Good Morning America (April 4th 2016)
Gwen Stefani
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS) Blake Shelton last night performing his new song "Came Here to Forget" at the Academy of Country Music Awards. A lot of people think that song is about his relationship with Gwen Stefani.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) A pretty good guess.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS) Pretty good guess, Lara?
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Pretty good guess.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS) Well, you should know, you sat down and talked to her.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) I did indeed, George. They are a couple that appears to find inspiration in each other. Stefani admitting her new single, "Make Me Like You" is about Blake and it's not the only song she's written lately about her love life, past and present.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Stefani's 13-year marriage to singer Gavin Rossdale ended in a very public way this past fall, but she found love with a recent co-worker. And you can almost feel it happen as you listen to her new album, which she says is all about healing and new beginnings.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) You've gone through a lot.
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) I have gone through a lot. But I feel like you have to be grateful for that, because if I didn't do that, then I would haven't this. And it's like, you have to be grateful for all of it.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Taking the pain and turning it into such creativity, how did you channel that?
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) I think that I just, I felt like I was so, I was so like kind of, I felt like, I can't even find the words. Oh, my God. I was embarrassed and I was, I felt like, wow, I can't go down. Like, I don't wanna, this is not who I am. I'm not gonna fail. I had to make something good out of it. So I, I tried to write, because I know that that was my gift and I was like, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna make this into music.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Is that how it was the writing of it, because you're so excited about this album and some of these songs are hot off the presses, they're two months old?
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) Mm-hmm. Yeah.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) They're just coming out.
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) It was magic. There was magic in the room. I was put in the studio by my label, like I didn't care about anything. I was just literally trying to get up in the morning. And I got there and I just said, I just wanna write a record. I don't care about anything except for getting this out and, like, healing and being honest and real and truthful. I don't care what style it is. I don't care about being on the radio or charts or anything, like, why would that matter to me at this point, like, nothing matters except for just trying not to die right now. So...
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Can I ask you about the first song you wrote, the title is "Red Flag"? What does that mean?
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) What does that mean to you? I think we all find that there's red flags that we ignore in our lives and so that was kind of that one for me.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) How painful was it putting your heart on paper?
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) It's still painful. Like, it's, it's, I'm still, like, looking at the pieces and going, what is happening? You know, there are so many great things but it's still super hard to, like, have your family break up. What do you do after that? Like, here we are, we're doing it.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Do you think the music saved you?
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) For sure, like 100%, 100%.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) "Make Me Like You," it's been said is inspired by a certain co-worker. It's such a happy song? How quickly did you write that?
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) That song was one of my favorite songs to write. It just came out. I was like I had been feeling that way, like, it's just exactly what I felt that day and I just was exactly like in my (inaudible) I miss you right now, here it is. You know what I mean? And everybody in the room was just kind of, like, whoa, this is happening right now. And it was written fast, like, 10, 15 minutes the whole thing just done.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) I wanna talk to you about the live video you did during a Grammy commercial break.
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) Well, first of all, I can't believe they asked me to do that. You can imagine, like, there was never a chance for us to really run the whole thing. It was crazy. And to be able to do, like, live art like that, where everybody has, every single person on that set counted. You know what I mean? It was pretty magical.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) It seems like putting yourself out there feels pretty natural right now.
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) It feels like I'm supposed to be doing this right now and sharing my story and I really hope that this record brings pleasure and, I don't know, documents peoples' lives in this moment and I just, I'm so happy to share it.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Thanks for sharing it with us.
GWEN STEFANI (SINGER) Thank you.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) (Voiceover) Gwen Stefani and "This is What the Truth Feels Like" is available now. Get it.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) And the truth heard in some of the songs and it's quite joyful in some of the other songs. Interesting chat point, the record label, as she's sending these songs they're pouring out of her, they were like, little, they're really raw and a little angry and we don't think that there's gonna be an audience for them. Well, cut to album released and number one on the Billboard 200.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS) Well, it's all right there for her.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Well, it's (inaudible) from your heart.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS) Yeah.
AMY ROBACH (ABC NEWS) And it's a relatable thing. So many people have gone through similar circumstances.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) That's what I said to her. I know, personally, listening to it, I really could relate. And I feel like, obviously so can a lot of people.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS) Yeah, the openness helps.
JESSE PALMER (ABC NEWS) You say Blake Shelton there, she just lightens up.
LARA SPENCER (ABC NEWS) Yes. It's (inaudible) it's contagious her happiness and well deserved. So we wish you the best, Gwen. Thank you. And her performance is coming up later in the show. Get ready.
AMY ROBACH (ABC NEWS) Looking forward to it.