The Babble Interview: Gavin Rossdale
The chart-topping dad on life with Gwen, Kingston and Zuma.
by Tammy La Gorce
December 10, 2008
Are there any cultural differences you and Gwen have to stare down in raising Kingston and Zuma? Any sore spots?
It's really not too difficult to latch onto the American way of life, so no, not really. I mean, I love all the American holidays and everything. On Thanksgiving and Christmas I don't say, "It's goose or nothing."
But British kids always seem so much more polite than American kids, don't you think?
I don't know — it's hard to put kids into two categories, because it goes from kid to kid. Different types of parents raise them differently. For example, our guitar player, Chris [Traynor], who's an American, has this amazing kid. She's got a really smart mom and a really smart dad and they're really progressive parents. I look at her — her name's Puma — and I say, "What did you do?" If my kids could be like her, that's great.
You have two boys. Any desire for a girl?
Yeah. I don't know. I just have the desire to be nice to everyone.
You've done some film work recently. Would you steer the kids toward careers in entertainment? You're also big into sports, aren't you?
I like tennis and kung-fu. I'd like to that with the kids, that and anything else sports-related. Maybe American football.
"It would be a disappointment if the kids were cookie-cutter."
I read on the internet that as a teen, you were a self-proclaimed punk who put egg whites in your hair and glitter on your stomach. Do you foresee this kind of rebelliousness in the lives of Kingston and/or Zuma?
Well, that's the internet for you. Glitter? What the fuck is that? I definitely did the egg whites in the hair, though. It's the best way to make your hair super-spiky. But if you keep it in too long, it ends up looking like dandruff. I do think the Sex Pistols are the coolest band ever, and I didn't like the Commodores. It's good to have fire in your belly. To me, it would be a disappointment if the kids were cookie-cutter. So I want them to be rebellious in a way that doesn't mean spitting at people or being bratty, but being individuals who question things. I want them to have input, to be smart and have an angle on things, to not be intimidated. Punk gave me a powerful thing, which was not feeling intimidated. It made you feel like you don't have to agree with everything you're told.
I also read that you didn't speak until you were four. Any truth to that?
Actually, that's true. I had an older sister who was quite protective and helped me fill in all the gaps, though.
Does that make you pay extra attention to the boys' speech development?
Nah. Kingston is two and a half — he's chatting away like a maniac.
Click here to buy Gavin's new album.
©2008 Tammy La Gorce and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Tammy La Gorce is a freelance entertainment writer living in New Jersey with her son and daughter. Her work regularly appears in The New York Times, GRAMMY and other magazines. |
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