Song:The Sweet Escape
Album:The Sweet Escape
No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani launched a successful solo career in 2004. The Sweet Escape is probably her biggest hit to date. She recently recorded solo after a ten year break because she's juggling all kinds of other things. I'll get to that in a minute. She was born Oct. 3, 1969 in Fullerton, CA. Her brother Eric formed No Doubt in 1986 mainly influenced by 2 Tone ska like Madness and The Selecter. They signed with Interscope in 1991 and they have been very successful. Gwen had recorded a couple of one off singles. No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal (her boyfriend at the time) convinced her to get serious about recording solo. Love.Angel.Music.Baby. was released Nov. 2004. The biggest hit from the album was The Neptunes produced Hollaback Girl which topped the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold seven million copies worldwide. She immediately recorded The Sweet Escape and it was released Dec. 2006. A lot of the album was produced by The Neptunes. The single The Sweet Escape reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 but it remained in the top ten for several weeks. A website I use that gives points to chart position considers The Sweet Escape a slightly bigger hit than Hollaback Girl because it did better worldwide. Interscope CEO Jimmy Iovine brought in Akon who was hot at the time. Gwen was reluctant to work with him only because she didn't know him. Iovine convinced her to work with him anyway. She had low expectations so I'm sure she was pleasantly surprised when the single was a hit. After that, Gwen wouldn't record solo again until 2016. She returned to No Doubt and they released an album in 2012. She also had three kids with husband Gavin Rossdale. And she's a judge on The Voice. Gwen and Rossdale divorced in 2015 and she is currently dating The Voice judge Blake Shelton. The album This Is What The Truth Feels Like was released in 2016 followed by the Christmas album You Make It Feel Like Christmas last month. She hasn't had any hit singles so the albums haven't taken off as hoped. That just shows when an artist takes a break for whatever reason, fans forget about her. It's not like Gwen disappeared. The music business is very fickle. Here's the video for The Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani featuring Akon.
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