Given that “icon” is one of the most misused words in the English language — especially in pop-music criticism — let’s take time to clear the air.
Avril Lavigne is not an icon. James Blunt is far from an icon. Nelly Furtado? Not yet.
Attaining icon status requires more than a couple of platinum albums. It involves an overarching influence on your peers and fans, wide-ranging musical curiosity and a penchant for reinvention. In short, that ineffable something that makes you emblematic of your times.
Elvis, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan are icons. So are Michael Jackson and Madonna.
These artists have weathered the times, the waves of public adoration, the scandals, and they have come out on top. But as they’re enjoying their reigns, others are creating their own legacies and rising into potential iconic status.
Topping that list is pop star Gwen Stefani, who performs Friday at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.
“I think [Stefani] is definitely a pop icon,” said Mary Ellen Kachinske, program director at The Mix (101.9-FM). “Think about it — she’s a wife, she’s a mom, she’s a singer, she’s a songwriter, she’s a designer. She’s pure energy.”
Stefani has been on a roll for more than a decade, dating to her 1995 worldwide coming-out party, “Tragic Kingdom,” the third full-length album from No Doubt, which has been on a hiatus. It’s been an impressive build.
“She’s changed, adjusted, she hasn’t shooed her fan base, she’s gone different ways,” said Matt DuBiel, director of programming for Chicago’s 9FM (99.9-, 92.7- and 92.5-FM). “She’s very versatile and has mass appeal.”
“I think she obviously has star quality and people take notice,” Kachinske said. “Some of her songs might be a little out there, but they are always melodic and catchy. And her music keeps on progressing, her style keeps evolving.”
What a lot of this comes down to is simple: Stefani is very likable. She’s almost controversial, but she’s mostly accessible and affable.
Stefani’s main platform is her music. But as her band jumped from punk clubs to arenas, and as she’s made the transition into a successful solo career, her appeal has grown in other areas — namely fashion.
With the release of her debut solo album in 2004, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby,” came news of her fashion line, “L.A.M.B.”
“Her lines are super funky, so they attract more of the avant-garde dressers,” said Dezi Gellman, owner of Denver’s Polkadot Boutique. “She caters to that L.A. look. She’s not a classical, conservative dresser, and yet her styles attract all kinds of people — the people who don’t dress like her and the people who want to look like her.”
Not only is her fashion line hot, but her style in general has a massive influence. Long before L.A.M.B., Stefani sported bindis, a small dot worn on the forehead. In the years surrounding “Tragic Kingdom’s” success, bindis were increasingly popular.
And her fashion sway far outweighs Lavigne’s necktie/wife-beater look. Like Madonna, Stefani often has linked herself to emerging trends — and later defined them, even though she had little to do with the actual creation of them.
Remember that boyish, tight-fitting, midriff-baring look popular in the late-1990s? That was Stefani, at least partially.
And then there is acting. Stefani starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Aviator” in 2004. Not bad for a Fullerton, Calif., girl best known 20 years ago as “Eric’s little sister.”
After Stefani’s older brother invited her to sing for No Doubt in 1986, it wasn’t long before her stage presence outgrew the other members’. Suddenly she was the fiery, platinum-haired centerpiece. After two self-released albums that never went beyond the band’s local fan base, “Tragic Kingdom” hit big in 1995.
After multiple Grammy nominations and more than 15 million copies sold, No Doubt was a smash. The group made two more records together, the disappointing “Return of Saturn” and the smash “Rock Steady.” But after the band toured the wildly adventurous “Rock Steady,” Stefani announced her plans to try a solo record — a risky move since she was, at that point, unproven outside the context of her nurturing rock band.
After her 2004 solo debut came last year’s “The Sweet Escape,” a more focused record that wasn’t as exciting or surprising as her debut. Fans have eaten up singles “Wind It Up,” “Yummy” and the title track.
” ‘Sweet Escape,’ it’s straight-up pop, yet it’s not knockoff pop,” DuBiel said. “It’s pop with credibility, without being totally vanilla and, for lack of better words, like Jessica Simpson.
“When Gwen did ‘Sweet Escape,’ she almost outdid [Madonna’s] ‘Holiday.’ “
Still, many are wondering when Stefani will make good on her word to return to No Doubt.
“She kind of wanted to do a fun, easy-breezy-cheesy pop album, and that’s what she did,” said Kara Heine, 30, a longtime fan. “But I miss the edge that was there with No Doubt, and I want it to come back.”
Gwen Stefani
With Akon and Lady Sovereign
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park
Tickets: $10.35 to $69.50, 312-559-1212
