Don't Speak

"Don't Speak" is a song by American rock band No Doubt from their third studio album Tragic Kingdom (1995). It was released as the third single from Tragic Kingdom in the United States on April 15, 1996, by Interscope Records. Lead singer Gwen Stefani and her brother Eric Stefani, former No Doubt member, wrote the song originally as a love song. The song went through several rewrites and new versions. Gwen modified it into a breakup song about her bandmate and ex-boyfriend Tony Kanal, shortly after he ended their seven-year relationship.[2][3] Despite the song's popularity, "Don't Speak" did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 (as rules of the times required commercial singles for charting and one was not issued for the song), but it did reach number one on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for sixteen weeks.[4] Outside the United States, it topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, becoming No Doubt's most successful international single. "Don't Speak" was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 40th Grammy Awards.[5][6] "Don’t Speak" was ranked at number 495 on Blender magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".[7] The song is a playable track in the 2009 video game Band Hero,[8] and is also included as a downloadable song in 2008's Rock Band 2.[9] The song has been sampled by multiple hip hop artists, including in Rakim's song "Dedicated"[10] and Ice Cube's "War & Peace".[11]