Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Gwen Stefani first started wearing bindis on her forehead as a teenager when she and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal began dating. Since the band’s success, the blond singer has been repeatedly asked whether she’s Hindu.
By Jae-Ha Kim Chicago Sun-Times March 11, 1997 Kenny Wayne Shepherd has become the second performer in a month to be pulled from the House of Blues lineup for being too young. The 19-year-old guitarist, […]
If there’s any justice at all, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins and Tracy Chapman will lug a few Grammy Awards home on Wednesday. And Alanis Morissette, whose “Jagged Little Pill” was released in June, 1995, will be shut out of this year’s ceremonies.
Veruca Salt rocks. So how come some folks still are describing the Chicago-based rock group as wispy? “I’m not sure,” said guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Nina Gordon. “I don’t think we even look particularly wispy.”
Back in the mid-1980s, 17-year-old Charlie Sexton was in a unique situation. The guitar sensation headlined at clubs across the country but was legally too young to order a beer at any of them. He was encouraged to trade his rootsy blues style for synth-driven rock and had a minor hit with “Beat’s So Lonely.”
Talk about bad timing. Just as the recording industry is giving electronic music the big public relations push, Moby – techno’s premier poster boy – has shifted gears and turned to heavy metal.
It’s not often that having no money or a reputation are considered fortuitous in filmmaking. But when director Doug Pray and producer Steve Helvey decided to make a movie about the Seattle music community, their do-it-yourself attitude endeared themselves to the film’s subjects. Even reclusive Eddie Vedder spoke candidly on-camera about feeling guilty that his band, Pearl Jam, was enjoying so much success while older Seattle bands went unappreciated. “Hype!” opens today.
Rock’s prettiest couple has split up. No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani and Bush’s Gavin Rossdale – the Gwyneth and Brad of the music world – have ended their 10-month relationship. But they’re still good enough friends to exchange little presents. During a recent visit to Chicago, Stefani wore a black sweater with black and white striped sleeves – exactly the kind that Rossdale favors. “Oh, it’s funny that you mention that,” Stefani said. “It was a gift from Gavin.”
“I’m not a male,” Gwen Stefani said. You wouldn’t think that the willowy blonde would have to state the obvious. But as the frontwoman for No Doubt, which has the No. 1 album in America, she has grown used to speculation and innuendo. But even Stefani was surprised at the latest rumor being spread about her on the Internet: that she has too little body fat to be a woman and therefore must be a transsexual. “I have to work out all the time ’cause if I don’t I’d get really chubby,” said Stefani, 26. She tried to punctuate this point by scrunching up her black sweater – a present from Gavin Rossdale of Bush – and pinching her stomach “fat.” Her fingers had little to grasp.
Got the itch to party? The place to be on Saturday is the Metro, where Scratchie Records will host its Christmas party. Fulflej, Chainsaw Kittens, Fountains of Wayne and Kid Million are the headliners, but the evening’s hosts are pretty fabulous, too. The Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha and D’Arcy Wretzky-Brown – who goes by D’Arcy – are co-owners of the Chicago-based record label and likely will jam with their friends.