Gavin Rossdale: My Kids 'Turned Me Down' to Sing on the New Bush Album - 'They're Probably Out of My League!'

"Maybe next record ... if I can afford them!" Gavin Rossdale joked of sons Kingston, Zuma and Apollo singing with his band

We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

Like father, like sons!

Gavin Rossdale and ex-wife Gwen Stefani have passed on their musical talents to their boys.

“I asked them to sing on the record, but they totally turned me down,” the rocker — whose new album with his band Bush, Black and White Rainbows, drops March 10 — tells PEOPLE of sons Kingston, 10, Zuma, 8, and Apollo, 3.

“I wanted them to because they’ve got great voices and sound really good. As they’ve gotten older, they’ve got really nice, really pretty voices — maybe next record … if I can afford them! They’re probably out of my league!”

593361.JPG

The new Voice UK coach, 51, says his latest LP is “a balance between my own life and the world” and admits that none of its tracks are inspired by his kids. But fatherhood has changed his approach to making music.

“When Gwen first had Kingston, it was like, ‘Did you write any songs about him?’ ” says Rossdale. “It’s just more that they raise the bar: You don’t want them to go through your back catalog and think you suck! It’s like, I really gotta make it extra-special. I don’t want them to listen back to my music and be like, ‘He’s a great dad, but hmm, could have done better there.’ I want to knock it out of the park for them; that was the only difference. I didn’t get around to writing any songs about them.”

4th Annual Wishing Well Winter Gala - Arrivals
Barry King/Getty

Black and White Rainbows is Rossdale’s first album since he’s moved on from his divorce from Stefani, 47, which the pair settled last April.

“It’s a new journey,” he says of the music. “I didn’t want to have anything that was negative — I didn’t have anything negative to say.”

The new Bush album drops Friday, March 10. Bush kicks off its U.S. summer tour in May; click here for more on tickets and a complete list of dates.

For more on Gavin Rossdale’s life now, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Related Articles