Gwen Stefani Admits To Struggling With Dyslexia Her Entire Life

Songstress Gwen Stefani disclosed that she struggled with dyslexia for most of her life, and songwriting helped her discover her creativity. In addition to her co-founding role in No Doubt, the artist is the lead singer and primary songwriter of the band.

Stefani once revealed that she wrote the band's first record without prior experience or knowledge in songwriting. Years later, she said that her penmanship was integral to discovering her creativity.

The artist previously said she had dyslexia, and while she had suffered through it most of her life, she was unaware of its presence until she had her three sons.

Read on to learn more.

Stefani spoke at the New York Women in Communications' 52nd Annual Matrix Awards on Wednesday night after receiving a career achievements award. The artist revealed that she had dealt with dyslexia for most of her life and her involvement in songwriting helped unlock her creativity.

The disorder is characterized by heightened difficulty in learning. Dyslexia primarily manifests itself in reading, writing, and spelling problems. According to Stefani, she wasn't aware of her condition until she gave birth to her two sons.

"Being dyslexic definitely has had challenges for me in my life, and I will say the dyslexic advantage has probably made me who I am." Stefani continued per Daily Mail, "The moment I wrote my first song - I had no idea that I could do that. It just happened - it unlocked something inside me."

The artist also made a joke about how her learning disorder has an influence on "Hollaback Girl," which was released in 2004. "[I] went on to teach the whole world how to spell bananas."

In late 2020, Stefani spoke about her music's influence on her learning disability and how her sons were coping with it. She joined Zane Lowe's "At Home With" conversation series on Apple Music and revealed that she was made aware of her condition after her children had issues reading.

The artist has three children, Kingston, Zuma, and Apollo, with her ex-husband, Gavin Rossdale. The former couple was married in 2002 after meeting each other in 1995, and in 2015, Stefani filed for divorce from Rossdale.

Stefani said, "One thing that I've discovered through having kids is that I have dyslexia — everyone has things that happen, and mine was that."

The fashion designer went on to say that although she had no idea at the time, she was sure that a number of issues she faced in the past resulted from her undiagnosed dyslexia.

"I feel like a lot of the problems that I have had or even decisions that I've made for myself stem from that because now the children — obviously, it's all genetic — they have some of those issues," Stefani continued per People.

Although she had a tough time, the artist said that her children were getting the required support from their school and teachers. "Now they get all these benefits," she said.

"They have these incredible teachers and schools, and they don't have to have shame about it. They understand that their brain functions in a different way. All of our brains do, you know what I mean?" the mom of three said.

While talking about her experiences with the learning disorder, Stefani admitted that she "failed at school." The artist described herself as a "good girl" and revealed that she never really involved herself in illicit activities while in school.

She explained, "It was just really hard for me to function in that square box of school that everybody was supposed to be understanding. And my brain didn't work like that; it still doesn't. But it works in different ways that are probably a gift that other people can't do."

Stefani revealed that dyslexia also impacted her life outside school, particularly as a new artist and a part of No Doubt. She explained that she wrote an entire record without any prior knowledge concerning how to write a song.

The artist said she had little confidence in herself at the time, but when she wrote a song or got on stage, she felt at peace. "When I would write a song, or I would get on stage, it just felt so right and the only thing that was going right for me," Stefani said.