--- title: Gwen Stefani Opens Up About Divorce, Blake Shelton description: Gwen Stefani opened up about how her divorce from Gavin Rossdale "shattered" her dreams and how songwriting helped her recover. canonical: https://time.com/4394622/gwen-stefani-divorce-shattered/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-06T17:07:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:52.727Z og:title: Gwen Stefani: 'My Dreams Were Shattered' After Divorce og:description: Songwriting helped her recover og:url: https://time.com/4394622/gwen-stefani-divorce-shattered/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa7b931618bab6f0/69889acd0b72e313ce6ea13c/gwen-stefani-divorce-blake-shelton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gwen Stefani: 'My Dreams Were Shattered' After Divorce twitter:description: Songwriting helped her recover twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa7b931618bab6f0/69889acd0b72e313ce6ea13c/gwen-stefani-divorce-blake-shelton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gwen Stefani: 'My Dreams Were Shattered' After Divorce by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 6, 2016 5:07 PM UTC  GWEN STEFANI GWEN STEFANIImage Group LA—Radio Disney/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 6, 2016 5:07 PM UTC Gwen Stefani—_The Voice_ judge, former lead singer of _No Doubt_, successful solo artist and mother of 3 boys—is no stranger to the spotlight. But her recent divorce from fellow singer Gavin Rossdale and subsequent romance with _Voice_ co-star Blake Shelton may have cast a glare, as _Harper’s Bazaar_ points out in an [August cover interview](http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a16416/gwen-stefani-interview/?visibilityoverride) with the rocker. Stefani opened up about her evolution as an artist, mother, and wife. Following the end of her 13-year marriage with Rossdale, “My dreams were shattered,” she said. “All I wanted my whole life was to have babies, be married, like what my parents have.” [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ She turned back to songwriting after her public split with Rossdale, who was rumored to have cheated on Stefani with their children’s nanny. She said returning to the studio helped reinvigorate her. “I had spent a lot of years not being [confident](http://motto.time.com/4356649/believe-in-yourself-more/) about my songwriting. But I know that’s all I had left, and that was my gift,” Stefani said. “I had read somewhere if you don’t [have gratitude](http://motto.time.com/4336546/sheryl-sandberg-university-of-california-berekley-commencement-speech/) and confidence in what you’ve been given, you’re nowhere.” “This is What the Truth Feels Like,” which was inspired by the end of her marriage, became her first number-one album as a solo artist. Shelton offered a sympathetic hand. He, too, was going through a divorce with singer Miranda Lambert. Stefani remembers, “And that’s when Blake was like, ‘Everybody, before we go out there, I want to let everyone know that by the time this airs, I will be [divorced](http://motto.time.com/4364519/paula-patton-dating-happy/).'” Stefani reveals that’s when events turned from “horrible to hopeful.” Stefani maintains a positive attitude about her career and relationship. She tells,”I’m at a certain time in my life where I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. Every day is art, you know? Some days are really bad, and some days are so good.” Read the rest of the interview [here](http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a16416/gwen-stefani-interview/?visibilityoverride). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4394622/gwen-stefani-divorce-shattered/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4394622/gwen-stefani-divorce-shattered/"},"headline":"Gwen Stefani: 'My Dreams Were Shattered' After Divorce","datePublished":"2016-07-06T17:07:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:52.727Z","description":"Songwriting helped her recover","url":"https://time.com/4394622/gwen-stefani-divorce-shattered/","keywords":["motto","celebrities","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa7b931618bab6f0/69889acd0b72e313ce6ea13c/gwen-stefani-divorce-blake-shelton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa7b931618bab6f0/69889acd0b72e313ce6ea13c/gwen-stefani-divorce-blake-shelton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 Radio Disney Music Awards","caption":"2016 Radio Disney Music Awards","creditText":"Image Group LA—Radio Disney/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4394622/gwen-stefani-divorce-shattered/","name":"Gwen Stefani: 'My Dreams Were Shattered' After Divorce"}}]}] ```