Fergie biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Born Stacy Ann Ferguson on March 27, 1975, in Hacienda Heights, California, famed singer-songwriter Fergie would go on to become a member of the popular hip-hop rock group the Black Eyed Peas as well as a successful solo artist.

Fergie started out as an actress, appearing in commercials and doing voice work before joining the cast of Kids Incorporated in 1984. The show featured the members of fictional musical group called Kids Incorporated and gave Fergie a chance to demonstrate her singing ability. It first ran in syndication, and was later acquired by the Disney Channel. Along with Fergie, the program showcased other upcoming performers, such as Jennifer Love Hewitt and Eric Balfour. She stayed with the show for six seasons.

In the 1990s, Fergie joined forces with Stefanie Ridel and former Kids Incorporated cast member Renee Sands (also known as Renee Sandstrom) to form the pop group Wild Orchid. They released their first self-titled album in 1996, which spawned the modest hits "At Night I Pray," "Talk to Me" and "Supernatural." Their 1998 follow-up album, Oxygen, did not fair as well as their initial effort.

Drug Abuse

With her musical career failing take off, Fergie began partying a lot and eventually developed an addiction to crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as crystal meth. She eventually decided to end her hard-partying ways, kicking her drug habit in 2002. In a later interview with TIME magazine, Fergie said that crystal meth "was the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with."

The Black Eyed Peas

As she worked on getting her life back together, Fergie joined the Black Eyed Peas, an emerging hip-hop group with a popular following. Her first album with the group was 2003's Elephunk, which became a huge smash driven by several successful singles, including "Where Is The Love?" (which also featured vocals by Justin Timberlake) and "Hey Mama." The group won a Grammy Award for best rap performance by a duo or group for the song "Let's Get It Started"—another hit from Elephunk.

The band, which also includes apl.de.ap, will.i.am and Taboo, have been on the fast track to international success since that career breakthrough. The 2005 follow-up album, Monkey Business, reached the top of the rap, R&B and hip-hop charts, and made it to No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Showing the diverse nature of their music, the group won the Grammy Award for best rap performance for "Don't Phunk With My Heart" in 2005, and the Grammy for best pop performance for "My Humps" in 2006.

The Black Eyed Peas enjoyed another wave of chart success in 2009 with the release of The E.N.D. The recording reached the top of the Billboard album charts helped by such songs as "I Gotta Feeling" and "Boom Boom Pow."