No Doubt 25th Anniversary Retrospective: The Tragic Kingdom Era

Today’s look back at No Doubt’s 25-year history focuses on the breakthrough Tragic Kingdom era. Recorded in 11 different studios over two and a half years,the Tragic Kingdom album,an amazing mixture of ska, new wave, pop, punk and rock,was finally released on October 10,1995. By the end of the year,”Just A Girl” was getting massive airplay on radio and MTV,propelling the band into superstardom-and Gwen into a role model for an entire generation of girls,thanks to her incredibly relatable,honest and emotional lyrics and unique,trend-setting style;in January 1996,the band made their first national TV apearance performing ”Just A Girl” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The third single,”Don’t Speak”,stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay for a then-record 16 weeks,and also hit #1 on numerous international charts;the album itself reached #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in December 1996,over a year after its release,and remained there for eight weeks,in addition to topping album charts in Belgium, Finland, and Norway;reaching the top five in Austria,Germany,the Netherlands,Sweden,Switzerland,and the United Kingdom;and placing in the top twenty in France. To date,it has sold over 20 million copies worldwide,making it one of the best-selling albums in history.

In addition to its massive international commercial success,Tragic Kingdom also was a huge critical success,garnering rave reviews and the band their first Rolling Stone cover,Grammy nominations and a slew of other other awards,including a MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video for ”Don’t Speak”,the concept of which was the band’s way of dealing with the internal conflicts that had arisen with the media’s increasing attention to Gwen. After a three month tour opening for Bush,during which time Gwen began dating Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale,the band embarked on their first sold-out, arena-size worldwide headlining tour,which lasted for two and a half years;they documented their now-legendary 1997 concerts at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim for the Live in the Tragic Kingdom VHS and later DVD. What are some of your favorite moments and memories from the Tragic Kingdom era?