired by Gwen's budding relationship with Rossdale, was one of the first songs written after the release of Tragic Kingdom.

In 2000, the band released Return of Saturn, its follow-up to Tragic Kingdom. The album featured a darker tone and was more lyrically advanced than No Doubt's previous work. The main lyrical focus of the new record had shifted from Gwen Stefani's relationship with bassist Tony Kanal to her new relationship with Gavin Rossdale. Return of Saturn was critically acclaimed, but was not as commercially successful as their previous album, and the lead single, "Ex-Girlfriend", failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Also released as singles from the album were the tracks "Simple Kind of Life" and "Bathwater".

After Return of Saturn, the band returned to recording in January 2001. During this time, it contributed a cover version of Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" for the Zoolander soundtrack and recorded a song with Kelis for her album Wanderland. Stefani made high-profile appearances on Moby's "South Side" and Eve's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind". These appearances lent No Doubt credibility and an opportunity to explore new genres. Highly influenced by Jamaican dancehall music and recorded primarily in Jamaica, the band's 2001 studio album, Rock Steady, produced two hit Grammy-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 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also released "Hella Good" and "Running" as singles. In addition, pop-star Prince co-wrote, produced, and performed on "Waiting Room" from Rock Steady. Stefani had previously provided vocals for a song on Prince's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic album, "So Far, So Pleased". In November 2002, No Doubt made an appearance in the Dawson's Creek episode "Spiderwebs".

2003 was a big year of releases for No Doubt. The album The Singles 1992–2003, a compilation of the band's commercially-released singles, was released on November 25, 2003. It included a cover of the song "It's My Life", which had originally been a hit for synthpop group Talk Talk in 1984, and earned No Doubt a Grammy nomination for Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. Additionally, a special 2-CD 2-DVD box set titled Boom Box was made available, which included the CDs The Singles 1992–2003 and Everything in Time and the DVDs The Videos 1992–2003 and Live in the Tragic Kingdom. Separately, Rock Steady Live, a DVD of the band performing in Long Beach from their Rock Steady tour was released in 2003 as well. The next year, the band was featured in a re-recording of the Toots & the Maytals classic ska song "Monkey Man". The band also toured with blink-182 in mid-2004, before embarking on a hiatus.

Lead singer Gwen Stefani began work on her 80s inspired New Wave, dance-pop side project in 2003, which eventually evolved into the full-fledged solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., released on November 23, 2004. The album reached multi-platinum status in several countries, including a quintuple platinum certification in Canada and triple platinum in the U.S. Stefani launched her first solo arena tour in October 2005, which coincided with the news of her pregnancy (her son, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, was born on May 26, 2006). She released her second solo dance-pop album, The Sweet Escape in December 2006.

In early 2005, Tom Dumont released his own solo music project, Invincible Overlord, with friend and collaborator Ted Matson, and backed up Matt Costa on his 2005 tour. Adrian Young, the band's drummer, did the drums for Bow Wow Wow's 2004 tour and many of the tracks on Unwritten Law's 2005 release, Here's to the Mourning, as well as featuring on several shows in 2006 for TheStart. Young will also be playing on Rockstar: Supernova runner-up Dilana's upcoming album.

With Stefani promoting her second solo album, No Doubt began initial work on a new album without her and planned to complete it after Stefani's tour was finished. In March 2008, the band started making posts concerning the progression of the album on their official fan forum. Stefani made a post on March 28, 2008 stating that songwriting had commenced but was slow on her end because she was, at the time, pregnant with her second child.

Manager Jim Guerinot said the yet-untitled album is being produced by Mark "Spike" Stent, who helped produce and mix Rock Steady. Between Stefani's pregnancy and recording, No Doubt did not tour in 2008 but, Guerinot promised, they plan to hit the road hard in 2009 for their first full-fledged band tour in nearly five years.

All members of No Doubt except for Stefani are appearing as Scott Weiland's backing band on the upcoming album Happy In Galoshes.

Kanal produced two tracks called "Sober" and "Funhouse" on Pink's album, Funhouse.

No Doubt announced on their official website that they will tour in the summer of 2009 with Paramore, The Sounds, Janelle Monáe, and Bedouin Soundclash while finishing their upcoming album, which is set for release in 2010. Tickets for the tour go on sale March 7, 2009. As a special promotion for the tour, the band is giving away their entire music catalog free as a digital download with purchase of top tier seating.

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Luxurious

In Addition to the Isley Brothers sample, the song features use of keyboards, synthesizers and electric guitars. The song is a slow jam love song and the lyrics describe the persona's desire to be rich in love, simultaneously comparing her lover with luxuries. The song also features Stefani's husband Gavin Rossdale who opens the song in French.

The song was released as the album's fifth single in late 2005 (see 2005 in music) along with a remix. A music video featuring rapper Slim Thug was also released which featured the Harajuku Girls as well. The track received mixed reviews from critics, who generally found the track less impressive than the previous singles. It entered the top forty worldwide but had mediocre success overall and was less popular than the previous singles from L.A.M.B.

Stefani had an emotional breakdown from difficulties collaborating with many other artists and songwriters, so No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal invited her to his house. Kanal had been working on a track, which later became "Crash", the sixth single from the album. However, the two were unable to write anything following that, because they had differing ideas of how the music should sound. Stefani commented that "it was just frustrating and embarrassing to sit there and think we could write songs." Six months later, the two returned to work and came up with the beginnings of a song while working in Kanal's bedroom. The two experimented with combining various melodies and including what Stefani referred to as "this really kinda fast rappy part". This was the last song she and Kanal wrote together for the album.

After Stefani and Kanal finished writing "Luxurious", they visited record producer Nellee Hooper, who suggested a sample of The Isley Brothers' "Between the Sheets". The song had previously been sampled in several songs such as Da Brat's "Funkdafied", Jim Jones' "Summer Wit Miami", The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Big Poppa", and Whitney Houston's "One of Those Days". Stefani was reluctant to use the sample because it would mean losing some of the publishing rights to the song. Nevertheless, she decided to use it because "it sounded so amazing and meant to be".

The song begins with Stefani's husband Gavin Rossdale speaking in French. and then leads into the first verse. The lyrics describe Stefani talking about "flying first class" and "livin' like a queen". She talks about being luxuriously in love and calls her lover Limousine and Treasure Chest. She talks about the increasing passion between her and her partner, and says, "Our passion it just multiplies" and "got in the fifth gear, baby". In the chorus she tells that love is getting expensive and she and her partner have to work hard night and day to be rich in love, and after working hard, when they lay back together, they get the payback. After the second verse, the song gets slower and Stefani repeats "Cha-ching, cha-ching" four times alternated with lines talking about getting "hooked up with the love" and "hydroponic love". The song ends with Gavin Rossdale speaking more lines in French.

The song received mixed reviews from music critics. About.com commented that "if Madonna is wishing to pass on her 'Material Girl' title, Gwen Stefani is happy to wear it proudly" but noted that "things are wearing a little thin, and this song doesn't have the striking impact of "Rich Girl" or "Hollaback Girl. OHM Media agreed, saying that, "'Luxurious' is by no means a bad song, but it is pretty ordinary when compared to the songs that have preceded it." PopMatters found the track uninteresting and said that Rossdale's appearance "sounds like a blinged-out Saint Etienne". Contactmusic.com called Stefani's performance "as seductive as ever, and the production extremely polished, but it lacks the infectiousness of her other releases"; it found Slim Thug's remix unnecessary and called the single's release "a money - spinning exercise". MyVillage agreed, stating that the single "just doesn't stand out" and that Stefani "doesn't do hip hop as well as she does quirky pop", and PlayLouder called the track a "sickly sweet R&B ballad". Slant magazine called the lyrics "surprisingly sharp"; Pitchfork Media disagreed, referring to the song as a "soulless Nellee Hooper 90s R&B vanity affair" and a "zombied buy - LAMB - clothing mantra".

The song was released on December 5, 2005 in Europe and Australia. It received very little promotion in the UK and continued the trend of Stefani's lower-charting singles since "Hollaback Girl" when it debuted at number forty-four and dropped off the UK Singles Chart after only one more week. The single performed similarly throughout Europe, where it reached the top forty in Ireland, Italy, and Switzerland, but generally did not reach the top thirty. Stefani's previous four singles had been successful in Australia, where all reached the top ten; however, "Luxurious" did not reach the top twenty and reached a peak of number twenty-five. In New Zealand, "Luxurious" was moderately successful, where it reached number seventeen but stayed on the chart for only ten weeks.

The music video for "Luxurious" was directed by Sophie Muller. In the video, Stefani plays a chola in high school. Then Stefani, accompanied by her Harajuku Girls, receive a manicure at a beauty salon, and styling her hair and applying cosmetics in front of a mirror. She shows off gold jewellery with her name carved on it. During his rap, Slim Thug appears in sequences with Stefani or two Harajuku Girls. It concludes with Stefani joining her friends in a block party, where they celebrate with breakdancing and a barbecue. The video is intercut with sequences of Stefani breaking open piñatas and lying on a candy-covered floor.

She's this total like chola girl, white face, and she used to sit in class and put on tons of makeup. And I used to just watch her, mesmerized. And she would just wear this dark liner and this red lipstick and she had this safety pin and she'd be picking her eyelashes apart. She hadn't taken that mascara off for months.

Stefani called Muller, who had directed several videos for Stefani and No Doubt, to direct the music video. Muller did not understand Stefani's vision for the video, so Stefani became involved in developing ideas for the video.

The video had mediocre success on music video programs. On MTV's Total Request Live, the video debuted on October 25, 2005 at number ten. It peaked at number seven and left the countdown after only five days. After its October 21 debut on MuchMusic's Countdown, it peaked at number eleven nine weeks later, remaining on the chart for thirteen weeks. The video was featured on an episode of MuchMusic's Video on Trial, where the reviewers found it a superficial attempt to market to various races.

Some vinyl copies accidentally have the Slim Thug remix twice on side A.

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Gwen Stefani

Gwen Renée Stefani (pronounced /ˈgwɛn stɛˈfɑːni/; born October 3, 1969) is an American recording artist and fashion designer. Stefani serves as lead vocalist for the rock band No Doubt. Formed with influences ranging from punk rock to new wave music, their third wave ska oriented third studio album Tragic Kingdom (1995) propelled them to stardom, selling 16 million copies worldwide. It spawned the singles "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak". The band's popularity went into decline with its fourth album, Return of Saturn (2000), but Rock Steady (2001) focused on dancehall production traits, and generally received positive reviews.

Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was primarily inspired by music of the 1980s, and emerged an international success with sales of over seven million. The album's third single "Hollaback Girl" became the first U.S. digital download to sell one million copies. Stefani's second solo album The Sweet Escape (2006) yielded "Wind It Up", a moderate worldwide success, and "The Sweet Escape". Including her work with No Doubt, Stefani has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. She won the World's Best-Selling New Female Artist at the World Music Awards 2005.

Stefani is known as a fashion trendsetter. In 2003, she debuted her clothing line L.A.M.B. and expanded her collection with the 2005 Harajuku Lovers line, drawing inspiration from Japanese culture and fashion. Stefani performs and makes public appearances with four back-up dancers known as the Harajuku Girls. She married British grunge musician Gavin Rossdale in 2002 and they have two sons: Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, who was born May 26, 2006, and Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale, who was born August 21, 2008.

Stefani was born and raised in Fullerton, California, and grew up in a Roman Catholic household. Her mother named her after a stewardess in the 1968 novel Airport, and her middle name, Renée, comes from The Four Tops' 1968 cover of The Left Banke's 1966 hit song "Walk Away Renée". Her father, Dennis Stefani, is Italian and works as a Yamaha marketing executive. Her mother, Patti (née Flynn), is of Irish and Scottish descent and worked as an accountant before becoming a homemaker. Her parents were fans of folk music and presented music by Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris to their daughter. She is the second oldest of four children; she has a younger sister, Jill Stefani, a younger brother, Todd, and an older brother, Eric. Eric was the keyboardist for No Doubt but left the band to pursue a career in animation on The Simpsons.

Many of the women in Stefani's family were seamstresses, and much of her clothing was made by her or her mother. As a child, Stefani's musical interests consisted of musicals such as The Sound of Music and Evita. After making a demo tape for her father, she was encouraged to take music lessons to train her "loopy, unpredictable" voice. Stefani is a distant cousin of Madonna. Her great-aunt's mother-in-law shares the last name with Madonna.

Stefani made her onstage debut during a talent show at Loara High School, where she sang "I Have Confidence," from The Sound of Music, in a self-made tweed dress inspired by one from the film. Stefani was on the Loara swim team in an attempt to lose weight. She first worked at a Dairy Queen and later manning the MAC makeup counter of a department store. After graduating from high school in 1987, she began attending California State University, Fullerton.

Eric introduced Gwen to 2 Tone music by Madness and The Selecter, and in 1986 he invited her to provide vocals for No Doubt, a ska band he was forming. Finally, in 1991, the band was signed to Interscope Records. She also did backup vocals for Sublime on the song "Saw Red".

The band released its self-titled debut album in 1992, but its ska-pop sound was unsuccessful due to the popularity of grunge. Stefani rejected the aggressiveness of female grunge artists and cited Blondie singer Debbie Harry's combination of power and sex appeal as a major influence. No Doubt's third album, Tragic Kingdom (1995), which followed the self-released The Beacon Street Collection (1995), took more than three years to make. During this time, the band almost split up because of the failed romantic relationship between Stefani and bandmate Tony Kanal. Their break-up inspired Stefani lyrically, and many of the album's songs, such as "Don't Speak", "Sunday Morning", and "Hey You", chronicle their relationship and her happiness. Five singles were released from Tragic Kingdom and "Don't Speak" led 1996's U.S. year-end airplay chart. Stefani left college for one semester to tour for Tragic Kingdom but did not return when touring lasted two and a half years. The album sold more than 16 million copies worldwide, and received several Grammy Award nominations.

No Doubt released the less popular Return of Saturn in 2000, which expands upon the New Wave influences of Tragic Kingdom. Most of the lyrical content focuses on Stefani's often rocky relationship with then-Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale and her overall insecurities, including indecision on settling down and having a child. The band's 2001 album, Rock Steady, explores more reggae and dancehall sounds while maintaining the band's New Wave influences, generally receiving positive reviews. The album generated career-highest singles chart positions in the United States, and "Hey Baby" and "Underneath It All" received Grammy Awards. A greatest hits collection, The Singles 1992–2003, which includes a cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life", was released in 2003 to moderate sales. The other members of No Doubt have begun work on a new album and plan to complete it after Stefani's tour is finished.

Outside No Doubt, Stefani has collaborated on the singles "South Side" and "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Moby and Eve, respectively. In 2002 Eve and Stefani won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Let Me Blow Ya Mind". She also collaborated with The Brian Setzer Orchestra on a cover of "You're the Boss", originally performed by Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret, for its 1998 album The Dirty Boogie.

Following No Doubt's hiatus, Stefani sought out her former bandmate Tony Kanal to discuss the possibility of a solo career. The idea was to make a quick dance record, but this became a large collaboration with other artists, producers and various non-ska influences. The result was two successful albums. Currently, Stefani has two solo albums, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004), and The Sweet Escape (2006).

Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was released in November 2004. The album features a large number of collaborations with producers and other artists, including Tony Kanal, Linda Perry, André 3000, Nellee Hooper and The Neptunes. Stefani created the album to modernize the music to which she listened when in high school, and L.A.M.B. takes influence from a variety of music styles of the 1980s and early 1990s such as New Wave and electro. Stefani's decision to use her solo career as an opportunity to delve further into pop music instead of trying "to convince the world of talent, depth and artistic worth" was considered unusual. As a result, reviews of the album were mixed, and it was described as "fun as hell but…not exactly rife with subversive social commentary." The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart at number seven, selling 309,000 copies in its first week. It sold well, reaching multi-platinum status in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, Stefani was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and at the next year's awards, Stefani received five nominations for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

The first single released from the album was "What You Waiting For?", which charted outside the U.S. Top 40, but reached the Top 10 on most other charts. The song served to explain why Stefani produced a solo album and discusses her fears in leaving No Doubt for a solo career as well as her desire to have a baby. "Rich Girl" was released as the album's second single. A duet with rapper Eve, and produced by Dr. Dre, it is an adaptation of a 1990s pop song by British musicians Louchie Lou & Michie One, which itself is a cover of "If I Were a Rich Man", from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. "Rich Girl" proved successful on several formats, and reached the UK and U.S. top ten. L.A.M.B.'s third single "Hollaback Girl" became Stefani's first U.S. and second Australian number-one single; it was less successful elsewhere. The song was the first U.S. digital download to sell more than one million copies legally, and its brass-driven composition remained popular throughout 2005.

The fourth single "Cool" was released shortly following the popularity of its predecessor, but failed to match its chart success, reaching the top twenty in UK and U.S. The song's lyrics and its accompanying music video, filmed in Lake Como, Italy, depict Stefani's former relationship with Kanal. "Luxurious" was released as the album's fifth single, but did not perform as well as its predecessors. "Crash" was released in early 2006 as the album's sixth single in lieu of Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'s sequel, which Stefani postponed because of her pregnancy.

Stefani's second solo album, The Sweet Escape, was released in December 2006. Stefani recollaborated with Kanal, Perry, and The Neptunes, along with Akon and Tim Rice-Oxley from English rock band Keane. The album focuses more heavily on electro/dance music for clubs than its predecessor. Stefani commented that it differed from L.A.M.B. because "I just wasn't inspired to do another album and…I was a lot more relaxed making it." Its release coincided with the DVD release of Stefani's first tour, entitled Harajuku Lovers Live. The album received mixed reviews by critics, who found that it "has a surprisingly moody, lightly autobiographical feel... Stefani isn't convincing as a dissatisfied diva" and called the album a "hasty return" that repeats Love. Angel. Music. Baby. with less energy.

With Stefani promoting her second solo album, No Doubt began initial work on a new album without her and planned to complete it after Stefani's tour was finished. In March 2008, the band started making posts concerning the progression of the album on their official fan forum. Stefani made a post on March 28, 2008 stating that songwriting had commenced but was slow on her end because she was, at the time, pregnant with her second child.

Manager Jim Guerinot said the yet-untitled album is being produced by Mark "Spike" Stent, who helped produce and mix Rock Steady. Between Stefani's pregnancy and recording, No Doubt did not tour in 2008, but Guerinot promised they plan to hit the road hard in 2009 for their first full-fledged band tour in nearly five years.

It has been announced that "The Singles 92-03" will be available on Dec. 9th for the Rock Band 2 video game platform. All members of No Doubt except for Stefani are appearing as Scott Weiland's backing band on the upcoming album Happy In Galoshes.

No Doubt announced on their official website that they want to tour in 2009 while finishing their upcoming album, which is set for release late 2009. On November 24, 2008, it was announced that No Doubt would be headlining the Bamboozle 2009 festival in May, along with Fall Out Boy.

Stefani made most of the clothing that she wore on stage with No Doubt, resulting in increasingly eclectic combinations. Stylist Andrea Lieberman introduced her to haute couture clothing, which lead to Stefani launching a fashion line named L.A.M.B. in 2004. The line takes influence from a variety of fashions, including Guatemalan, Japanese, and Jamaican styles. The line achieved popularity among celebrities and is worn by stars such as Teri Hatcher, Nicole Kidman, and Stefani herself. In June 2005, she expanded her collection with the less expensive Harajuku Lovers line, which she referred to as "a glorified merchandise line", with varied products including a camera, mobile phone charms, and undergarments. In late 2006, Stefani released a limited edition line of dolls called "Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Fashion dolls". The dolls are inspired by the various costumes that Stefani and the Harajuku Girls wore while touring for the album. In late summer 2007, Stefani launched a perfume, 'L', as a part of her L.A.M.B. collection of clothing and accessories. The perfume has high notes of sweet pea and rose. In September 2008, Stefani released a fragrance line as a part of her Harajuku Lovers product line. There are five different fragrances based on the four Harajuku Girls and Stefani herself called 'Love', 'Lil' Angel', 'Music', 'Baby' and 'G' (Gwen).

In 2004, Stefani showed interest in making film appearances and began auditioning for films such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith. She made her acting debut playing Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator in 2004 and was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by Cast in Motion Picture. Scorsese, whose daughter was a No Doubt fan, showed reciprocal interest in casting Stefani after seeing her picture from a Marilyn Monroe-inspired photo shoot for Teen Vogue in 2003. To prepare for the role, Stefani read two biographies and watched 18 of Harlow's films. Shooting her part took four to five days, and Stefani had few lines. Stefani lent her voice to the title character of Malice, a PS2 and Xbox video game in 2004; before completion, however, the company opted not to use No Doubt bandmembers' voices.

Soon after Stefani joined No Doubt, she and bandmate Tony Kanal began dating. Stefani stated that she was heavily invested in the relationship, commenting that "...all I ever did was look at Tony and pray that God would let me have a baby with him." Kanal ended the relationship.

During her time with No Doubt, the band toured with fellow ska punk band Reel Big Fish, whose frontman, Aaron Barrett, later wrote the song "She's Famous Now" for their 1998 album Why Do They Rock So Hard?. The song is commonly interpreted to be about a relationship between the two and Stefani's subsequent success with No Doubt. Barrett later stated that he "was just trying to start a rumor".

In December 1995, No Doubt and rock band Goo Goo Dolls went on tour opening for alternative rock band Bush. Stefani met Bush guitarist and lead singer Gavin Rossdale They married on September 14, 2002, with a wedding in St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, London. A second wedding was held in Los Angeles two weeks later. According to Stefani, it was held so that she could wear a custom-designed wedding dress by British-Gibraltarian fashion designer John Galliano twice.

The couple discovered in 2004 that Rossdale had a daughter, Daisy Lowe (b. 1989) from a previous fling with model and designer Pearl Lowe when Rossdale took a paternity test. Stefani was "devastated and infuriated" at the discovery, leading to a rocky patch in her relationship with Rossdale. Though Rossdale remains Daisy's godfather, he has severed all ties with the Lowes. Stefani's song "Danger Zone" was widely believed to be about the discovery and its aftermath. However, the song was written prior to the incident.

Stefani began wearing a bindi in the mid 1990s after attending several family gatherings for Tony Kanal, who is of Indian heritage. During No Doubt's breakthrough, Stefani wore the forehead decoration in several of the band's music videos and briefly popularized the accessory in 1997. First attracting attention in the 1995 music video for "Just a Girl", Stefani is known for her midriff and frequently wears shirts that expose it. Stefani's makeup design generally includes light face powder, bright red lipstick, and arched eyebrows; she wrote about the subject in a song titled "Magic's in the Makeup" for No Doubt's Return of Saturn, asking "If the magic's in the makeup/Then who am I?".

Stefani is a natural brunette, though her hair has not been its natural color since she was in ninth grade. Since late 1994, she has had platinum blonde hair. Stefani discussed this in the song "Platinum Blonde Life" on Rock Steady and played original blonde bombshell Jean Harlow in the 2004 biopic The Aviator. Stefani also dyed her hair blue in 1998 and pink in 2000, appearing on the cover of Return of Saturn with pink hair.

The release of Stefani's first solo album brought attention to her entourage of four Harajuku Girls, named for the area around the Harajuku Station of Tokyo, Japan. Stefani treats the back-up dancers, who appear in outfits influenced by Gothic Lolita fashion, as a figment of her imagination. Stefani's clothing also took influence from Japanese fashion, in a style described as a combination between Christian Dior and Japan. The dancers are featured in her music videos, press coverage, and on the album cover for Love. Angel. Music. Baby., with a song named for and dedicated to them on the album. They were also featured in, and the namesake for, Stefani's Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005.

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Blue Man Group

Blue Man Group is a creative organization founded by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink and Matt Goldman. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as The Tonight Show, Scrubs, and Arrested Development; and a children's museum exhibit ("Making Waves"). All of the organization's appearances star a trio of performers called Blue Men.

The organization's visual productions are centered on a trio of anonymous mute performers, called Blue Men, who appear in black clothing and blue grease paint over latex bald caps and play a mixture of idiosyncratic, often percussive, instruments. Blue Men are performers of either gender who meet specific physical requirements (athletic build, height between 5'10"-6'1"/1.78-1.85 m), specific performing talents (percussion, acting, non-verbal communication), and certain personality traits (openness, charisma, willingness to collaborate), among other qualifications.

The Blue Man can be considered a type of homologue, a creature approximating a real male human being. The strongest and most obvious Blue Man characteristic is his static appearance, namely, the ear-less, bright blue head and face, and nondescript, utilitarian clothing. In action, the Blue Man does not speak and his face is usually expressionless, although suggestions of curiosity, surprise, wonder, chagrin, etc. are sometimes visible. The Blue Man does not communicate through speech or broad body language or gestures; rather, he communicates through intense eye contact and simple gestures. He acts impulsively and primarily as a group of three, "checking in" with the other two when making decisions and before moving to their next action. The Blue Man's outwardly apparent motivations are often presented in mild caricature in order to make a humorous and/or ironic point to the audience. Additionally, the Blue Man is inscrutably motivated to drum. They even have their own hand gesture, called the "Blue Man Salute", which is made by raising both arms in the air. These characteristics provide a character free of stereotypes or race and allow all members of the audience to identify with them equally.

Meryl Vladimer, the Artistic Director of The CLUB, saw their work and commissioned Blue Man Group to create a full-length show. The resulting piece, Tubes, took off after Vladimer persuaded New York Times theater critic Stephen Holden to review it. Blue Man Group's popularity continued to snowball, resulting in a performance at Lincoln Center titled "Serious Fun", and eventually an Obie Award and a Lucille Lortel Award, which led producers to take the show to off-Broadway. Tubes opened in 1991 at the Astor Place Theater in New York City.

Blue Man Group won a special citation in the 1990-1991 Village Voice Obie Awards, and a special award in the 1992 Lucille Lortel Awards, which are for excellence in off Broadway theatre.

Early in the history of the group, the members would speak with audiences after the show while still in makeup, answering questions, signing autographs, and talking about the show. Eventually, however, it was decided that cast members would stay in character at all times while in makeup, meaning after shows they would still not speak to audience members, and the only "autograph" they would sign would be a smudge of blue paint. When shown a "new" piece of technology, such as a cell phone or even an old pair of binoculars, they will simply stare at it in wonder.

Blue Man Group is in the midst of an International Blue Man Theatrical Tour which started in Stuttgart, proceeded to Basel, Switzerland, and will eventually go to Spain, France, and Austria for approximately four to six month runs in each location. Unlike The Complex Rock Tour and the How to Be a Megastar tours, the International Blue Man Theatrical Tour will actually showcase the theatrical show currently performed in New York City, Boston, and Chicago.

In 1999, the group released their first audio recording, appropriately titled Audio. Although it contained some of the music from their stage productions, it was less of a soundtrack and more a collection of full-length instrumentals that featured new instruments.

In 2002, the group participated in Moby's Area2 tour, giving a more rock-oriented performance than in the theatrical shows. Songs developed during this tour appeared on 2003's album The Complex.

Unlike Audio, The Complex featured a variety of vocalists and guests including Tracy Bonham, Dave Matthews, Gavin Rossdale and Venus Hum. The record spawned its own 2003 tour, the first headlined by Blue Man Group. The tour deconstructed the traditional rock concert experience into its often clichéd parts and was chronicled in a 2004 DVD release. The tour featured Tracy Bonham and Venus Hum as supporting acts. The DVD included a surround sound mix of some of the studio recordings.

Blue Man Group launched its second tour, The "How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.0", on September 26, 2006. The tour added some new material to material from the original Complex Rock Tour, and had Tracy Bonham as an opening act and vocalist. DJ/VJ Mike Relm was the opening act for the second leg of this tour, which ended April 22, 2007 in Wilkes-Barre, PA. This third leg of the tour began in May 2007 and included performances in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile. The fourth leg, using "2.1" in its title, included more U.S. and Canada dates. Following that, the Megastar World Tour visited France, Korea, Canada, Germany, and a few other European countries throughout 2008.

The Rock Concert Instruction Manual, used by Blue Man Group in The Complex Rock Tour and the How to Be a MegaStar Tours 2.0 and 2.1, is a satire of the conventions of rock music. The manual describes in simple steps how one can gain fame and fortune by becoming a rock star. Parts of the manual are also used in Blue Man Group's theatrical shows.

The Rock Concert Instruction Manual is bought at the beginning of the How to Be a MegaStar show from a fake infomercial, using an audience member's credit card. (In compensation, the audience member later receives a marshmallow sculpture that was in one Blue Man's mouth). The Manual is narrated by a monotone male's voice (Todd Perlmutter) who directs their actions step-by-step, from creating their persona to ending the show.

In September 2008, Variety reported that the original trio (Matt Goldman, Chris Wink and Phil Stanton) would star in a Blue Man Group IMAX 3D feature film, to be produced by Charlotte Huggins.

As the shows evolved, Blue Man Group developed a set of custom musical instruments, many designed from the observation that common materials, such as PVC pipes, make interesting noises when struck.

None of the people who work for Blue Man Group are members of a union. There have been labor actions in Toronto and Las Vegas. In March 2007 the AFL-CIO placed Blue Man Group on its "Don't Buy List" for union members and their families.

Announcing their debut in Toronto, Ontario in 2005, Blue Man Group attracted considerable controversy for opting not to use unionized workers for their show, which many labor groups regarded as being highly unusual for a show of its size in Canada. Their June 20, 2005 premiere in Toronto was picketed by members of the Canadian Actors' Equity Association, the Toronto Musicians' Association, and two locals of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. The Ontario Teacher's Union also joined in the boycott, which essentially eliminated any business from school trips and student matinees. The show closed after 18 months, staging its final show on January 7, 2007. The Toronto Star reported that the closing was due primarily to the show's union difficulties and to the lack of novelty of the show itself.

In the May 2006 election, the stagehands voted to be represented by IATSE Local 720. In June the National Labor Relations Board certified the results. The winning election permitted the employees to start bargaining a contract with Blue Man Productions. After the election, Blue Man Group refused to go to negotiate, arguing that the election was not valid because it did not include a half-dozen musical technicians.

In June, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB sided with the union. The company filed a challenge, sending the case to full hearings before the Board in Washington DC. In September 2006 the NLRB rejected the challenge, ordering bargaining to begin.

In September 2006, Blue Man Group sued to have the NLRB ruling overturned. In October, the NLRB filed a petition for enforcement of its order. (D.C. Cir. Nos. 06-1328 & 06-1341 NLRB v. Blue Man Vegas, LLC Board Case Nos. 28-CA-20868 and 28-RC-6440).

On June 10, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the NLRB.

The union has also filed charges of federal unfair labor practices with the NLRB Las Vegas office, contending that Blue Man Group illegally changed the show's work rules and fired a key union supporter.

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NY Rock

NY Rock is a music website that covers the New York City music scene. Founded in 1996, it contains music and movie news, interviews, concert reviews, a gig guide, feature articles and blogs.

NY Rock has become most known for its interviews with prominent musicians, including Gavin Rossdale and Nigel Pulsford of Bush, John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robert Smith of The Cure, Maynard James Keenan of A Perfect Circle, Radiohead, Eminem, LL Cool J, and Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine.

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Bush (band)

Bush was a British post-grunge band, formed in London in 1992. Their debut album was the self-released Sixteen Stone in 1994. They have sold well over 10 million records in the United States. The band, while hugely successful in the United States, was less well known in their native UK and enjoyed only marginal success there.

The group chose the name "Bush" because they used to live in Shepherd's Bush, London. In Canada, they were once known as Bushx, because the 1970s band Bush, led by Domenic Troiano, owned the Canadian rights to the name. In April 1997, it was announced that Troiano had agreed to let them use the name Bush in Canada without the exponent x, in exchange for donating $20,000 each to the Starlight Children's Foundation and the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund.

In 1992, British guitarist Nigel Pulsford had left his band, King Blank, after they recorded two albums without much success; he met Gavin Rossdale, who had achieved little success with his previous, short-lived band, Midnight. The two formed a new band, then called Future Primitive, and recruited bassist Dave Parsons (formerly of the punk rock band The Partisans and the somewhat successful pop band Transvision Vamp) and drummer Robin Goodridge to complete the lineup. They soon changed their name to Bush. The United States was at the height of the grunge movement, but Britain had yet to produce a popular grunge band. Bush was on the verge of becoming that band.

Bush's debut album, Sixteen Stone, featured several singles. Initial singles "Everything Zen," and "Little Things" did not sell well at first. However, with their third single, "Comedown" the band quickly saw great success in the United States. The song reached number one for two weeks Modern Rock Tracks as well as the U.S. top 40. The following single "Glycerine" was probably one of their most well known songs. Despite its elusive lyrics, the song is truly about heroin abuse, using such verses as "and when we rise its like strawberry fields" among others to refer to the use of the drug. It received much airplay and sold many singles in America. The band followed with "Machinehead" which reached the top 5 of the Modern Rock Tracks chart and narrowly missed the top 40. As a result of the success of "Comedown," "Glycerine," and "Machinehead," the first two singles from the album began to see airplay and reached the top 40, bringing the album's total to four top 40 hits. With the many hits from Sixteen Stone including regular airplay on radio and MTV along with a performance on Saturday Night Live the album went platinum multiple times, having now sold six million copies in America, poising Bush's follow-up for massive commercial popularity.

In late 1996 Bush released the first single "Swallowed" from their second album entitled Razorblade Suitcase, The song spent seven weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album hit number 1 in America and placed high in many European countries. Although a success, at two hit singles compared to four the album did not sell as well as Sixteen Stone.

Razorblade Suitcase featured Steve Albini as the audio engineer, a move which was heavily criticized by critics. Albini had worked with Nirvana on their final studio album, In Utero, only 3 years before. Many claimed they were trying too hard to sound like the grunge pack.

Following the success of "Swallowed," the album had one more hit, "Greedy Fly," but then failed to produce any more sizeable hits.

Possibly to boost the sales of Razorblade Suitcase or move into new ground, Bush released the remix album Deconstructed. The album saw Bush re-arranging their songs into dance and techno stylings. The album was a moderate success going platinum less than a year after release.

Released in 1999, the band's third album was a major departure in several forms from Bush's first two albums. Unlike the multi-platinum successes of Bush's first two albums, The Science of Things barely limped to platinum. Also, while the band's previous albums were strongly influenced by grunge, The Science of Things featured heavy electronic music influences that distinguished the work from Bush's earlier sound. For example, although lead single "The Chemicals Between Us" had a prominent guitar riff, it also had many electronic elements usually found in dance music. Although the album had a few hit songs, it failed to chart within the top 10. The band's performance at Woodstock '99, however, helped The Science of Things achieve platinum status despite its slow start.

Three singles were released from The Science of Things, most notably "The Chemicals Between Us", which spent five weeks at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks and peaked at #67 on the U.S. Hot 100. "Letting the Cables Sleep," the third single, reached #4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and also received considerable airplay.

Bush released its final album, Golden State, in 2001. While the album attempted to return to the simple, catchy sound of the band's debut, it failed to achieve commercial success due to a lack of support from the band's new record label, Atlantic Records. Several singles were released, most notably the minor hit "The People That We Love", but none were mainstream successes. The album was the band's least successful, selling only 380,000 copies in the US.

Pulsford left the band after the release of Golden State to spend more time with his family. Chris Traynor took over on lead guitar for the subsequent tour, which would turn out to be Bush's last.

Due to declining record sales and a lack of support from Atlantic Records, Bush disbanded in 2002. In 2005, the band released a greatest hits album called The Best of: 1994-1999, and, a few months later, a live album called Zen X Four.

Gavin Rossdale formed a new band, Institute, in 2004, serving as their lead vocalist and guitarist, just as in Bush. Chris Traynor also joined the band, as lead guitarist. (In addition to playing in Institute, Traynor also joined the reunited metal band Helmet in 2004 on bass; he quit the band in 2006.) Institute released one album, Distort Yourself, but failed to achieve much commercial success in spite of opening for U2's Vertigo Tour at some shows. Institute broke up in 2006 and Rossdale then embarked on a solo career. In 2007, he covered the John Lennon song "Mind Games" for the Lennon tribute album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. His first solo album, Wanderlust, supported by leading single "Love Remains the Same," was released in June 2008. "Wanderlust" was originally intended to be the next Bush album but after originally agreeing to take part in the Bush reunion, guitarist Nigel Pulsford opted out as he doesn't care to tour anymore.

Rossdale has also ventured into the world of acting, appearing in the films Zoolander, Little Black Book, The Game of Their Lives, Constantine, How to Rob a Bank and others.

Robin Goodridge recorded with the British rock band Elyss in 2004, although they have not released any new material since. In 2006, Goodridge began drumming for indie rock band Spear of Destiny, and appeared on their 2007 album, Imperial Prototype. During the summer of 2008, he toured the UK with British rock band Stone Gods and on 6 October 2008, the band's website announced that he had joined the band full time.

Nigel Pulsford has spent most of his time since leaving Bush raising his children with his wife. He is currently producing Emma Holland's long-awaited sophomore effort. In 2004, he and bassist Dave Parsons reunited to appear in a car commercial together.

In an interview with Blender, Gavin Rossdale admitted that the likelihood of a Bush reunion was "very high". He then added "quite high," In a November 2008 interview, Rossdale revealed that he had tried to contact the other members of Bush, "I reached out to them," however he is currently planning a full-scale solo tour, which will hit the road in Spring 2009.

On December 12, 2008, at the Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington, Virginia, Gavin officially announced that Bush would be back in 2009.

Recently, as of February 2009, Nigel has added that a Bush reunion tour would most likely be uncertain unless someone offers enough incentive.

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