Gwen Stefani for Fashion Magazine March 2015

On the status of her comeback album: "I am really excited about a song I just did called “Lifting You” —which is kind of cute. It’s a little bit a reggae track. I also did this track that Sia wrote for me called “Start A War.” Its about not picking a fight in a relationship. She’s a genius. I also worked with Calvin Harris, Ryan Tedder and Charlie XCX. I took so long to come back because I was trying to be really free and just put out music that isn’t so try-hard and not so thought out."
On her relationship with sexuality:"Women are interesting creatures. We have this sexual side to us that alluring and powerful. It is a gift. When you discover your sexuality when you are around 14—it feels amazing—but you learn it something that is fleeting. Sexuality is something that I’ve never played off of or felt comfortable with. I won’t be doing any topless photo shoots anytime soon. It’s not my thing. I didn’t even wear high heels until I was 30 years old."

On tragic inspirations: "My break-up with [No Doubt bassist] Tony [Kanal] inspired everything, including the first No Doubt album—Tragic Kingdom. It was the first time I knew I could write music. I wasn’t writing it because I wanted people to hear it. It was only until I got that hurt that I found out I have a power in me. It allowed me to be creative. After that, the pressure was on—non-stop. I had to create."

On having no fashion regrets:"Everything seems to have a reason for looking a certain way. If you show me an old photo, I can tell you why I’m wearing what I’m wearing. Somebody just showed me a picture of me at an MTV awards red carpet and I was wearing this blue fur bathing suit top. Right away, I was like, ‘yup, I know why I wore that’—I had just gotten off a two and a half year tour with No Doubt and felt like I needed to break free. How can anyone regret wearing something? I never do. It reflects who you are at that moment."