The Orange County Register (Jan. 8th 1997)
No Doubt thrilled by Grammy nominations
Singer Gwen Stefani says the band is still reeling from having hit singles
Gwen Stefani took the news of No Doubt's two Grammy nominations lying down. "I'm in my bed right now with my dog," Stefani said from her home in Anaheim.
Stefani and fellow band members Tom Dumont, Adrian Young and Tony Kanal were awakened early Tuesday by calls from their manager asking "How does it feel to be nominated for a Grammy?"
Two Grammys, actually. Besides a nomination for best new artist, the band's "Tragic Kingdom" was nominated for best rock album of 1996.
So how does it feel? Numb.
No Doubt is still reeling at just the thought of having hit singles, Stefani said. Things got crazy in December when the "Don't Speak" single took off, pushing "Tragic Kingdom" to No. 1 on Billboard's album charts. Now the album is selling 500,000 copies a week _ an incredible number that could increase with Grammy wins.
"I would never, ever think we'd be nominated for a Grammy," Stefani said. "I used to watch those shows all the time."
"Tragic Kingdom" has held the No. 1 slot on the Billboard Charts since early December. Along with the multiplatinum sales of "Tragic Kingdom," Rolling Stone readers voted No Doubt's "Just a Girl" as one of the best singles of the year and voted the band as second best new artist of the year, behind Marilyn Manson.
No Doubt headlines a benefit concert Saturday at the Hollywood Palladium that sold out in 10 minutes.
Backlash has started as well. A scathing piece in Newsweek this week labels the band as "skanky." While Rolling Stones' readers voted the band honors, the magazine's critics named it as one of the worst new bands.
"This whole year has been a gradual uphill thing," Stefani said. "There are so many different levels of feeling. Just having a single out was weird. We never experienced that before. Now it's really strange for us just being in Orange County and going to a mall. I can't go anywhere by myself anymore."
There's also the irony of being nominated as best new artist after having celebrated the band's 10th anniversary on New Year's Eve. The best new artist award has always been a kiss of death as well, with bands such as Milli Vanilli crashing after winning it.
"I HOPE it's not the kiss of death. Now I'm scared," Stefani said. "But one difference we might have from those groups is that we're not a new artist. We've been around for so long. Maybe that'll save us. Maybe our history will save us."
In the best rock album category, No Doubt is nominated along with Sheryl Crow (Stefani and Crow are pictured together in the new Rolling Stone) and Neil Young (whom No Doubt opened for in Europe).
"People want to go `flash in the pan, one-hit wonder.' Well, we've already had five hit singles," Stefani said. "And even if we are just a one-hit wonder _ how cool is that? It feels really good. We're trying to enjoy every second of it while it lasts. And we're getting our mental institutions chosen so we can check in afterwards. It's going to be hard to come down after all this fun."