Our first guest is a three-time Grammy award winner,
a first-time Academy of Country Music Award nominee,
and the fiancee of a former Sexiest Man Alive,
please welcome my friend, Gwen Stefani.
[APPLAUSE]
Hello.
Well, well, well.
Hello.
Well, well, well to you.
You look great.
I like your pink jacket.
Thank you.
It's good to--
I picked it out just for you.
I actually had red lipstick.
And then, I went and changed on the commercial break.
Because I was like, Ellen probably wants pink.
So--
You were right.
--I changed [INAUDIBLE].
You're correct.
I would have not talked to you had you had red lipstick on.
I would have cut the interview very short.
[LAUGHTER]
You look great as always.
Can you believe, we haven't seen each other in a year?
A year.
I could not believe it.
So much has happened.
Yet not a lot's happened at the same time.
It's very strange.
I know, I know.
We were at the Grammys the night Blake
and I both lost to Grammys.
So we both went home.
But it was fine.
It was--
[LAUGHTER]
You know?
It's OK.
Oh, yes.
I remember that.
Yeah, well, I'm--
That was [INAUDIBLE].
So I had a good time.
Yeah, yeah.
It was great seeing you there.
So you've been spending time in Oklahoma.
Is that the first time that you've spent time
on a ranch like that?
What changed?
What did you learn to do?
What did you like doing?
What did you not like doing?
It's the first time I've ever spent that amount of time
actually.
Like, basically, man in the house.
We had about 12 people there.
I was cooking.
I was cleaning, doing laundry.
All this homeschooling like zooming.
And it was a lot.
And it was a lot of fun at the same time.
And we did stuff like, we found a baby armadillo.
We found baby hogs that we were raising.
We took trees.
We cut-- I did chainsaw.
All of it.
Everything you could think of, we did it.
Good for you.
That's like-- did you ever watch the-- you're too
young probably-- but the show Green Acres?
Where the woman from the city goes and spends time.
Were you like that?
I feel like I was like that.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
I feel like you were always dressed like that no matter
what you were doing.
You had lipstick on.
And you were dressed in some kind of fabulous outfit.
That's what I'm picturing.
You could just keep picturing that.
OK.
That's perfect.
[LAUGHTER]
All right.
Don't burst my bubble.
That's what I picture.
So you haven't been here since you've been engaged.
And what's happening with the wedding planning?
I know Miley Cyrus said that she would sing at your wedding.
Is there anything I can do?
I was thinking about that a lot.
And I was thinking--
I was picturing you in a muff, like bridesmaid,
maybe maid of honor.
We could put some extensions in.
And we could make it like full, like flower arrangement.
All that stuff.
You just tell me the time and the place.
And I will be there.
[LAUGHTER]
I don't mind doing any of that for you
because you're my friend.
And anything you ask, I will wear.
I will put extensions in my hair.
Anything at all.
That's how much I love you, Gwen.
I love you too, Ellen.
You know that.
All right.
So here's the thing.
Is it because you spent time in Oklahoma with Blake
that you're now getting into country music now?
You're up for your first ACM award with Blake.
And--
[APPLAUSE]
It's amazing.
You come from this like reggae, pop background.
And now, you're doing so well in this genre.
Well, I mean, I really just hopped on a couple songs, which
was an honor.
I mean, Blake Shelton has 27 number 1 radio hits.
I-- never in my wildest dreams--
would imagine being part of that.
And to be on a song that goes number 1 in a genre
that I have no business being part of twice, and now
for these awards, it's pretty monumental, and exciting,
and unexpected.
And country music-- the whole genre--
is just such an incredible writing community.
That for me is I feel so much respect.
And I've learned so much from just all the songs
that Blake has shown me and just the different artists.
And I relate to that because I'm a songwriter.
So it's just been such another gift along the whole journey
that I've been on to be part of that.
It's really been fun.
Well, look, a good voice is a good voice.
And you two together are just fantastic as a couple
and especially as singers.
I love seeing y'all together.
And now, you're putting out your new music.
You have a single called "Slow Clap."
When do we expect this album to come out?
You know what?
I basically-- after doing all the quarantine stuff,
I started getting that itch to do some new music.
And I didn't know it was going to be possible
because we're in lockdown.
How am I going to do it?
So we ended up popping on Zooms and writing all these songs.
And it was just kind of ideal.
And within eight weeks, I think I had 20 songs.
And just trying to go back to what
you talked about like the whole reggae
thing, when I discovered music.
When I was like 14 years old, and I found this music score
that was totally underground and not on the radio.
And just being really inspired by the nostalgic past.
So basically, started writing this record not planning on it.
And it's just been really fun to be
able to drop singles and not have the album even finished
yet.
I have a ton of songs.
But I just know that I want to keep writing until I
feel like it's right there.
But I'm really close and definitely,
going to put a whole album out.
And I'm just excited about it.
It never gets old.
It's always exciting.
And working with all these incredible writers
is just mind-blowing.
And doing it on Zoom while the kids
are in school in the next room was just incredible.
That's amazing.
See, now I miss being in your bathroom
and you playing a new song for me.
I'll never forget a memory of you saying, I have a new song.
Come listen to it.
And we're sitting in your bathroom.
And you're such a great songwriter
because you actually write from your heart.
You write from your life experience.
And it's truthful.
Anyway, you are a great songwriter.
[APPLAUSE]
I don't miss that bathroom.
And I don't miss that moment in time.
Because I was used to love you.
That was a really intense things for listening.
This record is really going to be full of joy, and good vibes,
and up-tempo, and happy, and just about having a good times
and being nostalgic.
So I'm really excited to share it with everybody.
Yup.
You've come a long way, Gwen.
You came out of a dark place.
And I'm so happy for you.
You just posted a throwback from your high school yearbook.
And your dream was to write jingles for fast-food.
[LAUGHTER]
Well, I mean, I really think really big back then.
I didn't know what I was going to do.
I had no idea.
But I always was like, wow, someone had to sing those.
Like, maybe I could do that.
[LAUGHTER]
I always had these like, someone had to do that.
I think I could do that.
Well, that's true.
I mean, that's how everything starts from saying, well.
And also, somebody hasn't done this.
And I can do it because it hasn't been done.
You can go either way.
So do you have an example of a jingle that you had in mind?
[LAUGHTER]
I wasn't planning on writing the jingles.
I was going to be the one singing them, like being hired.
So not really.
And I don't really have one up my sleeve right on the spot.
Although I should since I'm a songwriter.
But-- [INAUDIBLE] back at me.
You're good at these spontaneous stuff.
No.
Well, I mean, I have many, many jingles
I can throw out right now.
But that's not going to make you look good.
So--
[LAUGHTER]
--last month, you released a music video of your song,
"Let Me Reintroduce Myself."
And you recreated some famous looks.
That must have been so fun.
It was so fun.
And being boiled down to like a Halloween costume
is the best unbelievable flattery.
Those outfits were just the way I dressed.
You know what I mean?
Nobody told me to do that.
And so to be able to revisit them was really surreal.
Yeah.
I mean, those looks are all-- everybody knows.
Everybody has watched these iconic looks that you've
had through the years.
And it's been 25 years since the album, Tragic Kingdom, which
no doubt blew up from that album.
I mean, 25 years.
It's hard to even imagine that the time is just
going by so fast.
And I'm not really a big anniversary person.
But when everybody was posting about that--
I was in the middle of writing.
And I got quite taken aback, like, wow,
that record was all about my heart being sliced open.
You know what I mean?
And I had no idea that anyone would ever hear it.
And to now look back and think all this time has gone by,
and think about all the different drama
I've been through, and all the lucky stuff, it's
a lot to think about.
Yeah, but that's the thing.
I mean, you've been able to write about your experiences.
And I think that's the honesty that we all relate to.
I think that's what we all see.
Real quick before we go.
Are you still cutting and dyeing Blake's hair?
I did dye his hair the other day.
And one of the kids said, you look way better.
So--
[LAUGHTER]
--I guess it's working.
Oh, wow.
Well, then you should be the one to do it from now on.
I love too.
I love hair and makeup.
You know I do.
And I just cut Apollo's hair the other night.
I actually have a bunch of cuts on my finger
because I'm not a hairdresser.
But--
[LAUGHTER]
I do love doing that stuff.
It's fun.
Well, I'll let you cut my hair one day.
Yes.
I'd love that.
After we put the extensions in, then you can cut them out.
[LAUGHTER]
All right.
"Slow Clap" is available on streaming services now.
I love you, Gwen.
We'll be back.