I quit music to save my marriage... that was a waste of time
The past few years have been rocky for Gavin Rossdale. He tells JOE NERSSESSIAN how joining The Voice was one of his best decisions
GAVIN Rossdale is a busy man. Aside from his role as a coach on ITV’s The Voice UK, the Bush frontman has been working on a new cookery talk show, his own clothing line, and is currently promoting the band’s latest record.
The past few months have also seen him play his first UK gig in more than five years, amid frequent trips to see, and visits from, his three youngest children (he has three sons with ex-wife Gwen Stefani, and is also the father of 28-year-old model Daisy Lowe).
It all seems quite remarkable given that, two years ago, Gavin had cancelled a tour and decided he’d never record music again – because, he says, he wanted to focus on trying to fix things with then-wife Stefani, who he’d been married to since 2002 (however, their divorce was finalised in early 2016).
“I just quit everything to work on my private life, which was ironic because that was a waste of f ***** g time,” explains London-born Gavin, 51. “I stopped working when I got divorced, I didn’t care, I didn’t want to work... I went insular and I put all my time into them [his sons].”
Slowly but surely, however, the pain subsided and he returned to work, which involved writing two albums – the first of which he “spared” everyone, while the second is Black And White Rainbows, Bush’s seventh studio album, released in March.
Then there’s The Voice. Gavin calls the decision to join the series one of the best he’s ever made, but admits it perhaps seemed a little strange.
“I know it was unusual for someone like me, a street urchin, from counterculture corners where this ancient transcription called rock music exists, so I know it was a bit of a weird thing, but I’m really proud to be on it and it’s nothing but a pleasure,” he insists.
Gavin was also recently signed by a new record label, after his dealings with BMG came to an end. He claims they feared he would release a “manic depressive” album, admitting the unreleased material perhaps strayed in that direction.
But it was never intended for consumption, he says: “I wasn’t writing for anyone but just for me, to find a way for me to mourn, so I went through the
mourning process Main: Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. Inset: With ex-wife Gwen Stefani, right and, above, his daughter model Daisy Lowe and then a record appeared.
“It was really cathartic and pure because I wasn’t trying to sell anything, I wasn’t trying to get a hit record.”
Bush is famed for being a British band embraced by America, a trend that’s continued with Black And White Rainbows. However, for a group rarely treated to praise from the press, Gavin argues that concern over what the critics think is almost beyond him.
“Of course it bothers me being bashed around, but the funny thing is the world is so serious and difficult, and whether you take the 16 million people who are facing famine, or look at Syria or at the refugees in other war-torn areas, it’s a bit much to shed tears because someone says, ‘You’re pants, you’re not very good, we don’t like you’.”
He recalls how, when touring with Bowie, the late pop superstar told him to “outlive your critics”.
“And I have, I hope. Also, I don’t really read as much about our albums because I’m sick of getting a hiding,” he laughs.
His new-found friendship with fellow coach Sir Tom Jones led to the Welsh singer attending Bush’s recent gig at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire, and helped him get things in perspective.
“People can’t go through a week without having a good day, a bad day; it’s being human and no matter your stature in life, life is just there.
“I realised this recently after chatting to Tom and he was telling me about a phone call he had from Elvis in ‘65. He’d [Elvis] had a tough couple of years, had Kissin’ Cousins, the worst Elvis song, he’d stopped making music because he took part in some dodgy movies and he was lost,” Gavin explains.
“Tom told me this, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, if Elvis was lost for two years, how the f*** are the rest of us going to cut it?”’ Black And White Rainbows is out now (Zuma Rock).