Gwen Stefani's record label rejected album
Gwen Stefani felt like she had been "punched in the stomach" when her record label bosses rejected her new album because the songs were "too personal".
The No Doubt star channelled her heartache from the breakdown of her marriage to Gavin Rossdale into music for her new record, but she has now revealed executives at her label were not impressed with her work.
Gwen admits they told her the tracks were "too personal" and would
not be a hit with fans.
"The record company was like, 'Listen, we really think your record
is too personal and no one is going to relate to this record and
maybe you should just put it out as an artistic body of work -
don't even think about radio,'" she tells radio host Ryan Seacrest.
"They told me that and it was literally like being punched in the
stomach."
However, Gwen refused to give up, and headed back into the studio,
eventually coming up with Used to Love You, her new single which
she debuted last month (Oct15).
"The next day (after talking to the record label) I went in and
wrote Used to Love You," she adds. "It's weird because the lyric to
the chorus was already written the day after a major event
happened, which I won't say exactly what it is, but you can think
about what it might've been - a major event where things got really
clear."
The song is rumoured to be about the breakdown of her marriage to
Gavin, her husband of nearly 13 years and the father of her three
sons, but Gwen refused to be drawn on the subject matter when Ryan
asked, saying, "What I will tell you is, I was married for a long
time and now I'm not. It was a shock."
Gwen also insists she is not ready to jump into a new relationship
after splitting from Gavin, adding, "I don't know anything right
now. I'm living in the moment, you know what I'm saying? I'm
actually so grateful just to feel so alive. Honestly, I'm feeling
everything so much and that's great. The sadness, the happiness,
the extremes are really extreme right now."