Vanity Fair (November 2002)

Nine Girls And A Guy

Gathering on the sultry streets of New York’s Meatpacking District, nine reigning female musicians were delighted to pose for Annie Leibovitz, not least because of talent No. 10, the mojo-rific Barry White, perhaps the only man who could single-handedly balance the lineup

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When the Concorde bringing Gwen Stefani to New York from London “nose-dived” (her word) shortly after takeoff on the morning of our cover shoot, all hell broke loose. The plane went back to Heathrow, all Concordes were grounded for the rest of the day, and Stefani was in the British Airways lounge, on the phone, sobbing. But, ever the trouper, she got on another flight, did her makeup over the Atlantic, and arrived—albeit seven hours later than originally planned—to take her place (for the second year in a row) in the lineup of superstars for V.F.’s Music Issue. That spirit exemplifies Stefani, whose pop-rock-ska band, No Doubt, has persevered since their start in Southern California’s Orange County a decade and a half ago. “After years of being a really dorky band, people decided we were cool,” says the platinum-blonde singer-songwriter, whose offbeat yet glamorous personal style has created a generation of “Gwennabes.” Having achieved stardom—No Doubt’s five albums have together sold more than 19 million copies—Stefani, 32, fulfilled another lifelong wish this fall, marrying her boyfriend of seven years, Bush lead singer Gavin Rossdale. “The dream of my life has always been to get married,” she says. “Everybody in the group wants to have a family and normal lives—we all come from that kind of situation.” But don’t expect her to become a housewife just yet; this month the band launches another U.S. tour, headlining a bill with Garbage.