9 Later Day Musical Crimes Perpetuated By Great Artists
3. Gwen Stefani - "Hollaback Girl"
Nowadays she’s more visible as a fashion designer and TV personality than she is a musician, so much so that it’s possible to forget the impact No Doubt had in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. Even more damaging to her legacy, however, is her release of one of the most annoying songs of the early 2000s (itself one of the most annoying periods in music history).
“Hollaback Girl” can be dismissed as a daft, throwaway party anthem, but this would be too generous. It’s a perfectly infuriating blend of trifling and catchy, the kind of song that’ll play on loop in your brain no matter what measures you take to stop this from happening.
The sparse tune and faintly nonsensical lyrics belie a bitter edge - the song was written as a rebuttal to Courtney Love, who had dismissed Stefani as a “cheerleader”. It’s tough to see Love being too bothered by “Hollaback Girl”’s fruit spelling, boom-bapping onslaught, however.
No Doubt have toured off and on in the years since and even released a politely received comeback album, but we can say for sure that ska punk’s heyday is long in the past.