Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani had a handful of days free between the Asian and European legs of her concert tour -- and they just happened to be during New York Fashion Week. The window allowed her to schedule what surely will be a standing-room-only runway show of her L.A.M.B. collection today, the first of eight days of spring style previews. Coincidence? "I don't know how it worked out," said Stefani. "I might have been aware way back when that it was Fashion Week. Music has come first, but I started L.A.M.B.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a big heavy-metal fan, has fulfilled a lifelong dream by getting to meet his favorite rock band, Deep Purple. The British group met the leader for tea at his residence of Gorki outside Moscow on Wednesday, Russian news agencies said. The 45-year-old president told Deep Purple that it has been his favorite band since the age of 12. He also revealed that as a DJ at his school in Leningrad he would play rock music at discos, after first getting the approval of the Communist youth organization.

NO DOUBT "Return of Saturn" Trauma/Interscope *** After ushering in the '90s ska revival and witnessing the phenomenal success of their third album, 1995's "Tragic Kingdom," the members of No Doubt now pause to consider questions of identity, paths chosen and potential regrets.

A London-based translation firm is offering parents-to-be the chance to check the meaning of prospective baby names in other languages to avoid inadvertently causing their offspring future embarrassment. Celebrity couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes might have thought twice about naming their daughter Suri if they'd known that it means "pickpocket" in Japanese, "turned sour" in French, and "horse mackerels" in Italian, suggest Today Translations. For 1,000 pounds ($1,678), the company's linguists will carry out a "basic name translation audit" of names, checking their meaning in 100 languages, or more for an additional cost.

In the delicious title track of last year's "The Sweet Escape," Gwen Stefani sings about wanting to create a place as her own world, and that's exactly what she did Sunday at the Coors Amphitheatre, the first official date of a new world tour that will keep the No Doubt frontwoman on the road through mid-October. Since striking out on her own with 2004's "Love. Angel. Music. Baby.," Stefani has established herself as the preeminent heir to Madonna's patented pop pastiche.

Halloween night is for scary fun. No Doubt has a reputation for providing fun that's lighthearted and not the least bit frightful. But the Anaheim band's concert Thursday at UC Irvine's Bren Events Center, its first headlining show in Orange County since becoming a nationally famous act with a double-platinum album, carried a scare factor that had nothing to do with the fake gore on drummer Adrian Young's grease-painted face, or with the 18 jack-o'-lanterns lining the stage.

Maybe Lollapalooza would not have turned into Lollapaloozer this year if they'd just tapped No Doubt to headline. The perky little band from Anaheim, which with help from Blink-182 packed about 40,000 fans into Hyundai Pavilion in Devore on Saturday, might have added the marquee power that the Pixies, Morrissey, Flaming Lips and String Cheese Incident didn't muster, prompting the recent cancellation of this year's tour.

With five shows left on the world tour that's kept her on the road for much of 2007, Gwen Stefani stopped at the Honda Center in her Anaheim stamping grounds Saturday night, and to mark the occasion, KIIS-FM (102.7) threw a homecoming celebration -- complete with the USC marching band -- for 17,000 or so of Stefani's closest friends.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a big heavy-metal fan, has fulfilled a lifelong dream by getting to meet his favorite rock band, Deep Purple. The British group met the leader for tea at his residence of Gorki outside Moscow on Wednesday, Russian news agencies said. The 45-year-old president told Deep Purple that it has been his favorite band since the age of 12. He also revealed that as a DJ at his school in Leningrad he would play rock music at discos, after first getting the approval of the Communist youth organization.

According to the almanac, Wednesday was the winter solstice -- the shortest day of the year -- but for Gwen Stefani it was a long, melancholy slog spent in an anonymous arena in this bland suburb of Fort Lauderdale. On the closing night of her first solo tour, which she describes as an uneven affair, Stefani found herself short of breath by the third song and staring out at a surprisingly listless crowd.

Of all the people who deserve credit for making No Doubt's return tour such a giddy success, singer Gwen Stefani's trainer merits extra kudos. When Stefani took the Gibson Amphitheatre stage Wednesday night in a brash outfit that seemed equal parts chola swagger and Hamptons riding crop, women in the audience gasped at the impeccable tone of her abdominal muscles.

Can a band that's been on hiatus for five years -- during which time its lead singer launched a monstrously successful solo career -- return to find a meaningful place within a music industry that's gone into free fall while it was away? No Doubt. Much has changed since the rock foursome from Orange County bade fans adieu in 2004 with a short but potent tour to promote a greatest hits album: Singer Gwen Stefani birthed two children and two platinum-plus solo albums, not to mention establishing herself as a bona fide fashion designer, while bassist Tony Kanal, guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young broadened their music skill sets by writing, playing with and/or producing other artists.

Gwen Stefani may be a superstar pop singer, hit songwriter, fashion maven and role model for millions of girls and young women, but on a brutally hot afternoon late last week, on a loading dock outside a largely empty sports arena in Ontario, she was just a mom, trying to keep her 3-year-old son entertained while she took on an impromptu decorating project. "I don't have time to do this, but you know me -- once I get obsessed with something . . .

When a glamorous wedding turns up in People magazine or Us Weekly, chances are Mindy Weiss was running the show. Brides, including boldface names such as Heidi Klum, Gwen Stefani and Eva Longoria, turn to Weiss for absolute peace of mind, and they appreciate her energy and positive attitude. Nervous couples can reach her for 24-hour support. "I'm so accessible," she says. "I truly hope I'm more like a girlfriend planning a wedding than a drill sergeant." That is, if your girlfriend has more than 1,000 wedding contacts and an unerring eye for special touches.

With five shows left on the world tour that's kept her on the road for much of 2007, Gwen Stefani stopped at the Honda Center in her Anaheim stamping grounds Saturday night, and to mark the occasion, KIIS-FM (102.7) threw a homecoming celebration -- complete with the USC marching band -- for 17,000 or so of Stefani's closest friends.

Gwen Stefani had a handful of days free between the Asian and European legs of her concert tour -- and they just happened to be during New York Fashion Week. The window allowed her to schedule what surely will be a standing-room-only runway show of her L.A.M.B. collection today, the first of eight days of spring style previews. Coincidence? "I don't know how it worked out," said Stefani. "I might have been aware way back when that it was Fashion Week. Music has come first, but I started L.A.M.B.

Gwen Stefani may be a superstar pop singer, hit songwriter, fashion maven and role model for millions of girls and young women, but on a brutally hot afternoon late last week, on a loading dock outside a largely empty sports arena in Ontario, she was just a mom, trying to keep her 3-year-old son entertained while she took on an impromptu decorating project. "I don't have time to do this, but you know me -- once I get obsessed with something . . .

No Doubt may be the decade's most well-adjusted multiple-platinum rock band--which is a good thing, considering all the adjustments its four members have had to make.

Gwen Stefani was a good girl, just like she promised. The 37-year-old pop star wowed fans Tuesday in Muslim-majority Malaysia on Tuesday, performing in costumes that showed almost no skin after Islamic critics claimed that her revealing clothes could corrupt the country's youth. She burst onto the stage wearing a black leotard under a white short-sleeved shirt and black-and-white striped hot pants suit, with black gloves up to her elbows. About 7,000 people were in attendance.

Malaysia's Islamic opposition party demanded Friday that Gwen Stefani be forbidden from performing in the country, saying the U.S. pop singer would corrupt the youth of the Muslim-majority nation. Kamarulzaman Mohamed, an official of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said Stefani's Aug. 21 concert in Kuala Lumpur would promote promiscuity, worsening an existing "teenage social problem." "The issue is that Gwen Stefani brings with her a bad image.