(info collected from the October 97 issue of Young&Modern)
Gavin's born in London on October 30, 1967--which makes him a quiet, philosophical Scorpio. And we mean quiet. He doesn't speak until he's four years old!
After his parents get divorced, he grows up living with his father and big sis. You'd thing that he'd be the ultimate cutie as a cik but he says, "I was a 10-year-old punk. Spiky haircut, egg white in the hair, the whole bit."
Gavin spends his teen years skateboarding and partying. "I was sort of difficult for my dad to live with, because by age 15 I was going out every night, most of the night." As for his snooty private school- Westminster- he says, "I was intimidated a lot, and I would just sit in the back."
At age 17, he drops out of school to play on a semipro soccer team. There's just one problem: Gavin's too sweet for the game. "There'd be fights every single training session, ludicrous macho stuff." He ends up quitting because of an injury.
His Band, Midnight, gets a record deal but sells close to zero records. Later in his life, when people say Bush is only popular because Gavin's looks (and not his musical talent), he'll say, "I didn't have success before, and I've always looked the same."
When he's 23, Gavin moves to L.A., where he lives for six months and works as a production assistant on on video shoots. His life is less then thrilling- except for one night, when he sees Nirvana in concert. Totally inspired, he heads back to London and learns how to play the guitar. He starts dating Jasmine Lewis, the model who will be his girlfriend for the next five years!
He meets Nigel Pulsford (guitarist) outside a concert. They decide to start Bush, Snagging bass player Dave Parsons and Drubber Robin Goodridge to join them.
British they may be, but Brit-popsters they're not; Bush's demos sound like seattle grunge rock. The English record labels' responce? Talk to the band, boys. Lucky for Bush, they get signed anyway-by the U.S. label Trauma Records.
When Gavin's 27, Bush's album Sisteen Stone is released. (In American talk, the title means two hundread and fourty pounds. Gavin liked the idea of a record with a weighty name.) Within six months, radio stations are playing their single "Everything Zen" and MTV's pounding the video in the Buzz Bin.
Bush's first American tour lasts for a year and a half; the guys play more then 230 concerts. During this time, they put out two more rockin' singles- "Little Things" and "Comedown" -and inch their way up the Billboardcharts. Gavin's psyched, though he misses Jasmine and his dog, Winston, who he had to leave back in England.
Critics dis Bush-hard. The sweetest comment the press can muster is that Bush is "a cross between Pearl Jam and Nirvana minus the passion." This totally bums Gavin out. "I'm terrible with criticism," he says, "so this is the worst job for me to be in. Whenever something horrible comes out, I think, No one's going to come tomorrow."
Bush's next single-the awesome ballad "Glycerine" -goes straight to number one, and the album jumps into Billboard's Top 10. Rock star life begins: playing on Saturday Night live, headlining huge radio festivals, and posing for magazine covers.
Rumors fly that Gavin's dating Courtney Love from Hole. No way, he says: "Anyone I ever hang out with, people think I've got to be sleeping with her." But he does admit to thinking she's the collest. "She's a superstar. She's one of my favorite people completely brilliant." Says Courtyney, "I'm me, and even I can't say anything mean about him."
Gavin meets No Doubt diva/YM cover girl Gwen Stefani early in 1996, when her band opens for Bush. True love strikes! Gavin starts writing Bush's second album, Razorblade Suitcase, and that summer the band stops touring to record it.
Bush performs it's fifth and last hit single from Sixteen Stone, "Machinehead," at the 1996 MTV Music Awards- and wins The Viewer's Choice award at the ceremony. "[It's] because the people voted for it," says Gavin. He's right - seven million of 'em bought the record.
Razorblade Suitcase is released in November 1996, and the band takes to the road again for a 78-date U.S. tour.
With each smash single off of Razorblade Suitcase ("Swallowed," "Greedy Fly," "Cold Contagious"), Bush takes over the Billboard charts again! For a while, the album even competes neck and neck with his sweetie's album, Tragic Kingdom.
Gavin starts his own label (spun off from Trauma Records), which he names Mad Dog Winston. (Have we mentioned that he loves this dog?) His first signing is a band called Souls.
Gavin and Gwen are the supercouple at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards. Bush's song "Machinghead" from the flick Fear, wins Best Song from a Movie
Gavin and his band wrap up their B.S. Tour in July, take a summer holiday, then hit the road in Europe. With luck, we can expect a new record early Next year.
All info gathered from October 1997 issue of YM Magizine (Young and Modern)
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