Tony Kanal’s 40-Year Road to Rocking the Sphere in Las Vegas
No Doubt bassist on how his parents supported his culturally unorthodox career choice
Having kicked off their career-defining residency at Sphere Las Vegas, No Doubt still have a major milestone around the corner as they prepare to celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2027.
However, for bassist Tony Kanal, the milestone will also mark 40 years of his parents, Gulab and Leena Kanal, being by his side supporting his musical ambitions.
Kanal was born in London to Gulab, who was from Sukkur (now part of Pakistan), and Mumbai-born Leena, before the family traveled abroad, eventually settling in Anaheim when Kanal was 11. And while many South Asian parents have traditionally encouraged their children down academic paths, Kanal’s grateful he always had Gulab and Leena’s support with his pop punk dreams.
It was Gulab who reportedly encouraged him to learn saxophone and drove him to high school jazz band practices and by 16, Kanal had joined No Doubt.
“My dad was 27 when he left India and moved to England and he’s a fan of music and the arts,” Kanal, 55, tells us. “Don’t get me wrong – when I was 16 and coming home at three in the morning because we had just played Fender’s [Ballroom], my parents were waiting up and weren’t too happy about that!
“But I was like, ‘Mom and Dad, trust me. There’s something really cool that we’ve got going on. You guys have just got to come see it.’ And then they did and they were like, ‘Okay, we love this.’”
Almost four decades later, Gulab and Leena proudly watched as Kanal and bandmates Gwen Stefani, Tom Dumont and Adrian Young, plus trombonist Gabrial McNair and trumpeter Stephen Bradley, commenced their 18-date Sin City residency.
While the emotions hit early for Kanal — he tells us he cried into the arms of Young’s guitar tech Donnie Spada during soundcheck — it was also a tearjerker of a day for loved ones.
“It’s not only emotional for the six of us on stage. It’s emotional for our families, like for my wife and my kids and my parents,” he says. “My mom and dad came and my dad’s 91-years- old and was there when the band started. He came to shows in ‘87 and he’s been coming ever since.
“[My parents] traveled with us when we were going around the world. They came to India. There are so many amazing opportunities and experiences that we’ve shared together, so for them to be on this journey with me is so satisfying and rewarding.”
While Stefani made headlines as the first female performer to headline Sphere, Kanal is the first person of South Asian descent to do so, with the milestone coming during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. It was no doubt more special having his family there to witness the achievement, with his parents staying in town for all three opening week shows.
Kanal was also buzzing with excitement preparing for his daughters to arrive for show two.
“My kids were in school, so they didn’t come to [opening night],” says Kanal, who has 15-year-old Coco and 12-year-old Saffron with wife Erin Lokitz. “They came to some rehearsals, but that’s obviously different. I’m so excited for them to see it. As a parent, you live through your kids’ eyes, seeing things for the first time, so I cannot wait for them to see this.”
Having kids in the audience is something that struck the band when they made their comeback at Coachella in 2024. Kanal admits they were both surprised and honored to realize how much their music “transcends generations”.
“We didn’t know what the response to Coachella was going to be. We hadn’t played for almost a decade, and Coachella is a younger-leaning festival. The response was so incredible because we had people our age in the audience, [as well as] their kids.
“That’s what [Sphere] felt like, too. You could see different generations in the audience and it’s a beautiful thing that the music has crossed those generational boundaries. It makes me feel really good.”
The band’s intergenerational reach was evident at Vibee’s immersive pop-up The No Doubt Experience. The free attraction, inside The Venetian Resort’s Summit Showroom, was attended by fans from across the globe, with many dressed in 90s skapunk themed outfits, like checkered pants and overalls. Some even rocked pink hair like Stefani once did.
Kanal is clearly the hoarder of the group, having contributed heavily to the 500+ band artifacts, which include outfits, cassette collections, handwritten lyrics, drum sets, photos and tour itineraries.
“We had meetings in my basement and I showed them all the stuff and let them decide what they thought were choice items to display,” he says. “It was the same with Gwen, Tom and Adrian’s collections. The team that put The No Doubt Experience together is really creative, so they did such a good job of putting the displays together.
“And our good friend Eric Keyes, who’s been with us since the beginning, is the band’s documentarian and had all this incredible footage.”
The experience takes fans on a journey through the band’s early days, starting in a recreation of Fender’s Ballroom, where they played six shows in 1987 and 1988, then moving through to the Stefani Family’s Beacon Street home, where the group made musical magic in the early 90s.
Vibee VIP package holders get exclusive access to speakeasy bar Don’t Speak Easy, while there’s also a Beacon Street Block Party set-up.
After slipping into bright green band hoodies or cute Just a Girl tank tops from the store, which offers some exclusive items, fans can cross the pedestrian bridge from The Venetian Resort to Sphere, where a countdown ticks down to showtime on a screen lit with archival footage, photos and concert flyers.
For Kanal, that’s when the enormity of opening night hit him. “When that 10-minute timer went off and it goes from the No Doubt playlist to bands that we love so much — like the Fishbone song and the Madness song — that’s a nod of respect to those bands that influenced us so greatly. And then you walk on stage and get to play your music for people. It’s beautiful.”
Another song on the playlist was Garbage hit “Special,” and frontwoman Shirley Manson was in the audience. “I didn’t even get to say, ‘Hi!’” says Kanal. “She’s the best.”
“You’ve still got it @nodoubt,” Mansion captioned a post from the show.
Playing an almost two-hour show spanning hits like “Just a Girl,” “Don’t Speak”, “Bathwater,” and “Hella Good,” the group also pulled out rarer tracks like “The Climb,” “Trapped in a Box” and “Total Hate ’95.” The music was accompanied by mesmerizing visuals created by producer and director Baz Halpin and his team at Silent House Group, who also worked on the Backstreet Boys and the Eagles’ Sphere residencies.
“It was such a beautiful night,” Kanal said afterwards. “Eight months of putting it all together and it culminated in this big, joyous celebration.”
VIDEO: No Doubt at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
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