Gwen Stefani
If older brother Eric hadn't convinced Gwen Stefani to join his band of fellow Dairy Queen workers in 1986, the perky vermillion-lipped platinum blonde, may have followed her dream to keep house and raise babies. And if the band had given up after radio station KROQ refused to play their '91 pop-ska demo, after their '92 Interscope debut was a flop or after Stefani and bassist Tony Kanal ended a seven-year relationship in '93, the alternative music scene would have been radically different. Instead, Stefani harnessed the pain and wrote Tragic Kingdom, which contained hits "Don't Speak," "Spiderwebs" and "Just A Girl." It spent nine weeks at No. 1 in '95 and sell more than 15 million copies worldwide. While on tour with Bush in '96, she started a relationship with frontman Gavin Rossdale, which led to marriage in 2002 and parenthood to sons Kingston ('06), Zuma ('08) and Apollo ('14). She won her first Grammy in '01 for a duet with Eve and No Doubt followed suit in '02 ("Hey Baby") and '03 ("Underneath It All"), but was not as lucky, despite five nods, with her first solo record '04's Love.Angel.Music.Baby. After playing Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," she launched the L.A.M.B. purse line. It grew into a full-fledged empire featuring clothes, Harajuku dolls, perfume, shoes and digital cameras. She reunited with the band in '09 to appear on "Gossip Girl" and tour, which inspired the '12 album, Push and Shove. She'll be a seventh season judge on "The Voice."
