Gwen Stefani Pays Tribute to No Doubt Member on Anniversary of Their Death

Gwen Stefani paid tribute to John Spence, one of No Doubt’s founding members, 35 years after he passed away. Spence was the original lead singer in the earliest days of the Anaheim, Calif., group, while Stefani provided backing vocals. No Doubt formed its first version in 1986. “For some reason, there was automatically this built-in following,” Stefani told Spin in 1996. “People loved the fact that it was a girl, that it was 2-Tone, that it was me and John up there.” Spence died by suicide one year later at the age of 18. “Remembering John Spence today, and always,” Stefani wrote of her late friend and fellow singer on Instagram. As part of the Dec. 21 post, the Voice coach shared six pictures, including a black-and-white image of them together. Other photos included performance shots and what appears to be Spence’s school yearbook photo.Spence formed No Doubt with Stefani and her brother Eric Stefani in Orange County, where they all worked at a Dairy Queen. “I guess I didn’t really know him,” Gwen told the OC Register early days of the group’s success. “He was hurting so badly that he couldn’t talk to anyone about it.” 

Spence, known for his spirited on-stage antics, provided the band’s name, inspired by his trademark response to most things: “no doubt,” per American Songwriter. Four days before Christmas, Spence took his life just two days before the band was scheduled to perform at The Roxy in Hollywood for industry executives. After Spence’s death, No Doubt broke up, then reformed with Alan Meade temporarily taking over lead vocals.”He was the inspiration for the whole band,” said Eric Stefani about Spence’s influence on No Doubt. The song “Dear John” was written for their former singer, but it was never officially released by the band, according to American Songwriter. You’re singin’ in a band with a mic on in your hand / That way that you would sing really made me feel all grand / You left your friends alone right upon this earth / I wish that would’ve seen how much life was worth Meade sings with Gwen on backing vocals. 

In the wake of Spence’s death, Gwen took over lead vocals, and Eric designed the band’s logo for T-shirts and fliers, eventually leaving to become an animator for The Simpsons. In 1995, No Doubt almost called it quits a year before the album Tragic Kingdom became a hit. “We were sitting there saying to ourselves, ‘Okay, we are 26. We’ve been doing this for eight years,’” Gwen said in 1996.“‘ Maybe we should finish up and get adult lives now.’ Then the record came out and people thought it was good, which was really weird because we were always the dork band from Anaheim.” “We never were cool enough or tough enough because we grew up in Orange County with all those punk bands,” she added. “We played with them, but I always felt like Shirley Temple—just this little lollipop out there—and I could never have a really raspy or loud, screaming voice. We just never fit in. Plus, all the L.A. people looked down on us because we were from Orange County. We weren’t ‘cool.’”