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Gavin Rossdale

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Gavin Rossdale

Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1967)[1] is a British[2] musician who is most famous as being the husband of Gwen Stefani and cheerleader for Roger Federer He was the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Bush. He later was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and is now pursuing a solo career. He continues to perform both Bush and Institute songs during his solo concerts.[3]


Biography

Early life

Rossdale was born in Swiss Cottage, London, to parents Lucy Stephan (b. Scotland) and Douglas Rossdale. His father was a doctor of Russian Jewish descent whose surname was originally Rosenthal.[4][5] His parents divorced when he was eleven years old, and he was raised primarily by his father and aunt. His mother remarried and moved to Tampa, Florida. Rossdale has a younger sister, Soraya, and an elder one, Lorraine. Rossdale's half brother, David, is the Bishop of Great Grimsby in the United Kingdom.

Rossdale learned to play bass guitar after hanging out with his sister Lorraine's boyfriend, who was in a band called The Nobodyz, but he switched to rhythm guitar. At 17, he left the Westminster School, played semi-professional football until side-lined by an injury, and formed a band called Midnight (formerly Little Dukes), which produced a couple of singles and many publicity photos. Gavin also plays USTA Tennis at a 4.5 mens level. In 1991, Gavin moved to Los Angeles for 6 months, lived where he could, and took whatever part-time jobs were available, including production assistant on video shoots. He spent some time in NYC before returning to England where he hooked up with future manager Dave Dorrell (MARRS), whom he had met in LA. In 1992, Gavin formed Future Primitive, whose original line-up (under the name The Diceheads) included screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, who left to pursue a film-making career. The band changed its name to Bush in the summer of 1994 and released the promo Sixteen Stone.

Bush

Main article: Bush (band)

Gavin was the lead singer/songwriter for the British post-grunge rock band Bush. Their first album, Sixteen Stone (1994), was a huge commercial success. Almost overnight, Bush went from playing small pubs in London to headlining arenas in the US, the result of extensive, non-stop touring. However, some critics labelled them as an inferior derivative of bands such as Nirvana and Pixies, and this criticism followed them throughout their career as a band. In particular, Rossdale's forced, raspy singing voice and random, stream of consciousness-style lyrics were dismissed by some as an imitation of Nirvana's lead singer, Kurt Cobain. Although the band reached superstar status in the U.S., they failed to have much impact in the UK, which at the time was rather preoccupied with Britpop. The sole exception to this was their single "Swallowed", which reached #7 in the UK charts. A change in record labels, management and an extended hiatus did not bode well for the band, who unofficially split in 2002.

Bush's albums include Razorblade Suitcase (recorded by Steve Albini), Deconstructed, The Science of Things, and Golden State, all albums had much success in terms of albums sales, which led Bush to be one of the best selling rock groups to come out the nineties.

After Bush

Rossdale sang a song titled "Adrenaline" written by Tina who he thanked for submitting the lyrics for the soundtrack of the movie xXx, which is featured during the end credits. The song was also the official theme song for WWE's Unforgiven pay-per-view event in September 2002.

He also guest appeared for Blue Man Group's "The Current" and is featured in its video. The song was used in the ending credits of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

In 2004, after Bush had been on hiatus for two years, Rossdale formed Institute. Their first album, Distort Yourself, released September 13, 2005 achieved moderate success and the single "Bullet-proof skin" was used in the motion picture Stealth. In an interview published in November 2008, Rossdale noted that the Institute record was, "for all intents and purposes, a solo record. It was just a bad marketing decision to call it something else".[6] Institute broke up in 2006, after just one album.

Rossdale in August 2005.

In 2005, Rossdale appeared in the motion picture Constantine (2005) playing the villain Balthazar. Rossdale has also appeared in the films Zoolander (2001), The Mayor of Sunset Strip (2003), Little Black Book (2004), and The Game of Their Lives (2005). He also co-starred in the heist film How to Rob a Bank alongside Nick Stahl and Erika Christensen.

In 2007, Rossdale announced on his website that he was working on new music for a solo album. He wrote that he was very happy with the sound of the album, citing he went back to his roots with Bush. Rossdale's single, "Can't Stop the World," is the introduction theme to Fox's programme, Drive.

In 2007, he covered John Lennon's "Mind Games" for the album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Later that year, Gavin finished recording his first solo record titled WANDERlust, to be released 3 June 2008. Gwen Stefani, Rossdale's wife, sings background vocals on the track "Can't Stop The World."[7] He also made a guest appearance on the DT8 Project album Perfect World, taking lead vocals and co-writing the track Falling.

On 1 April 2008 the first single from WANDERlust, "Love Remains The Same", was released through digital retailers. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at # 76, rising to #27 in October 2008, giving Rossdale his first Top 40 hit since the days when he fronted the post-grunge band Bush. Rossdale is planning a full-scale solo tour in Spring 2009.[8] Of the album's title, Rossdale said, "I just liked it because it's kind of sexy enough, it's powerful, it's one word. Wanderlust sums up that desire for music and for singing and performing and this life."[9]

Personal life

Rossdale's wife, Gwen Stefani

In 1996, Rossdale met Gwen Stefani, American pop-rock singer and lead singer of the ska punk band No Doubt, when Bush and No Doubt were on a tour that also featured the Goo Goo Dolls.[10] The two married on September 14, 2002.

During an August 8, 2005, appearance on the radio show Loveline, Gavin said that he and Gwen preferred to keep their relationship entirely out of the media. He also said that he grew up in a chaotic home, and that having a stable environment for his family was important to him. On May 26, 2006, Rossdale and Stefani had a son, Kingston James Rossdale, at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Kingston weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces.[11] In an interview with Teen Vogue, Rossdale said Kingston liked accompanying him on tour, but when Rossdale was on tour without him, Kingston "played my video while I was on the road and [ran] around the room and scream[ed] 'Dada.'"[12] On August 21, 2008, Stefani gave birth to the couple's second son, named Zuma Nesta Rossdale, in Los Angeles. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces.[13] [14][15]

In 2004, a paternity test revealed that Rossdale was the father of Pearl Lowe's daughter, Daisy Lowe (b. 1989), as opposed to Lowe's ex-husband, as previously thought. Rossdale and Lowe had a brief relationship and Rossdale had been the godfather of Daisy.

In 1995, Boy George's autobiography Take It Like A Man stated that Gavin had an affair with UK singer Marilyn. In a 1996 interview for Rolling Stone, Gavin responded with a shrug, saying: "That's George's take - he doesn't know me. There's a queue of people going to their lawyers about stuff in his book. I hope he manages to sell some books by putting my name in there."[16] Elsewhere Gavin said, "I wasn't dating Marilyn. We were, and still are, good friends. George thinks everyone is gay."[17] Marilyn also denied the affair, but later claimed to have lied at Gavin's request because Gavin "was just becoming successful in America."[18] In 2009, Marilyn said they had been "together five years" in the 1980s, but Gavin's representative denied the story; Marilyn added, "Gavin and Gwen are perfect for each other, but he was the love of my life."[19]

Gavin has homes in Primrose Hill (London), and Los Angeles (California), and is an avid tennis player including the celebrity tennis circuit.[20] Gavin and Gwen are also friends of tennis superstar Roger Federer, and are often seen supporting him at matches in the royal box, particularly at Wimbledon.[21]

Discography

Bush

Institute

Solo

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
US
[22] 		US
Pop
[22] 		US
Main Rock
[22] 		US
Mod
[22] 		Adult Top 40 CAN
2002 "Adrenaline" — — 24
[23] 		20
[24] 		— — xXx soundtrack
2008 "Love Remains the Same" 27 32 — 33 2 28 Wanderlust
2008 "Forever May You Run" — — — — 35 — Wanderlust

References

  1. ^ Westminster alumni archive - see also fan biography
  2. ^ OneSecondBush
  3. ^ Ambrose, Anthony. "inTuneMusic Online: Bamboozle Day 1 @ East Rutherford 5/2". Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  4. ^ http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/backbeat/archives/146910.asp?from=blog_last3
  5. ^ Horror.com - Interview with Constantine actor, Gavin Rossdale
  6. ^ "Gavin Rossdale: Wanderlust". SuicideGirls.com. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-21..
  7. ^ Gavin Rossdale returns with solo LP
  8. ^ "Gavin Rossdale: Wanderlust". SuicideGirls.com. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-21..
  9. ^ Teen Vogue interview
  10. ^ 6 things you need to know about rocker Gwen Stefani
  11. ^ Baby boy for Stefani
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ Gwen Stefani pregnant again
  14. ^ http://et.tv.yahoo.com/celebrities/14864/
  15. ^ Usmagazine.com | Gwen Stefani Pregnant
  16. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938704/nirvanawannabes
  17. ^ http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/2364482/Gavin-Rossdale-is-gay-Boy-George
  18. ^ http://www.intouchweekly.com/2009/04/in_touch_exclusivemarilyn_gavi.php
  19. ^ http://www.intouchweekly.com/2009/04/in_touch_exclusivemarilyn_gavi.php
  20. ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20237477,00.html
  21. ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20208817,00.html
  22. ^ a b c d "Artist Chart History: Singles". Billboard charts. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  23. ^ Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks
  24. ^ Hot Modern Rock Tracks
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