Gwen Stefani

By Maura Johnston Meet BC Jean, the California singer-songwriter who wrote Beyonce's gramatically correct wish to grow a pair for a day, "If I Were A Boy." Jean, who idolizes Gwen Stefani and is young enough to be one of those performers who was "influenced" by Britney Spears, has her take on the track stream...

By Anthony Miccio Stump et Al. are seen by their hip-hop collaborators, I think, as living samples, picked out of the musical spectrum because their voices have some distinctive quality that the Roots or Kanye West or Dr. Dre want on their track. And, indeed, all three of those artists are known for eclectic re...

By mjohnston Gwen Stefani is the linchpin in a $300 million ad campaign for Hewlett-Packard, in which the pop star's image and clothes stylings will be used to lure people into "better use the web to custom-produce everything from invitations and greeting cards to concert souvenir books"--and prin...

By mjohnston Akon has posted a song apologizing for most of his recent transgressions—at least all of those that predate that fan-tossing incident—to his MySpace page. Called "Sorry Blame Me," the track addresses a few people Akon has wronged, including, apparently, his mom; the last verse of the so...

By mjohnston But then came "The Sweet Escape" - specifically, the song "Orange County Girl," in which Gwen, who now lives with husband Gavin Rossdale and son, Kingston, in London, had the gall to downplay her calculated popularity, her fame and fortune, and claim to be "just an Orange County girl livi...

By mjohnston Chris Richardson - "Don't Speak" by No Doubt Chris Sligh - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by the Police Gina Glocksen - "Just Like a Pill" by Pink Haley Scarnato - "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper Jordin Sparks - "Hey Baby" by No Doubt Melinda Doolittle - "Sunset People" by Donna Summer

By Brian Raftery If you know where to look, you'll be able to find Gwen Stefani's yodel-addled new album The Great Escape, which has gone and done leaked itself onto the information superhighway. Here's "Yummy," the "disco Tetris" collaboration with Pharrell, which sounds suspiciously Fergilicious: