Tony Kanal

Tony Ashwin Kanal (born 27 August 1970) is a British-American musician known primarily as a songwriter, record producer and for his work as bassist and co-writer for the rock bands No Doubt and Dreamcar.

His career outside of performing includes production and songwriting credits with artists such as Pink, Weezer, Elan Atias and No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani's solo work.

Kanal was born in Kingsbury, a northwest district of London, England.

Kanal's father, Gulab, and his mother, Lajwanti "Lajju", are originally from India.

His parents emigrated from India to London, where Kanal was born.

While most of his early years were spent in the British capital city, Kanal and his family briefly lived in Toronto, Ontario and Munster, Indiana, before returning to London.

At age 11, his family moved to the United States, settling in Anaheim, Orange County, California.

Kanal attended South Junior High School and Anaheim High School.

Upon entering seventh grade, Kanal joined his junior high school concert band.

Kanal's father suggested that Kanal learn to play the saxophone because it was his favorite instrument.

In tenth grade, Kanal learned how to play the electric bass guitar with help from his schoolmate, David J. Carpenter.

After being invited to No Doubt's first official club show on 14 March 1987, by original drummer and fellow Anaheim High School alum Chris Webb, Kanal joined the band as its bassist at age 16.

After high school, Kanal enrolled at California State University, Fullerton to major in psychology.

In 1991, No Doubt signed with Interscope Records and began recording their first full-length album.

Their self-titled debut was released in 1992; that same year, they embarked on three U.S. van tours, playing clubs and theaters.

Over the next decade, No Doubt released the follow-up albums Tragic Kingdom (1995), The Beacon Street Collection (1995), Return of Saturn (2000), Rock Steady (2001), as well as two compilation albums, The Singles 1992–2003 (2003) and Everything in Time: B-Sides, Rarities, Remixes (2004).

The band toured the world and earned several awards, including two Grammy Awards and 5 MTV Music Video Awards.

In 2004, after touring the U.S. to promote The Singles 1992–2003, No Doubt went on hiatus.

During this time, Kanal began producing and writing outside of the band.

The same year, Kanal produced three songs for the soundtrack to 50 First Dates.

Also in 2004, Kanal produced and co-wrote three tracks on Gwen Stefani's first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Kanal then produced Elan Atias's debut album Together as One, released in June 2006.

Kanal worked with Gwen Stefani for her follow-up solo album The Sweet Escape, released in 2006.

He created several remixes, including ones of Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" and Gang of Four's "Ether".

Kanal produced the song "Rent" for the ska punk band Pepper's 2006 album No Shame.

In 2008, he collaborated on two songs titled "Sober" and "Funhouse" with Pink for her album Funhouse.

In March 2008, the band started making posts concerning the progression of the album on their official fan forum.

Stefani made a post on 28 March 2008 stating that songwriting had begun but was slow on her end because she was pregnant with her second child.

The band toured in 2009 for their first full-fledged band tour in nearly five years.

The North American 2009 Summer Tour was the band's largest tour, playing over 50 shows.

In 2009, No Doubt made an appearance on the television series Gossip Girl, playing a fictional band named Snowed Out in the episode "Valley Girls".

They performed their cover version of the Adam and the Ants song "Stand and Deliver".

Kanal also co-wrote the song "Smart Girls" for Weezer's 2010 album Hurley.

In 2010, Kanal co-wrote, produced, and performed bass on the track "Kiss You Up", recorded by Barbadian artist Shontelle for her album No Gravity.

With Stefani promoting her second solo album, No Doubt began work on an album without her and planned to complete it after Stefani's tour was finished.

In 2010, the band performed at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the life's work of Paul McCartney.

Their performance was attended by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

In 2012, No Doubt released Push and Shove, their latest release.

They performed seven sold-out shows in Los Angeles at the Universal Amphitheater.

In 2014 and 2015, they played the Global Citizens Festivals in New York City and Washington, D.C., and headlined music festivals in the United States.

In 2014, Kanal and No Doubt bandmates Tom Dumont and Adrian Young, along with Davey Havok of AFI, formed the band Dreamcar.