Gwen Stefani covers Vogue Magazine January 2013 as photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
Inside the issue promoting No Doubt’s new music (for which they already got in trouble for a racist music video), the 43-year-old talks about how being married and having children is the “ultimate collaboration.”
On her hectic lifestyle: “I did my first solo record and went on tour while I was pregnant. I would want to throw up during certain songs. Certain outfits would make me sick. It was torture. I toured until I was four and a half months pregnant, showing. I came home and had Kingston, and when he was eight months old, I went back on the road. I nursed him for fourteen months, so I would literally do my hair and makeup, go back to the bus, nurse him, put him down, and walk out onstage. And I did that for 100 shows.”
On being a mother: “It’s super fun being a mom, but it’s not what you think it’s going to be. And it’s really gradual. At first, your life is totally the same. You have this cute little thing that you get to drive around everywhere and you’re so proud and it’s amazing. And as they grow older, it really does start to change your life. Like, Oh, my God, they have school, they have to get through first grade, they have to learn to read.”
On being a member of No Doubt: “We know that we all play a role. But there was a time when it was confusing. It was messy. The breakup, the new relationship, everyone recognizing me. All of that stuff feels like it’s so far away now; it’s just us as friends, so grateful to be doing what we’re doing still.”
On “having it all” worries: “Getting to the studio and not being able to make it happen, but missing out on being at home, missing out on putting the kids down. What’s more important? I felt so guilty. I am letting everyone down in the studio right now; I’m letting down my kids; I’m letting down myself. Because time was so precious. So I didn’t know what the album’s tone would end up being in that kind of state, but it’s really upbeat considering.”
On being with her husband Gavin Rossdale for 16 years: “It’s pride. You feel proud. There are just so many rewards that come with it. You have to work at it. But, actually, it’s fun to get to this point. Because you learn so much about somebody. It’s like these wars that go on and then you kind of get through it to the other side, and it’s like, Wow. And obviously, you get stronger. And then having kids takes the whole relationship to another place. It is the ultimate collaboration. Both of us have such strong opinions about how it should be, and it’s really fun to do it together.”
On her husband’s artistry: “He’s the busiest person I know, always songwriting,” she says. Stefani is a tortured writer, always procrastinating. “Gavin says, ‘Oh, you’re doing your thing that you do,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t have a thing. It’s just hard: writing it, recording it, finishing it. I am not like Prince, where it just flows out and God comes through me.’ I never write unless I have to. Gavin does. All the time. He’s more of a genuine artist in that way.” – via Vogue Magazine.
