There’s no doubting Gwen Stefani’s love for her siblings, Eric, Todd and Jillian Stefani.
The “Hollaback Girl” singer and her brothers and sister were raised by their parents, Patti Flynn and Dennis Stefani, in Anaheim, Calif. The couple welcomed their first son, Eric, on June 17, 1967. Terri then gave birth to her first daughter Gwen on Oct. 3, 1969, and they later welcomed a second daughter, Jillian. Their youngest child, Todd, was born on March 1, 1974.
Aside from having strong family bonds, The Voice coach has a special connection with her older brother Eric when it comes to her career.
They co-founded No Doubt in 1986 alongside John Spence. Later on, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont and Adrian Young joined the band, though Eric was one of the main creatives during the early years of the group. He penned two tracks and co-wrote five other songs on their 1995 album Tragic Kingdom but left the group in late 1994 to pursue a career in animation.
“Eric was in some ways the dad, the teacher. He taught me everything I know,” Gwen told the Los Angeles Times in 1996. “He wasn’t happy for a long time. It wasn’t a surprise [when he left].”
Todd, too, works in the entertainment industry as a director and producer while Gwen’s sister, Jillian, opts to keep her life away from the spotlight.
From how Gwen and Eric formed No Doubt in the 1980s to their bond as brothers and sisters, here’s everything to know about Gwen Stefani’s siblings, Eric, Todd and Jillian Stefani.
Eric was a founding member of No Doubt
Despite his leaving the band, Gwen revealed on the Late Night With Seth Meyers show in October 2020 that Eric had “taught me everything I know” about music, adding that he was her “biggest hero.”
Eric showed his support for his younger sister at her Just A Girl residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas in November 2021. Gwen shared a heartfelt post with him on Instagram, revealing he had attended and reiterating once more that he was her “hero.”
Jillian keeps her life private
While most of the Stefani’s live their lives in the spotlight, Jillian opts to keep her life out of the public eye.
However, Gwen shared a rare photo with her younger sister on Instagram in December 2022 to commemorate her birthday.
“happy b day to my sister @madolivemm love u!! sissy ♥️ gx,” she wrote in the caption of the celebratory post.
Though Jillian does have an Instagram account, she chooses to keep it private.
Eric and Todd work in the entertainment industry
Gwen isn’t the only Stefani child working in the entertainment industry, with Eric and Todd also making behind-the-camera contributions. Her older brother Eric first found success in music but fell in love with animation while Todd is a producer and director.
Throughout Eric’s adolescence, he had a passion for drawing. He was placed into piano lessons as a child, and while he succeeded at both crafts, he always had an affinity toward animation. In the early days of No Doubt, he continued drawing and eventually sent his portfolio over to Fritz the Cat creator Ralph Bakshi, who saw something in his work.
“[Ralph Bakshi] called me in and said, ‘Some pretty good stuff. Welcome to the animation business, son,’ ” Eric recalled to the Los Angeles Times in 1996. He worked on Bakshi’s The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse for one week before the animator fired him from the job. However, Eric stuck around the studio and was mentored by Mickey Mouse director John Kricfalusi, which led to him drawing for The Simpsons in 1989.
Dominic Polcino, a former director of The Simpsons, told the Los Angeles Times that Eric was a “pretty thorough, sometimes to the point of neurotic” drawer. After working on the animated American sitcom until 1998, he contributed to various other animations, including an episode of Rugrats and TV movie Dan Danger.
Todd, meanwhile, has worked on numerous projects, including operating the camera for Gwen’s 2006 concert video, Gwen Stefani: Harajuku Lovers Live. He also worked on the cinematography for the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions and directed rock group Bush’s 2021 music video for “Baby Come Home.”
Todd directed a few of Blake Shelton’s music videos
Todd runs his own digital production company, Bruiser Pictures, and has lent his talents to aid Gwen and her husband, Blake Shelton several times over the years.
He directed the music video for their collaboration on the track “Happy Anywhere,” in 2020, as well as the video for Shelton’s 2021 track “Minimum Wage.”
During a September 2020 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Blake revealed that during quarantine they came up with the idea to utilize home video footage from over the years to create the music video for “Happy Anywhere.”
“Todd’s really good at all that [camera] stuff,” he said at the time. “Gwen has these five years worth of home videos on her phone, so Todd got the camera out and we shot a few set ups of us singing the song and he edited that thing and then put the video together.”
The youngest Stefani brother has also worked with the likes of Selena Gomez and Chrissy Teigen, per his website.
To celebrate Todd’s birthday in 2024, Gwen shared an adorable throwback picture from their childhood on Instagram in March.
“happy bday @toddboy01 !! 🎉🤍 gx,” the “Rich Girl” singer captioned an image of her holding Todd as a baby.
Source: People
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