  In 1996, an alternative band
called No Doubt began getting play on college
and modern rock radio and eventually pop and
rock stations. Within a year, the band sold
millions of LPs, made the cover of Rolling
Stone, got heavy play on video stations,
and were nominated a few Grammy Awards. No
Doubt's success appears to have happened
overnight, yet the band has been looking for
their big break for almost 10 years. The time
also wasn't easy or pleasant for the band.
Yet, today, No Doubt can claim stardom with
their mix of modern rock, pop, and ska music.
No Doubt was formed in 1987 in
Anaheim, California with members: John
Spence, Tony Kanal, Gwen Stefani, and Eric Stefani. In
December, 1987, John Spence committed suicide
at age 18. The band persevered with Gwen as
the focal point and added 2 members: Adrian
Young and Tom Dumont. Gwen said of John:
"When your friend dies like that and
it's so unexpected it's very traumatic. I
think it taught us all a big lesson in how
much one person can influence so many
different people." The band started to
get a following with their live shows. Soon
they were opening for such bands as Red
Hot Chili Peppers and Ziggy
Marley. Flea of the Red Hot Chili
Peppers helped the band work in the studio on
their first demo record.
Although No Doubt is a group,
Gwen has largely become the focus of the band
with their rise to stardom. Her strength and
freedom during live performances captivate
many fans and allow them cross-gender appeal.
Tony has said: "What's cool is that
because we have a female singing, Gwen gets
the girls into it, lets them participate.
With a lot of other bands, it's just a
testosterone thing. But when you come to a No
Doubt show, the audience is spread across the
board. Gwen will definitely get the girls
involved, give them songs that are their
songs and it's their time to get boosted, be
in the pit whatever. Everyone feels like
they're part of it, nobody gets left
out."
 No Doubt signed with Interscope
Records and released No
Doubt. Following the release, the
band toured extensively and focused on
writing more songs. Although touring had gone
well, sales of the LP did not, and their
record company was not willing to fund
another tour or LP. The band persevered and
worked on their next release with their own
funds.
No Doubt released Beacon
Street Collection (which was re-issued
in 1997). The LP was a raw expression of
their sound, combing 80s punk with 90s grunge
and consisting of song that weren't going to
make their next release for the record
company. By this point, No Doubt also lost a
member when Eric Stefani left the group (to
later work as an animator for The
Simpsons).
 No Doubt released Tragic
Kingdom and the band
eventually began to take off. The first
single "Just A Girl" was a modest pop
hit and a much bigger hit on alternative
radio and video channels. The song showcased
what has become No Doubt's commercial appeal:
a naive-looking girl with a rough edge
playing with a bunch a boys. Gwen said of the
LP: "We went through some really bad
times the past couple of years - personally
and bandwise - and our whole way of dealing
with that is humor and I think that's really
apparent in the record. Even though things
may have been bad, and some of the songs are
sad if you really listen to them, there's
still an element of humor to it all."
 # 7
Singles Artist of the Year
 No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Just A Girl."
Tragic
Kingdom was certified gold.
 No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Spiderwebs."
Tragic
Kingdom was certified 2x platinum.
No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Don't Speak."
 No Doubt hit the Top 10 with "Don't Speak" - and ended the
year hitting #1 where it stayed for 7
weeks.
Tragic
Kingdom was certified 5x platinum.
"Don't Speak" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles Airplay chart for
16 weeks.
Tragic
Kingdom topped the Billboard 200 Albums
chart for 9 weeks.
 # 35
Singles Artist of the Year
No Doubt were nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock New
Artist.
No Doubt were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist
and Best Rock Album (Tragic
Kingdom).
Tragic
Kingdom was certified 6x platinum.
"Don't Speak" topped the UK
Singles chart for 3 weeks.
Tragic
Kingdom was certified 7x platinum.
No Doubt appeared on the cover
of Rolling Stone.
 No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Sunday Morning."
Tragic
Kingdom was certified 8x platinum.
No Doubt won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Group Video ("Don't Speak") and was also
nominated for Video of the Year.
 No Doubt's next LP, Beacon
Street Collection was released. The LP
was a collection of older songs that didn't
make it on the Tragic
Kingdom set and includes a song called
"Total Hate" which has vocals by
Bradley Nowell, lead singer of Sublime
until his overdose death in 1996.
Additional No Doubt tracks can
be found on the M.O.M.
(Music For Our Mother Ocean) compilation with
"Sailin' On," California
Ska-Quake compilation, and Skaface
compilation.
Gwen could also be heard with
Sublime on their LP Robbin'
The Hood with "Saw Red."
No Doubt topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts with the Top Hot 100
Airplay Track ("Don't Speak").
No Doubt was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year (songwriters: Eric
Stefani and Gwen Stefani) and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("Don't Speak").
Tragic
Kingdom was certified 10x platinum.
 A new No Doubt track called
"New" could be found on the
soundtrack for the film Go (the track
was co-produced by Jerry Harrison
of the Talking Heads), and
Stefani talked with MTV about the band
working on their next LP: "Sonically,
it's a lot more organic and classic-sounding
than I thought it was going to be. I thought
we might branch out and try to use some new,
like, pro-tools magic, but it's really,
really organic..."
 No Doubt began a short club
tour.
The band won the Most Stylish
Video award at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards
and Stefani was nominated for Most
Fashionable Artist (Female).
 # 50
Singles Artist of the Year
 The
Return Of Saturn was released as the
first single "Ex-Girlfriend" hit the Top 40.
The LP debuted at #2 at the end of the month
selling over 200,000 copies in its first week
and topped the Billboard Internet Album Sales
chart for 1 week.
The
Return Of Saturn was certified
platinum.
 No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Simple
Kind Of Life."
No Doubt were nominated for a
VH1/Vogue Fashion Award for Most Stylish
Band.
In Arizona at a No Doubt
concert, 5 concert fans were injured when the
crowd rushed the stage.
 Rolling Stone
& MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs includes "Don't Speak" at # 81.
No Doubt won a Billboard Music
Video Award for FAN.tastic Video ("Simple
Kind Of Life").
No Doubt won a VH1/Vogue Fashion
Award for Most Stylish Video ("Ex-Girlfriend").
 # 107
Singles Artist of the Year
 Dumont said of their next LP:
"I would describe our new direction as a
fusion of dancehall reggae, Euro-synth pop
and victory rock... We're planning on being
very adventurous and working with different
producers"
No Doubt were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album (The
Return Of Saturn).
 No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Hey
Baby."
No Doubt released Rock
Steady.
No Doubt hit the Top 10 with "Hey
Baby."
"Hey
Baby"
topped the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown for 4
weeks.
 # 3
Singles Artist of the Year ( # 1
Group of the Year)
 Rock
Steady was certified platinum.
No Doubt graced the cover of Rolling
Stone.
No Doubt hit #1 for 2 weeks with
"Hey
Baby."
No Doubt began touring.
 No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Hella Good."
No Doubt hit the Top 10 with "Hella Good."
No Doubt topped the Billboard
Dance Music Club Play chart for a week with
the Roger Sanchez remixes of
"Hella Good."
 No Doubt hit the Top 40
with "Underneath It All."
No Doubt's
video for "Hey
Baby"
won 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Group Video and Best Pop Video.
No Doubt ranked
# 11 on VH1: 100
Sexiest Artists.
No Doubt hit the Top 10 with "Underneath It All."
 No Doubt was the
opening act for the Rolling
Stones for 2 concert dates.
Rock
Steady was certified 2x platinum.
No Doubt hit #1 for a week with "Underneath It All."
Rolling
Stone magazine readers picked No
Doubt as Best Band.
 # 25
Singles Artist of the Year
No Doubt performed at the
half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVII.
 No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Running."
No Doubt won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("Hey
Baby"),
and were nominated for Best Dance Recording ("Hella Good") and Best Pop
Vocal Album (Rock
Steady). The band also performed at
the ceremony.
No Doubt hit the Top 10 with "Running."
No Doubt won a Nickelodeon Kids'
Choice Award for Favorite Band.
 VH1: 100 Best
Songs of the Past 25 Years includes "Don't Speak" at # 16.
No Doubt's video for "Underneath It All" was nominated
for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Pop Video and Best Cinematography (Karsten Crah
Gopinath).
No Doubt hit the Top 40
with the cover of Talk Talk's
"It's My Life."
 No Doubt hit the Top 10 with "It's My Life."
No Doubt released a greatest
hits collection, The
Singles 1992-2003 and the limited
edition box set Boom
Box.
Rolling Stone:
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: # 316:
Rock
Steady, # 441: Tragic
Kingdom.
 # 81
Singles Artist of the Year
 The
Singles 1992-2003 was certified
platinum.
No Doubt won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("Underneath It All").
The
Singles 1992-2003 was certified 2x
platinum.
 No Doubt teamed up with Blink-182 for a joint tour in
the summer.
At the Teen Choice Awards, No
Doubt won for Choice Tour of the Year (with Blink-182).
No Doubt could be heard on the
compilation Rock
Against Bush, Vol. 2 with "Comforting
Lie."
The video for "It's My Life" won 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Pop Video and Best Group Video, and was nominated for
Best Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography.
The single "It's My Life" was certified
gold.
Everything
In Time (B-Sides, Rarities, Remixes) was released.
No Doubt was # 52
on the Top Pop Artists
of the Past 25 Years chart.
No Doubt was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("It's My Life") and Stefani was
nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal
Performance ("What You Waiting For?"). Gwen performed
at the ceremony.
The single "It's My Life" was certified
platinum.
 Entertainment Weekly:
100 Best Albums of the Last 25 Years included Rock
Steady at # 71.
 # 82
Singles Artist of the Year
No Doubt hit the Top 40 with
"Settle Down."
 No Doubt released Push
& Shove.
|
No Doubt
Released: March, 1992
Tracks: "BND" -
"Let's Get Back" -
"Ache" - "Get On The
Ball" - "Move On" -
"Sad For Me" -
"Doormat" - "Big City
Train" - "Trapped In A
Box" - "Sometimes" -
"Sinking" - "A Little
Something Refreshing" -
"Paulina" - "Brand New
Day" |
iTunes
Amazon.mp3 |
Tragic Kingdom
Released: October, 1995
US: 10x Platinum
Billboard
peak:
# 1 (for 9 weeks)
 Entertainment
Weekly: C+
Tracks: "Spiderwebs" -
"Excuse Me Mr." - "Just A Girl" -
"Happy Now?" - "Different
People" - "Hey You" -
"The Climb" -
"Sixteen" - "Sunday Morning" - "Don't Speak" - "You
Can Do It" - "World Go
'Round" - "End It On This"
- "Tragic Kingdom" |
|
Beacon Street Collection
Released: October, 1997
Entertainment
Weekly: D
Tracks: "Open The
Gate" - "Blue In The Face"
- "Total Hate '95" -
"Stricken" - "Greener
Pastures" - "By The Way" -
"Snakes" - "That's Just
Me" - "Squeal" -
"Doghouse" |
|
The Return Of Saturn
Released: April, 2000
US: Platinum
Billboard
peak:
# 2
Rolling Stone:  - Entertainment
Weekly: B
Tracks: "Ex-Girlfriend" - "Simple Kind Of Life" -
"Bathwater" - "Six Feet
Under" - "Magic's In The
Makeup" - "Artificial
Sweetener" - "Marry Me" -
"New" - "Too Late" -
"Comforting Lie" -
"Suspension Without Suspense" -
"Staring Problem" - "Home
Now" - "Dark Blue" |
Amazon.mp3 |
Rock Steady
Released: December, 2001
US: 2x Platinum
Billboard
peak:
# 9
Rolling Stone:  - Entertainment
Weekly: B+
Tracks: "Rock Steady
(Intro)" - "Hella Good" - "Hey Baby" -
"Making Out" - "Underneath It All" -
"Detective" - "Don't Let
Me Down" - "Start The
Fire" - "Running" -
"Platinum Blonde" - "In My
Head" - "Waiting Room" -
"Rock Steady" |
Amazon.mp3 |
The Singles 1992-2003
Released: November, 2003
US: 2x Platinum
Billboard
peak:
# 2
Entertainment
Weekly: B+
Tracks: "Just A Girl" - "It's My Life" - "Hey Baby" -
"Bathwater" - "Sunday Morning" - "Hella Good" -
"New" - "Underneath It All" -
"Excuse Me Mr." - "Running" - "Spiderwebs" - "Simple Kind Of Life" - "Don't Speak" - "Ex-Girlfriend" -
"Trapped In A Box" |
|
Everything In Time
(B-Sides, Rarities, Remixes)
Released: October, 2004
Billboard
peak:
# 182
Tracks: "Big
Distraction" - "Leftovers"
- "Under Construction" -
"Beauty Contest" - "Full
Circle" - "Cellophane Boy"
- "Everything In Time" -
"You're So Foxy" -
"Panic" - "New
Friend" - "Everything In
Time" (London) - "Sailin'
On" - "Oi To The World" -
"I Throw My Toys Around" -
"New & Approved" (New
Remix) - "Real Love Survives"
(Rock Steady Remix) - "Rock Steady
Vibe" (Rock Steady Remix) |
iTunes
Amazon.mp3 |
Push & Shove
Released: September, 2012
Billboard
peak:
# 3
Tracks: "Settle Down" -
"Looking Hot" - "One More
Summer" - "Push &
Shove" - "Easy" -
"Gravity" -
"Undercover" -
"Undone" - "Sparkle"
- "Heaven" - "Dreaming The
Same Dream" |
| Note: Song title and
position links lead you to the song's Top
40 chart run (from the ARC Weekly Top
40)
and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound
samples). |
|
|
