Song · No Doubt
“Ex-Girlfriend” by No Doubt
From the album Return of Saturn (2000)
“Ex-Girlfriend” by No Doubt appears on 26 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 2000 and 2014. It was first released in 2000 on the album Return of Saturn. Its best result is #12 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2000. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #43 alternative song of 2000, #2,153 alternative song of all time and #463 of the '00s.
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"Ex-Girlfriend" was the second single from No Doubt's fourth album, Return of Saturn, released in early 2000, and it very nearly came out as a funeral march. Gwen Stefani first wrote it as a dirge about her relationship with Bush singer Gavin Rossdale, whom she married in 2002, but the album already had several ballads, so the band cranked up the tempo. It now tears along at 168 beats per minute in E minor, a pop-punk and new wave blast with a line that nods to the Bush song "Dead Meat".
Stefani, Tom Dumont and Tony Kanal wrote it, Glen Ballard produced it, Jack Joseph Puig mixed it, and Gabrial McNair added piano and synthesizer. A Billboard review praised Stefani's vocal as fantastic, and it went to number two on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and into the top 10 in Australia, Iceland and Spain.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 12 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2000 | 107 |
| 2000 | 55 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2000 | 91 |
| 2000 | 13 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2000 | 105 |
| 2000 | 93 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2000 | 101 |
| 2000 | 21 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2000 | 100 |
| 2000 | 92.3 | K-Rock New York, NY | K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2000 | 93 |
| 2000 | 26 | WFNX Boston, MA | WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2000 | 100 |
| 2000 | 48 | 107.7 The End Seattle, WA | The End Top 107 Songs of 2000 | 107 |
| 2000 | 19 | 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON | 89X Top 89 Songs of 2000 | 89 |
| 2000 | 97 | The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC | The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2000 | 99 |
| 2000 | 30 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2000 | 102 |
| 2000 | 30 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2000 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 432 | WBRU | WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) | 500 |
| 2004 | 236 | 107.7 The End | The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) | 500 |
| 2005 | 1630 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2005 | 617 | 99X | 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) | 1000 |
| 2006 | 223 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) | 500 |
| 2006 | 377 | Live 105 | Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) | 500 |
| 2007 | 1340 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 416 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) | 500 |
| 2008 | 1398 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1416 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 1443 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1508 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1564 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1624 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
Also listed as: Girlfriend.
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