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Gwen StefaniStefani'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. 
"Wind It Up", the album's lead single, was panned by critics for its use of yodeling and an interpolation of The Sound of Music but was moderately successful, reaching the Top 20 in most markets. The title track was well-received. To promote The Sweet Escape , Stefani was a mentor on the sixth season of American Idol and performed the song with Akon. It was an international success and earned Stefani a Grammy nomination. The song is Stefani's most successful song of her solo career. In November 2006, the club single "Yummy" was released as a 3-track maxi promo single and as a 12" vinyl single, both featuring a radio edit, an instrumental and an accapella version of the song. "4 In The Morning" was released as the album's third single with mediocre success. The album's fourth single was a hybird version of Now That You Got It which featured Damian Marley. The song was a commercial failure and became her first solo single to fail to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Early Winter was released in February 2008 worldwide with initial success on European Charts. To promote the album, Stefani embarked a worldwide tour, The Sweet Escape Tour. The tour covered North America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific and part of Latin America. Stefani contributed vocals to her husband Gavin Rossdale's highly anticipated first solo record entitled Wanderlust , however, the track "Some Days" on which Gwen sings was not included on the album. It has also been reported that after she has her next child, Stefani will work on a new studio album with No Doubt. Gwen is a distant cousin of Madonna: “Before ending up in Anaheim, my grandpa first moved to Detroit from Rome. And my dad’s mom’s younger sister’s husband’s mother is a Ciccone.”
Non-musical projectsStefani 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 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 band-members' voices.
Personal lifeSoon 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. In December 2005, Stefani and Rossdale announced that they were expecting their first child together. The pregnancy was first reported by Us Weekly , and Stefani confirmed the pregnancy by shouting "I want you to sing so loud that the baby hears it" during a concert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after her press agent stated that it was untrue. On May 26, 2006, their son, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, was born via caesarean section at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Kingston weighed 3.4 kilograms (7 pounds, 5 ounces). In January 2008, it was confirmed by her father-in-law that Stefani will be expecting her second child. As of the date of announcement, she was 13 weeks along. Rossdale and Stefani's second child is due in August 2008. Stefani and husband Rossdale support world number one tennis player Roger Federer after being seen supporting him at his Wimbledon matches.
Public image
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. In 2006, Stefani modified her image, inspired by that of Michelle Pfeiffer's character in the 1983 film Scarface . The reinvented image included a symbol consisting of two back-to-back G's, which appears on a diamond-encrusted key she wears on a necklace and which became a motif in the promotion of The Sweet Escape . Stefani raised concerns in January 2007 about her rapid weight loss following her pregnancy. She stated she lost the weight through diet and exercise but admitted to obsessing over her weight due to the size zero trend. She later stated that she had been on a diet since the sixth grade to fit in size 4 clothing, commenting, "It's an ongoing battle and it's a nightmare. But I like clothes too much, and I a 
Even more about Gwen StefaniGwen StefaniVote For Gwen Stefani in the MTV VMA Nominations! Gwen StefaniThis year MTV is letting the fans decide who the nominees are for the VMA’s! Voting is now open for the Best Male and Female Video categories. 
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