Gwen Stefani Once Stunned Her Fans With Rare Photos of Son Zuma’s 15th Birthday Celebration

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 24, 2023. It has since been updated.

Gwen Stefani celebrated her and ex-husband Gavin Rossdale's son, Zuma, on his milestone 15th birthday on Instagram in a touching tribute that left fans in disbelief. The singer pleasantly surprised her fans by giving them a rare look at Zuma's development from childhood to teenager. She did this by posting old images interspersed with more recent ones that beautifully captured his growing up.

"Happy 15th birthday Zuma!!! We love you more than anything," 53-year-old Stefani wrote in the heartfelt post. The post served as a painful reminder of how quickly time goes as well as Zuma's transition from childhood to adolescence. In large blue letters, "Happy Birthday Zuma" was written throughout the entire video, which featured several of his moments with both his mother and his stepfather Blake Shelton.

"Wow, 15 already!? Happy birthday," one fan commented, while a second wrote, "Can't believe how grown up he's become, such a handsome big boy and very like mummy," and a third fan said, "Wow…15!! Zuma, you are a cutie Happy Birthday Zuma! Have an awesome day!" “I remember when he was first born! Boy, how time flies!” one of the fans wrote in the comment section.

Zuma's father, Gavin Rossdale, is yet to pay tribute to his teenage son online. Rossdale and Stefani, who married from 2002 to 2016, handled the challenges of co-parenting their three sons, Kingston, 17, Zuma, and Apollo, 9, with grace. The Stefani-Rossdale family has recently been through its fair share of noteworthy events.

Kingston, the eldest of the siblings, captured headlines when he showcased his musical talent for the first time at his stepfather Blake Shelton's Oklahoma bar, Ole Red. Videos that have been making the rounds on TikTok show Kingston giving a confident performance while wearing a casual Carhartt t-shirt and jeans in front of a crowd that was cheering him on.

It's interesting to note that in a previous interview with This Morning, Rossdale discussed his views on his kids' career goals. He previously expressed his opposition to his children continuing his musical career in March 2017. Rossdale, the frontman for Bush, simply said at the time, “You’ve got to be crazy to have a career in music."

He made it clear that he wanted his kids, including Daisy, his daughter from a previous relationship, to pursue careers in other areas, like technology, per Page Six. He said, “Whatever they do is fine by me. They’ve just got to be positive, cool people. That’s all I care about. … It is my responsibility to make them contribute to society as opposed to take away from society.”

Rossdale provided insight into his and Stefani's parenting while speaking on the Not So Hollywood podcast. Rossdale and Stefani have kept a low profile regarding their experience as co-parents. He explained their decision to "just parent" rather than co-parent actively, acknowledging their different worldviews and unique personalities. Rossdale underlined the importance of exposing their children, even Zuma, to different points of view so that as they grow, they can form their own opinions, per Hello Magazine.