Gwen Stefani had to explain to her son who No Doubt was

‘I literally had to tell him each band member,’ she says

Gwen Stefani has revealed she had to explain to her nine-year-old son, Apollo, who her iconic ‘90s band, No Doubt, was.

The 54-year-old spoke candidly about a recent conversation with her son – who she shares with ex Gavin Rossdale – during an interview with People, published on 26 January. Her remarks came after it was announced that No Doubt will be reuniting in April 2024 when they take the stage at the Coachella Festival.

Speaking to People, Stefani, who’s married to Blake Shelton, said that when she talked about her band’s reunion with Apollo, he didn’t understand what the Los Angeles-based music festival was.

“I had to literally lay in bed with Apollo and he’s like: ‘But mom, what is Coachella? Everyone’s saying it. What is this? It sounds like it’s a big deal,’” she explained.

According to Stefani, after she told her son more about her band’s work, she then had to explain who the membeers of the group actually were.

“So we had to watch the ‘Don’t Speak’ video, and he’s like: ‘But wait, which one was your boyfriend?’ It was so weird and so funny. I literally had to tell him each band member,” she said, referring to her previous relationship with No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal.

The “Rich Girl” singer then acknowledged how grateful she is for the opportunities that she and her band are going to have as Apollo has become more interested in the early days of her career,

“That’s how much time’s gone by because he’s going to be 10! It’s just another miracle and a blessing. And it was surreal for me,” she said. “I feel like we’re in the future and lightning just struck and [No Doubt] is like: ‘Here we are!’”

Earlier this month, No Doubt shared a video on their social media account to reveal that they were reuniting. The video began with Stefani reminiscing over a collage she made for the artwork for the band’s second album, 1995’s The Beacon Street Collection. “This is actually bringing back so many memories,” Stefani said. “I’m going to text Tony right now.”

The clip then featured a graphic moving from 2015 to 2024, before showing the four band members, which includes drummer Adrian Young and guitarist Tom Dumont, on a group video chat.

After Stefani asked: “What are we doing?” Young suggested: “Maybe we should do a show?” to general agreement from his bandmates. The video ended with Stefani saying: “Let’s do a show” and a graphic of a question mark. Minutes later, the band was announced on the lineup for 2024’s Coachella Festival.

During her interview with People, Stefani expressed how “cool” it’s going to be to have her band back together, more than 10 years after they first reunited.

“It’s just going to be: get up there and do what we always do, which is play our music and try to connect and be so grateful that we got this amazing career that we never expected to have,” she said about her band’s upcoming performance at Coachella.

Throughout her busy career, Stefani has also opened up about prioritising her family, as she also shares two other sons, 17-year-old Kingston, and 15-year-old Zuma, with Rossdale. Speaking to People in September 2023, she discussed the challenges of previously taking her eldest son on tour, while still acknowledging that this was a special time in her life.

“I took Kingston on a world tour [when he was nine months old]. I would have to nurse him, then get onstage, come off, and he would twirl my ponytail,” she explained. “That’s when things got really hard for me emotionally. That time is so precious, and you don’t want to miss anything.”