<p>The Pop Icon Is Haunted by the Knowledge That Her Friend&rsquo;s Tragic Death Led to Her Taking Center Stage as No Doubt&rsquo;s Lead Singer.</p>

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MY songs are basically my diaries,” Gwen Stefani once confessed, explaining that some of her best work “has come out of times when I’ve been going through a personal nightmare.” There’s one dark chapter in Gwen’s past, however, that was so devastating she’s never been able to broach it in song: The shocking suicide of her No Doubt bandmate John Spence, which set the stage for her to become the group’s lead singer — and paved her way to pop superstardom.

“Even after all these years, it’s still painful for Gwen to talk about what happened to John,” explains an old friend. “It’s the kind of tragedy you never really get over.”

JUST A GIRL

In 1986, when Gwen was a fresh-faced 17-year-old with shaky self-esteem, her brother Eric persuaded her to sing backup for the band he was putting together with friends. John Spence, who worked with Eric and Gwen at a Dairy Queen in Anaheim, Calif., took on the role of lead vocalist.

The group quickly gained a following, thanks in large part to John, a charismatic performer with a penchant for backflipping across the stage. But privately, he was in unspeakable pain. On Dec. 21, 1987, the 18-year-old put a pistol to his head and shot himself in a deserted parking lot, just days before No Doubt was set to play a gig at the famed Roxy in L.A., which record execs were expected to attend.

NO TURNING BACK

Shaken to the core, Gwen and her bandmates somehow managed to do the show

Denne historien er fra February 12, 2018-utgaven av Star.

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