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For Gwen Stefani, her new Las Vegas residency is a lifesaver.
That is because the consistent Vegas shows allow Stefani, 48, to live the rest of her life. “As a mom, if you look at my touring for the last ten years, I haven’t really toured,” she told journalist Allison Kugel. “I toured for seven years and it’s hard with the kids because they’re in school and I’m not homeschooling, and you can’t pull them out. It’s not fair to them.
“I did my last tour because I had this unexpected life crisis and then the music came pouring out of me from that,” Stefani explained. “It was such a lifesaver and a beautiful moment for me to be able to write again. I put that tour on at the last minute and went on a summer tour with the kids. It was so much fun for them, they loved it. But it isn’t realistic.”
“The Hollaback” girl confessed her career is winding down following the release of This Is What the Truth Feels Like in 2016, her first album in 10 years.
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“I’m obviously at the end of my journey of being a musician… because of my age, and I’ve been doing it for thirty-something years,” she said. “It’s perfect for me to be able to do a Vegas show because not only does it work for me as a mom, but it also works creatively.
“It’s going to be a way to express myself and do my whole catalogue of the music that defines every time period in my life; all the crises and all the joys.”
Stefani also dished on the artists that inspire and make her better. Two such names are Jennifer Lopez and Stefani’s boyfriend Blake Shelton.
“I’ve always looked up to her [Lopez] in the sense that we’re exactly the same age and I remember when No Doubt was first coming out and she hadn’t done ‘Jenny from The Block’ yet, but she had that song out, ‘Waiting for Tonight’,” Stefani recalled. “At the time I was working with Prince and he started comparing me and Jennifer.
“I didn’t even see how I was in the same category with her,” she revealed. “She was Jennifer Lopez and I was in a band called No Doubt (laughs). But now here we are both doing these residencies all these years later, and we’ve known each other through the years. She’s always invited me to her kids’ birthday parties and things like that. She is a crazy work[horse].”
Speaking of JLo’s Vegas residency, Stefani paid close attention to how the “On The Floor” singer crafted her shows.
“I was studying the production of her show. The show was incredible, and she works so hard on stage,” explained Stefani. “When I came backstage to talk to her afterwards, she comes out of the dressing room looking like a Barbie doll. She was breathtaking on stage, but when you see her up close, it’s like, ‘What?! It’s not possible. You are so gorgeous!’”
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When practising a performance or putting pen to paper, it helps to have a veteran singer-songwriter on standby. Fortunately for Stefani, her country crooning beau is just that.
“Obviously, he’s my best friend, so I’m bouncing stuff off him all the time,” she said of Shelton. “He’s one of those people in my life that’s super supportive and gets me motivated. There’s a whole bunch of songs about him in the show, so that’s fun.
“Like anybody with their best friend, we share everything together. I’ll tell him, ‘I picked my dancers! There were 500 girls that tried out!’ and I’ll send him videos.”
Gwen Stefani’s upcoming Las Vegas residency, Just a Girl, begins June 27 at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.