About Gwen Stefani

Gwen Renée Stefani was born and raised in Anaheim, California, and grew up in a Roman Catholic household. Her mother named her after a stewardess in the 1968 novel Airport, and her middle name, Renée, comes from The Four Tops' 1968 cover of The Left Banke's 1966 hit song 'Wallk away Renee'. Her father, Dennis Stefani, is Italian American and works as a Yamaha marketing executive. Her mother, Patti Flynn, is of Irish and Scottish descent and worked as an accountant before becoming a homemaker. Her parents were fans of folk music and presented music by Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris to their daughter. She is the second oldest of four children; she has a younger sister, Jill, a younger brother, Todd, and an older brother, Eric. Eric was the keyboardist for No Doubt but left the band to pursue a career in animation on The Simpsons.
Many of the women in Stefani's family were seamstresses, and much of her clothing was made by her or her mother. As a child, Stefani's musical interests consisted of musicals such as The Sound of Music and Evita. After making a demo tapefor her father, she was encouraged to take music lessons to train her 'loopy, unpredictable' voice. Stefani is a distant cousin of Madonna. Her great-aunt's mother-in-law shares the last name with Madonna.
Stefani made her onstage debut during a talent show at Loara High School, where she sang 'I Have Confidence,' from The Sound of Music, in a self-made tweed dress inspired by one from the film. Stefani was on the Loara swim team in an attempt to lose weight. She first worked scrubbing floors at a Dairy Queen and later manning the MAC makeup counter of a department store. After graduating from high school in 1987, she began attending California State University Fullerton.