LAUNCH (Oct. 31st 2001)

No Doubt's Gwen Stefani And Madonna: Kissin' Cousins Of A Sort

It seems that two of pop’s most visible divas are related, albeit distantly. No Doubt's Gwen Stefani tells LAUNCH that she shares the same gene pool as Madonna, dating back to when Stefani's grandfather and his family moved from Italy to Detroit, where Stefani's father lived until he was 11.

"We really are related because, just pay attention closely: My grandma's sister's husband's mother is a Ciccone from Detroit," she says. "I just always say that story 'cause I think it's funny." Madonna's surname, of course, is Ciccone.

Stefani says there haven't been a lot of family gatherings, but she has met Madonna and has very high regard for her: "She's a sweetie and she's always been really cool to me and, I mean, it's one thing... it's like growing up in the '80s and stuff, being from the scene that I was in. Like, I was totally into ska music and when you're that age you're like militant about it, you know, and of course at that age everything around me was--like, any pop music or Madonna or anything--was like, 'Whatever,' you know what I mean? And, you know, after being a female in music for all these years and watching what she's done and how she's been able to maintain this career and keep people interested after all this time, and to grow older in front of people and still be sexy and all those things, obviously I've grown to really admire her," she says.

No Doubt, which plays the second of 10 opening dates for U2 on November 5 in Austin, Texas, is preparing for the December 18 release of its new album, Rock Steady. Madonna releases a second greatest-hits album on November 13.