Musician Gavin Rossdale is best known as the frontman of Bush.
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Rossdale → know → Bush
Here, the 60-year-old talks about the important women in his life, including his ex-wife Gwen Stefani, current partner Xhoana, and learning he had a fourth child, Daisy Lowe, when she turned 16.
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she → talk → child
My maternal grandmother, Barbara, lived in Scotland – we’d see her a couple of times a year.
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we → live → times
She always made rock cakes filled with raisins and I’d sit and eat the whole box.
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I → make → box
I last saw her 20 years ago, by which time she had Alzheimer’s.
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she → see → Alzheimer
She was sitting on a bed in an Edinburgh hospital all dressed up, with her handbag and coat.
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She → sit → handbag
She was really annoyed at me because she said I was late.
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I → say → me
I wasn’t late, and I wasn’t taking her out.
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I → take → her
I played along with it; the smile that she gave me has stayed with me forever.
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she → play → me
I grew up with my dad [Douglas] from the age of 12, when my parents split.
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parents → grow → 12
My dad lived until his early 90s and died in 2018.
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dad → live → 2018
I properly reconnected with Mom [Barbara] when I was 27.
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I → reconnecte → Mom
I learnt a lot through her absence.
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I → learn → absence
That’s the power of motherhood – that children forgive everything if you’re nice to them.
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you → ’ → them
She passed in 2025.
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She → pass → 2025
I have an older sister, Lorraine, and a younger sister, Soraya.
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I → have → sister
Until the age of four, Lorraine did all the talking for me and terrorised me until I was 12.
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I → do → me
It’s terrible having a jealous older sister.
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It → ’ → sister
She used to beat me up.
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She → use → me
I stood up for myself aged 12 and then we became good friends.
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we → stand → myself
The first child never forgives the birth of the second.
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child → forgive → second
From the age of 19 to 24, I had a very strong, cool girlfriend who was just wild; it was a beautiful youth love story.
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it → have → girlfriend
She was incapacitated in a terrible car accident when I was 16, and lived that way for 35 years.
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I → incapacitate → years
She grew up with me in the same house and introduced me to [David] Bowie records.
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She → grow → records
I met Polly at a Shellac show very early on, when she made her first record, Dry [1992].
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she → meet → record
I spoke to her once on the phone and then saw her in person, but she didn’t remember.
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she → speak → person
It was OK, she had a lot going on at the time – I think a close friend had died.
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friend → have → time
She thought I was a journalist.
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I → think → ?
From the age of 19 to 24, I had a very strong, cool girlfriend who was just wild; it was a beautiful youth love story.
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it → have → girlfriend
I had mad love for her.
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I → have → her
She’s married, lives in France, works as a psychotherapist and is super accomplished.
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She → ’ → psychotherapist
I dated another girl around the formation of my band Bush in the early 1990s.
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I → date → 1990s
She was supportive and sweet and came to the shows.
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She → come → shows
I met Gwen Stefani when Bush took her band No Doubt on tour.
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Bush → meet → tour
We spent 3½ months together and fell in love.
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We → spend → love
[They married in 2002 and divorced in 2016.]
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They → marry → 2016
I remember that time like it was yesterday.
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it → remember → time
You go through some terrible things and come out the other side, dust yourself off and get on with life.
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You → go → life
Gwen and I have three children, aged 20, 18 and 12.
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Gwen → have → children
When they’re doing well and shining, I’m happy.
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I → do → ?
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
