The story of No Doubt began in Orange County in Anaheim, California in the Stefani house. Eric wanted young Gwen to sing the lyrics of songs he had written. Although reluctant at first, she agreed.

 

 

 

 

The two siblings then teamed up with back-flipping singer John Spence. John's favorite expression was "No Doubt." Hence the band name. With Gwen singing back-up to John, Eric on the keyboard, and a horn section, the heart of No Doubt was formed.

 

 

 

  After witnessing a live show, Tony Kanal wanted to be a part of No Doubt. He tried out to be the band's bass player, and soon after was accepted into the band. Not long after, Tony and Gwen shared their first kiss, but hid their romance from the rest of the band for a while.

 

 

  At the end of 1987, Gwen became the band's front girl after John tragically shot himself. They had a gig at the Roxy in Hollywood, but shortly after called it quits because of the devastating impact of John's sudden death. They later regrouped, knowing that's what John would of wanted them to do.

 

 

In 1988, Tom Dumont joined No Doubt after leaving his sister's band, Rising. Coming from a heavy metal band, Tom added a new sound to the band. In 1989, Adrian Young was welcomed into the band as the new drummer. With the new lineup and sound, No Doubt started touring and opening for acts such as The Untouchables, Fishbone, Ziggy Marely, Mano Negra, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. But their biggest break came in 1991 when Interscope Records gave them a record deal. The band immediately began working on their debut self-titled album, which was released in 1992. Trapped In A Box was the first and only single that came off of the record

 

 

In the fall of 1992, No Doubt headed off for a two and a half month tour to promote their album. Most of the shows were in small clubs, but the did have a couple of shows with Public Enemy, Pato Banton, and The Special Beat.

 

 

After returning from their tour in 1993, the band began working on their sophomore album. In 1994, out of frustration, Eric decided to leave the band to pursue his dream of becoming an animator. He is currently the animator for The Simpsons. If Eric's departure from the band wasn't hard enough for Gwen, Tony decided to call it quits on their 7 year relationship. Gwen released her anguish and pain of, quote "my two boys leaving me," into the powerful and emotional ballad Don't Speak. Formerly a love song, she revised it into a song about heart-break. Little did she know that her story would reach number one.

 

 

Still working on the tracks for Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt released a ten track CD, The Beacon Street Collection, of songs they had previously recorded. Later in 1995 Tragic Kingdom was released. In the winter of that year, KROQ played the band's first single off of Tragic Kingdom, Just A Girl. Having their song played on KROQ was a goal the band had set years ago.

 

 

To promote Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt toured with 311. In the mean time, Tragic Kingdom soared to success. It debuted number 175 of the Billboards Top 200 in January of 1996. Just A Girl peaked at number 10. In July of that year Tragic Kingdom went platinum and Don't Speak reached number one. But despite all of their success, No Doubt also suffered from drawbacks. The guys were suddenly being pushed out of the picture as the media focused solely on Gwen. To bring this to the attention of everyone. The video for Don't Speak reenacted what was happening to Tony, Tom, and Adrian. In the end, they said the video was therapeutic for them all.

 

 

In December of 1996, Tragic Kingdom became the number one album and stayed there for nine weeks and remained in the top 10 for 36 weeks. At the American Music Awards in 1997, No Doubt was nominated for Best New Artist although they had been around for 10 years. They were also nominated for two Grammies -- Best Rock Album and, again, Best New Artist. No Doubt finally won their first award with their nomination for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video for Don't Speak.

 

 

After an exhausting two year tour, No Doubt took a small break, only to find themselves working on their next album shortly after. In May of 1999, they finished recording the tracks for their fourth album, Return of Saturn. They toured in a few clubs country wide to reveal their new material. In the mean time, they released the first single of the album, New, for the Go soundtrack. Later in 2000, the second single, Ex-Girlfriend, was released. Two other singles, Simple Kind of Life and Bathwater have also been released.

 

 

No Doubt has just returned from their latest world-wide your, which I had the great privilege to attend. Now they are about to embark on the production of their fifth album. I hope No Doubt never stops making music. Every time they come up with a great new sound and great new styles.

 

 

Suicide, failure, and break-ups are enough to swallow up a band, but it made No Doubt stronger. They have been through almost everything and have been around for 14 years and are still going strong. That's why they are one of the best bands out there today. No Doubt is my favorite and always will be.