The band was formed in 1986 by Eric Stefani and John Spence and was originally called Apple Core. Eric acted as keyboardist and John as vocalist. Stefani invited his sister Gwen to be the backup vocalist. For several months the band searched for musicians and then rehearsed. Soon the band started playing at parties, performing hits of different bands and some of their own songs.
The first musician to join the band was bassist Tony Canale. This happened in March 1987 after one of the concerts. Tony had previously played jazz and was well educated musically, and since he also had administrative skills, he took on the duties of manager.
The suicide of the band's lead singer on December 21, 1987 came as a surprise to everyone. John Spence shot himself in a city park. His favorite expression was "no doubt" ("no doubt", "no doubt"). This event shocked all the band members, and Gwen took over all vocal responsibility. In the spring of 1989, guitarist Tom Dumont joined the band, adding heaviness to the sound, and Adrian Young took over the drums in the summer of 1989, having lied to the band that he had a lot of experience (in fact, he had only been playing for a year).
The band signed a recording contract for their debut album in August 1991 with Interscope Records. At the same time, all No Doubt members continued to attend colleges and work: Gwen and Tony were salesmen, Adrian was a waiter in a diner, Tom specialized in working with musical equipment.
A new album, titled simply No Doubt, appeared on store shelves in March 1992. Sales were sluggish, and local radio station KROQ refused to rotate the songs on its airwaves. The band embarked on a two-week tour of the western United States in support of their album. The entire road crew (five band members, a three-man brass section, a technician, road manager/soundman) and equipment fit into two small vans. In the summer of 1992, the band's first music video for the song "Trapped in a Box" is filmed. Soon, due to unsatisfactory sales, Interscope refuses to continue cooperation with No Doubt, but despite this, the musicians decide to release the next album on their own. Recording took place in three different locations, including the garage of Stephanie's house on Beacon Street. The album was named The Beacon Street Collection in honor of this street. The album was released in mid-1995, but due to lack of contract and support, it was not released in major stores and charts, but was distributed at concerts and through local stores in the towns where they toured. Interscope, having changed its decision, offered the band to record some demos and later an album. No Doubt began to work on new recordings, but shortly before the completion of the work the band was left by Eric Stefani, who continued his creative activity as an animator in the TV series "The Simpsons".
The third album, titled Tragic Kingdom, was released in October 1995. It was recorded in parts in 11 different studios and combined styles such as ska, new wave, punk and pop. Initially, this CD did not generate much interest either, but a few months later, in January 1996, the album debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at No. 175, with the song "Just a Girl" reaching No. 10. Thanks to this, No Doubt was invited to a popular late night TV show, where the musicians performed the song live. Another composition - "Spiderwebs" - in June 1996 becomes No. 5 in the same Billboard, after which the first big tour in Europe, and then in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Japan begins. After seven years, No Doubt finally become world famous and take the big stage as headliners. In July 1996, the album Tragic Kingdom went platinum and in August it went double platinum.
In November 1996, the ballad "Don't Speak" reaches the 2nd and 1st positions in different Billboard categories. The album sells about 230,000 copies that same week and over 500,000 the following week, Christmas week. Total sales total 6 million copies by the end of 1996. The album remains #1 for another 9 weeks and 36 weeks in the top ten. On the wave of this success, No Doubt embark on their next big tour in the biggest cities, playing the biggest halls.