Singer Gwen Stefani has shared how her sibling got her into listening to UK band Madness when they were growing up.

The No Doubt singer, who grew up in California, has revealed how she was introduced to the ska music genre, reports contactmusic.com.

"I was 17 when my brother was getting into these ska bands and discovered music from England and this band called Madness and would bring all their records home," said Stefani

"When we got into Madness it felt like underground weird music and they really sang about their culture and Camden Town, and we really looked up to England and London - that music and Stiff Records. That led us into reggae and all the ska acts and they united in a scene," she added.

She recently returned with her first solo music in four years, "Let me reintroduce myself", which saw her go back to her ska and reggae roots in homage to her time as the lead singer of the band No Doubt.

She admitted she cried when her fiance and singer Blake Shelton told her the song was number 16 on the iTunes chart.

"I was standing in the kitchen the day the song came out and Blake came in and said: 'Oh my God you're number 16 on iTunes.' I just burst out crying and I didn't even know that I felt like that," said Stefani.

"The whole reason we wrote it was that I was feeling like an underdog or over, like nobody would listen anymore. I'm fine with that, I've had my time, 30 years I'm good. But the one thing that still fuels my fire is writing music, you get addicted to that feeling, that taste of blood," she added.