Gavin Rossdale Says He's 'Not Very Good' at Dating: 'I Keep Getting Screwed Up and Screwed Over'
Gavin Rossdale's song "Quicksand," set to be released on Bush's upcoming new album The Kingdom on Friday, will give fans a vulnerable look inside the rocker's search for love.
Rossdale, 54, says the song was inspired, in part, by his past failed relationships (He and ex-wife Gwen Stefani finalized their divorce in 2016, citing irreconcilable differences, and he split from his previous girlfriends, models Sophia Thomalla and Natalie Golba, in 2018 and 2020, respectively).
"I keep getting screwed up and screwed over in all these relationships," Rossdale tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, on newsstands Friday. "I'm not very good at them, I guess. I had a divorce, I had a long-term girlfriend — that went to s— and I don't have a girlfriend now, even though everyone seems to think I do. You get burned by that stuff."
Right now, Rossdale says, he's "really concentrating on being a single dad."
"I don't know, it may be too difficult to combine being a devastating single dad with the attention required for a beautiful girl," he jokes. "So I don't know. I’m trying to find my feet on that one. It's unresolved."
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A benefit of life under lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic for Rossdale has been the extra time he's gotten to spend with his sons Kingston, 14, Zuma, 11, and Apollo, 6, whom he shares with Stefani, 50. The boys have been splitting their time between Rossdale's home in Los Angeles and their mom's boyfriend Blake Shelton's ranch in Oklahoma. (Rossdale's daughter Daisy Lowe, 31, whom he shares with ex Pearl Lowe, lives in London.)
"We've been making a lot of ice cream," Rossdale says. "This morning I was playing some PS4 nonsense. I was getting heavily told off for not using controls correctly, but it's good fun. It's important how we hang out and spend time together."
Gavin Rossdale/Instagram Gavin Rossdale and his sons
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With the extra family time, though, Rossdale admits there's little room left for dating.
"One has to find time, but I have my boys now so there's absolutely no personal time," he says. "That's the end of personal time. Take that personal time and throw it out the window."
With other songs on The Kingdom, Rossdale hopes they can serve as a soundtrack to the current uprising against police brutality.
"It really feels like this record is a statement about how we can be better people," he says. "If you listen to the song 'Bullet Holes,' it talks about race wars. The Kingdom, which is the title track, could be the music to the peaceful protests. I can't wait for people to hear it."
Overall, Rossdale feels extremely thankful to still be a "working musician."
"My whole goal in my life was to get a record deal," he says. "That's what I thought was the most incredible thing. And that was enough. So to have a record deal and a life and a career is just like, oh my Lord, that's probably why we work so hard. We don't want it to end. We don't want it to go away. We're basically in the dance competition of life, and please don't tap us on the shoulder."
"It's a great life," he adds. "It just blows me away how I still get to do what I love so much."
In addition to The Kingdom's release on Friday, Rossdale will next star alongside Bella Thorne in the upcoming film Habit.
For more from Gavin Rossdale on fame and fatherhood, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.