NO DOUBT frontwoman GWEN STEFANI spent the first minutes of the new millennium crying in a closet after botching her New Year's Eve (31Dec99) performance in Times Square.

The Don't Speak hitmakers performed for millions of people high above the crowd in the heart of New York City in 1999 to usher in the year 2000, and as the clock struck midnight, the group sang a rendition of R.E.M.'s It's the End of the World As We Know It.

However, Stefani admits the combination of her dental braces and the wordy song choice resulted in a disaster.

She tells Marie Claire magazine, "We picked the hardest song in the world to sing. My lips were getting caught (in my braces). And I couldn't do it, and then I was, like, so embarrassed."

Stefani broke down in tears and locked herself in a closet immediately after leaving the stage, and it was left to her then-boyfriend Gavin Rossdale to coax her out of the tight space.

She adds, "He was like, 'Don't worry, nobody was watching you - they're all making out (kissing).'"