The Daily Mail (Dec. 19th 2012)
Why gigging was a labour of love for model mum Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani has just returned to the charts after taking time out to rear her little boys and now she has opened up about juggling her music career with motherhood.
The 43-year-old has just released her first album with No Doubt in 11 years, Push & Shove. And she recalls the lengths she went to to launch her solo career while pregnant six years ago.
'I did my first solo record and went on tour while I was pregnant,' she said. 'I would want to throw up during certain songs.
Certain outfits would make me sick. It was torture. I toured until I was four and a half months pregnant, showing.
I came home and had Kingston, and when he was eight months old, I went back on the road.
'I nursed him for 14 months, so I would literally do my hair and make-up, go back to the bus, nurse him, put him down, and walk out onstage. And I did that for 100 shows.' While taking a break from music, she has been raising Kingston, six, and Zuma, four, along with building up her L.A.M.B. fashion brand. And the California native tells how she and her Bush frontman husband Gavin Rossdale work hard at their relationship.
'You feel proud,' she said of their ten-year union. 'There are just so many rewards that come with it. You have to work at it. And then having kids takes the whole relationship to another place. It is the ultimate collaboration. It's really fun to do it together.' However, Gwen said Gavin's decision to spend the past year touring with his band made life difficult for her.
'I mean, he was there for me mentally, but physically? These boys are physical. They wake up and they start punching each other!
'One thing we've had in our relationship the whole time is we can have it both ways: together, not together, and it's fine. But when you have kids? It's not so great. They need him. So it's really nice to have him back.' Gwen is also launching a new ska-inspired fashion range with her bandmates in collaboration with Fred Perry, which comes out on January 13.