Gwen Stefani
American singer
Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( stə-FAH-nee; née Stefani, formerly Rossdale; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and fashion designer. She rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak" from their third album Tragic Kingdom (1995), as well as "Hey Baby" and "It's My Life" from later albums.
During No Doubt's hiatus, Stefani debuted her clothing line L.A.M.B. and expanded her collection with the Harajuku Lovers line inspired by Japanese culture and fashion in the early 2000s. She embarked on a solo pop career in 2004 by releasing her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Inspired by pop music from the 1980s, the album was a critical and commercial success. It spawned six singles, including "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", "Hollaback Girl", and "Cool". "Hollaback Girl" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Gwen Stefani” is american singer. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Gwen, Stefani and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american singer” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q483379. VIAF identifies the subject as 57771690. The Library of Congress control number is n2003082257. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1969, 1995 and 2004.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gwen Stefani”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gwen Stefani primary sources, Gwen Stefani archive and Gwen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gwen Stefani”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Gwen Stefani” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.