Black Eyed Peas

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Biography

The Black Eyed Peas are an American hip pop group (originally an alternative hip hop group), formed in Los Angeles , California , in 1995. The group consists of rappers will.i.am , apl.de.ap , and Taboo (rapper)|Taboo , and singer Fergie (singer)|Fergie . Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 65 million records worldwide. Their first worldwide song was " Where Is the Love? " in 2003, which topped 13 charts worldwide. Another single was the European hit " Shut Up (The Black Eyed Peas song)|Shut Up ". Their next album Monkey Business (album)|Monkey Business , was a worldwide success, certified 4× Platinum in the U.S., and spawning two singles, " My Humps " and " Don't Phunk with My Heart ".

In 2009, the group became one of only 11 artists to have simultaneously held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard Hot 100| Billboard Hot 100 , with their singles " Boom Boom Pow " and " I Gotta Feeling "; which topped the chart for an unprecedented 26 consecutive weeks in 2009. The album later produced a third Hot 100 number-one placement with " Imma Be ", making the group one of few to ever place three number one singles on the chart from the same album before being followed with " Rock That Body " and " Meet Me Halfway " which managed to peak in the Top 10 of Hot 100. "I Gotta Feeling" became the first single to sell more than 1 million Music download|download s in the United Kingdom . The Black Eyed Peas were ranked 12th on the Billboard s Decade-End Chart Artist of the Decade, and 7th in the Hot 100 Artists of the Decade.On the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony, which held in January, 2010 they won 3 awards out of 6 nominations.

In November 2010, they released the album The Beginning (The Black Eyed Peas album)|The Beginning . In February 2011, the group performed at the Super Bowl XLV List of Super Bowl halftime shows|halftime show . The album's first two singles " The Time (Dirty Bit) " and " Just Can't Get Enough (The Black Eyed Peas song)|Just Can't Get Enough " became international hits and topped the charts in many countries. In July 2011, during their promotional tour the group announced that they are taking a break and have denied rumors that the band has broken up.

History

1988–2000: Behind the Front and Bridging the Gap

The Black Eyed Peas date back to 1988, when eighth-graders William Adams ( will.i.am ) and Allan Pineda ( apl.de.ap ) met and began rapping and performing together around Los Angeles. The pair signed to Ruthless Records (run by Eazy-E ) in 1992, catching the attention of Eazy-E manager, Jerry Heller 's, nephew. Along with another friend of theirs, Dante Santiago, they called their trio Atban Klann (ATBAN: A Tribe Beyond a Nation). Will 1X (aka will.i.am), apl.de.ap, Mookie Mook, DJ Motiv8 (aka Monroe Walker), and Dante Santiago formed Atban Klann. Their debut album, Grass Roots (Atban Klann album)|Grass Roots , was never released due Ruthless records founder Eazy-E death.

After Eazy-E died in 1995, Atban Klann reformed and changed their name to Black Eyed Pods, and then Black Eyed Peas. Dante Santiago was replaced with Jaime Gomez ( Taboo (rapper)|Taboo ), and Kim Hill (soul musician)|Kim Hill became a steady background singer. Unlike many hip-hop acts, they chose to perform with a live band and adopted a musical and clothing style that differed wildly from the " Gangsta Rap " sounds of Los Angeles-based Hip hop music|hip-hop acts at the time. After being signed to Interscope Records and releasing their debut, Behind the Front (1998) the group (and their accompanying live band) earned critical acclaim. One of the singles from the album was " Joints & Jam ", and was featured on the Bulworth soundtrack. Their second album was Bridging the Gap (Black Eyed Peas album)|Bridging the Gap (2000), which had the single " Request + Line " featuring Contemporary R& B|R& B singer Macy Gray .

2001–04: Addition of Fergie, international success, and Elephunk

Their third album Elephunk began development on November 2, 2001, but was not released until 2003. It was the first album to feature the vocals of current member Fergie (singer)|Fergie . Nicole Scherzinger was originally approached to join the Peas, but was forced to decline because she was a member of Eden's Crush and was under contract. Dante Santiago then introduced will.i.am to Fergie, who joined the band in 2002. Elephunk is also the first album that indicated and demonstrated the new, polished pop sound designed to attract mass audiences and also the first under the name THE Black Eyed Peas. In a positive review of The Black Eyed Peas' new-found style, Rolling Stone noted that since 2002, when the group "hired a blond bombshell named Stacy 'Fergie' Ferguson and gave up their pursuit of backpack-rapper cred, they have made a kind of spiritual practice of recording futuristic songs – a total aesthetic commitment that extends from their garish wardrobes to their Benetton Group|United Colors of Benetton worldview."

Meanwhile, Fergie herself recalled her reasons for joining the group to noted UK urban writer Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul :

From Elephunk came " Where Is the Love? ", which became The Black Eyed Peas' first major hit, peaking at No.8 on the U.S. Hot 100, but topping the charts in several other countries, including seven weeks at No.1 in the United Kingdom, where it became the List of best-selling singles by year (UK)|biggest-selling single of 2003. The single had similar results in Australia, staying at No.1 for six weeks. In an interview with TalkofFame.com, Taboo shared that Justin Timberlake 's split with Britney Spears impacted the recording of "Where Is The Love? ".

The album subsequently spawned " Shut Up (The Black Eyed Peas song)|Shut Up ", which peaked at No.2 in the UK and topped the charts in many success and went Music recording sales certification|Gold and Music recording sales certification|Platinum in the U.S., UK, Germany, and other European markets.

The third single from the album, although significantly restyled from the original Elephunk version, " Hey Mama (The Black Eyed Peas song)|Hey Mama " hit the top 5 in Australia and the top 10 in the UK, Germany and other European countries and reached No.23 in the U.S. The song received even more exposure in 2003 when it was featured in the first "silhouette" television commercial for the iPod .

Their fourth single from the album was titled " Let's Get It Started ", which was re-titled from its original name of "Let's Get Retarded" to ensure radio play with no backlash for being considered as offensive to the mentally disabled. "Let's Get It Started" won a 2005 Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and also received two nominations for Record of the Year and Best Rap Song.

In 2004, The Black Eyed Peas embarked on the Elephunk Tour , hitting many countries in Europe and Asia.

2004–06: Monkey Business

As well as being a hip-pop album, Monkey Business features some Steel-string acoustic guitar|acoustic guitar playing from Jack Johnson (musician)|Jack Johnson in the single "Gone Going".

In September 2005, The Black Eyed Peas released an iTunes Originals playlist of their greatest hits, as well as some that were re-recorded especially for purchase through iTunes. The playlist includes popular songs such as " Don't Lie ", " Shut Up (The Black Eyed Peas song)|Shut Up ", and a new version of " Where Is the Love? " It has small stories containing info and commentary about the songs and how the group first met.

On November 27, 2005, The Black Eyed Peas performed at the half-time show at the Canadian Football League 's 93rd Grey Cup in Vancouver , British Columbia.

In autumn 2005, The Black Eyed Peas set off to tour with Gwen Stefani, as supporting act. In December 2005, they embarked on the "European Tour", which toured multiple countries in Europe.

The European leg which opened in Tel Aviv , Israel, continued to Ireland, the UK, Italy and Germany.
After heading to Europe and Asia, they toured the U.S. again, and South America. The Black Eyed Peas have starred in a series of web shorts for Snickers called Instant Def, appearing as a group of hip-hop superheroes. On December 10, 2005, the Peas cover of the John Lennon classic " Power to the People (song)|Power to the People ", which was mostly recorded on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, was released by Amnesty International as part of the Make Some Noise, Amnesty International|Make Some Noise campaign to celebrate human rights. The song was later released on the 2007 John Lennon tribute album, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur . The same day, The Black Eyed Peas performed their version live on the UK television program The Record of the Year together with John Legend and Mary J. Blige .

On March 21, 2006, The Black Eyed Peas released a remix album, entitled Renegotiations: The Remixes to iTunes . It features remixed versions of "Ba Bump", "My Style", "Feel It", "Disco Club", "They Don't Want Music", "Audio Delite at Low Fidelity", and the standard version and video of " Like That (song)|Like That ". The following week, it was released on CD without the music video. Participants on the Extended play|EP included DJ Premier , Pete Rock , Erick Sermon , DJ Jazzy Jeff , and Large Professor . In March 2006, The Black Eyed Peas hit the road again as the featured headliner for the 6th Annual Honda Civic Tour with supporting bands Flipsyde and The Pussycat Dolls . They again brought the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus on the tour with them to craft new songs for Fergie (singer)|Fergie 's solo debut album. In 2006, they went on tour with The Pussycat Dolls .

On May 11, 2006, The Black Eyed Peas performed at San Fernando High School at the football field. In 2007, The Black Eyed Peas embarked on the Black Blue & You Tour|Black Blue & You World Tour , visiting more than 20 countries, including Macau, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Hungary, South Africa, South Korea, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Singapore, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Australia, Nigeria, Mexico, Thailand, Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Philippines, El Salvador and Brazil. This tour was presented by Pepsi , in conjunction with the new "Pepsi More" advertising campaign, featuring The Black Eyed Peas. They recorded the song "More" for the new Pepsi spot.

On December 31, 2006, The Black Eyed Peas performed at the last stop on the Monkey Business tour, at Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil for more than 1 million people, being their biggest concert ever. The Black Eyed Peas performed at the Live Earth concert, London|UK leg of Live Earth on July 7, 2007 at Wembley Stadium , London. will.i.am performed a new song, "Help Us Out", at the event, which is now on his album, Songs About Girls , as "S.O.S. (Mother Nature)". They headlined the main Ocean Stage at the Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo, Japan on August 11, and Osaka, Japan on August 12, 2007. The act consisted of the band performing their hits, as well as Fergie singing solo tracks from The Dutchess| The Dutchess . will.i.am again sang songs from his Songs About Girls|upcoming album . Already having produced the bulk of the Peas' albums, will.i.am has begun his solo career in earnest by producing and collaborating with a variety of musicians, most notably Michael Jackson and also including U2 , Sérgio Mendes , Carlos Santana , Too Short , Kelis , Cheryl Cole , SMAP , John Legend , Nelly Furtado , Justin Timberlake , Nas and Bone Thugs and Harmony .

2009–10: The E.N.D

The group's fifth studio album, The E.N.D. ("The E nergy N ever D ies"), was released on June 9, 2009. The overall sound of the album has a more electro hop beat rather than the usual hip pop/R& B feeling of their previous albums. Following its release, will.i.am remarked that the album had been inspired by a trip to Australia, specifically the sound of The Presets ' " My People (The Presets song)|My People ". "The energy on the Presets' small little stage was crazy energy. That song My People – that shit is wild," will.i.am said, "That's the reason why this record sounds the way it does – my three months in Australia." In its first week, the album sold 304,000 copies and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200| Billboard 200 . In the United States, the album became the ninth album to top the one million mark in sales in 2009. The album has spent 38 weeks within the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The E.N.D. was the 7th best-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. It also debuted at number one in Australia, number two in New Zealand and three in the United Kingdom. Three aditional singles, " Imma Be ", " Alive (The Black Eyed Peas song)|Alive ", and " Meet Me Halfway ", were released through the iTunes Store in the three weeks running up to the album's release.

The first single " Boom Boom Pow " was sent to U.S. radio on March 10, 2009 and was released on March 30, 2009 on iTunes . The single sold 465,000 downloads in its first week of digital release, the third-largest number of download sales in a single week overall, and the largest single-week and debut-download totals by a group in the history of digital-download sales, reaching No. 1 on the U.S. The single also reached the top spot in Billboard Hot 100 and Pop 100. beingc the group's first U.S. No. 1, holding the spot for twelve consecutive weeks. It also reached number 1 in Australia, Canada, and the UK.

After the release of The E.N.D. , the Black Eyed Peas released " I Gotta Feeling " (produced by David Guetta ) as the official second single from the album. The single charted at number three and then went to number one on the UK Singles Chart. It debuted at number 2 on the Hot 100 behind "Boom Boom Pow" and later surpassed it, taking the number 1 spot. Moreover, it's considered that the collaboration of the Black Eyed Peas with the French dj is a significant reason of the recent success of the group." – Le Figaro The Black Eyed Peas joined a very elite group of artists who have held the No.1 and 2 Spot on the Hot 100 simultaneously. From April 18, 2009, when "Boom Boom Pow" reached No. 1, through October 10, 2009, the last week "I Gotta Feeling" was at List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (U.S.)|No. 1 , the group was on top of the chart for 26 weeks, more consecutive weeks than any other artist.

On Wednesday, June 17, 2009 the Black Eyed Peas performed on the British TV chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man . The band was interviewed and performed their single "I Gotta Feeling". On July 8, 2009, they made an appearance at the Isle of MTV in Malta .

On July 30, Billboard announced that the Black Eyed Peas set a record for the longest successive No. 1 chart run by a duo or group in the Billboard Hot 100's history. "I Gotta Feeling" hit its fifth consecutive week at No. 1, following 12 weeks at the top by the Peas' "Boom Boom Pow". Boyz II Men reigned on the chart for two 16-week runs in the mid-'90s.

On September 8, 2009, the group performed live for Oprah Winfrey's 24th Season Kickoff Party, on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. An estimated 21,000 dancers in the streets performed a flash mob to the live performance of "I Gotta Feeling". hosted by YouTube showing the 21,000 dancers. In September 2009, the group embarked on The E.N.D. World Tour , with dates announced in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. The tour is expected to last well into 2010.

"Meet Me Halfway" was released as the third single from the album in September 2009. The single reached number one in the UK and Australia, making it their third chart topper from The E.N.D. in both countries. It also peaked at seven on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making it the groups third top-10 single from The E.N.D.

The group performed at the American Music Awards of 2009|American Music Awards with the songs "Meet Me Halfway" and "Boom Boom Pow". They also won 2 out of 3 categories in which they were nominated; Favorite Rock/Pop Group & Favorite R& B/Soul Group. They lost their last category, Best R& B/Soul Album ( The E.N.D. ), to Michael Jackson . In October 2009, they also were the opening acts for 5 concerts of the U2 360° Tour North America leg.

"Imma Be" was released as the fourth single in the U.S. on December 15, 2009, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, becoming the group's 3rd number one single on that chart. Heavy airplay in Canada caused "Imma Be" to reach number 5 on the Canadian Hot 100 , their 4th consecutive top 5 hit from the album. "Rock That Body" was then released as the fifth single, and has so far reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Black Eyed Peas started 2010 performing " Rock That Body ", "Imma Be", "Boom Boom Pow" and other hits from The E.N.D. in a New Year's Eve party and caused an increase in downloads of those songs. The group performed at the 2010 Grammy Awards|Grammys on January 31, 2010. They performed a mash-up of "Imma Be"/"I Gotta Feeling". In the same night, they won 3 out of the 6 awards they were nominated for including Best Pop Vocal Album for The E.N.D. , Best Pop VocalPerformance by a Group for "I Gotta Feeling" and Best Short Form Video for "Boom Boom Pow".
On March 30, 2010, The Black Eyed Peas tackled a major milestone in advanced technology. AEG in a Co-Production with 3ality Digital became the first concert to be broadcast LIVE in 3D. “This is the first live concert in movie theaters in 3D,” says John Rubey, president of AEG Network Live. AEG Network Live hired 3ality Digital, which had already completed 3D production work with Samsung and the Black Eyed Peas for the launch of their new consumer 3D TV’s.
“We had had a dialogue with 3ality starting with Sandy Climan two years ago,” said Rubey. “And we met with Ted Kenney last May. Ted and I connected on a couple of advance trips, and the chemistry was good. He was flexible in understanding that it wasn’t just a 3D shoot but that there were a myriad of uses, including a (2D) transmission to 500 movie theaters. His vision and flexibility plus the relationship he’d created with the Black Eyed Peas made him a logical support.”

The Black Eyed Peas' Live 3D performance of "Meet Me Halfway" won top honors at the 2010 Dimension 3 Expo in Paris for the Live 3D Category.

On June 6, 2010, the band confirmed that they were working on a new album in an interview for The Big Issue . The album was described as a sequel to The E.N.D. Will.i.am announced that the new album, which "symbolizes growth, new beginnings and starts a fresh new perspective", would be titled The Beginning (The Black Eyed Peas album)|The Beginning . On June 10, 2010, The Black Eyed Peas performed "Where is the Love? ", "Pump It", "Meet me Halfway", "Boom Boom Pow", and "I Gotta Feeling" at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration concert in South Africa. The concert had over 700 million viewers world wide, making it the biggest event the group performed in.They also performed at T in the Park 2010 on the NME Stage on the Friday July 9 and Oxegen in Kildare, Ireland on Saturday July 10 on the Vodafone stage.

On July 27, 2010, The Black Eyed Peas released a remix album: The E.N.D. Summer 2010 Canadian Invasion Tour: Remix Collection . It was released on iTunes in Canada only, during the Canadian leg of The E.N.D. World Tour . It mostly features remixes of the singles taken from their fifth studio album The E.N.D. It also features a remix of "Let's Get It Started" taken from their third studio album, Elephunk , the remix was also a bonus track on the deluxe edition of The E.N.D.

On July 30,2010 The Black Eyed Peas performed "Boom Boom Pow", "Rock That Body" and "I Gotta Feeling" in Central Park as part of Good Morning America's free summer concert series.

2010–present: The Beginning , and hiatus

Their sixth studio album: The Beginning (The Black Eyed Peas album)|The Beginning was released on November 30, 2010, and received mixed to average reviews. The album's first single is called " The Time (Dirty Bit) ", and was revealed on October 20, 2010, through will.i.am's Twitter account. The music video was directed by Rich Lee, who had previously directed the video for "Imma Be Rocking That Body".

The group also stated in The Big Issue interview that they are working on a 3D film directed by James Cameron . The film will be a tour documentary with fiction inserted into it.

On December 5, they appeared on the The X Factor (UK series 7)|seventh series of The X Factor (UK)|The X Factor in the UK performing "The Time (Dirty Bit)".

" Just Can't Get Enough (The Black Eyed Peas song)|Just Can't Get Enough " was confirmed as the second single on BlackEyedPeas.com on January 11, conflicting with rumors that "Whenever" and "The Best One Yet (The Boy)" would be the next singles.

On February 6, 2011, the group was featured during the halftime show at Super Bowl XLV. The performance received mixed reviews in both social and mainstream media. With this performance they became only the second musical act (after Shania Twain ) to perform at both major North American football championship games (the other being the Canadian Football League|CFL 's Grey Cup ).

The album's second single, "Just Can't Get Enough", was released in February 18, 2011. The music video was released in March 16, 2011 and it was filmed in Tokyo, one week before the earthquake and the tsunami. The video was directed by Ben Mor.

On March 17, the Black Eyed Peas appeared on the American Idol elimination show singing "Just Can't Get Enough". Will.i.am noted at the beginning of the song that the song was dedicated to "our friends in Japan". On April 2, the group appeared on the 24th Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards performing "The Time (Dirty Bit)" and "Just Can't Get Enough". The appearance received very good reviews and in the same night the group won the blimp award of the Favorite Music Group category.

The group's third single was " Don't Stop the Party " and it was released on May 10, 2011. On the same day, a music video for the song was released on iTunes , along with the single. The video, which is directed by Ben Mor, features on stage and backstage footage of the group during The E.N.D. World Tour in 2009–2010. The video premiered on Vevo on May 12, 2011.

On May 22, the group appeared on the 2011 Billboard Music Awards and won 1 of their 4 nominations, for "Top Duo/Group". They also performed "Just Can't Get Enough", "The Time (Dirty Bit)", "Boom Boom Pow", and "I Gotta Feeling". The performance received good reviews.

On June 9, the group were scheduled to perform a free concert, "Chase Presents The Black Eyed Peas and Friends", for over 50,000 people in New York City's Central Park,, Daily News (New York)|Daily News , New York: Associated Press, May 2, 2011, retrieved June 26, 2011 with guests including MC Hammer and Taylor Swift . Money raised went to the Robin Hood Foundation , a charity organization for people in poverty in New York City. The concert was cancelled due to thunderstorms and lightning, but is hoped to be rescheduled in the near future., New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|NYC Department of Parks and Recreation , June 9, 2011, retrieved June 26, 2011, Robin Hood Foundation , June 10, 2011, retrieved June 26, 2011. In August it was announced that the concert will take place on September 30, 2011. The event raised over $4& nbsp;million for the charity.Kellogg, Jane (October 2, 2011). . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 6, 2011.

On June 25, Ubisoft announced they are developing The Black Eyed Peas Experience , a dance video game for Kinect and Wii . On November 11, 2011, the video game was finally released internationally in association with Ubisoft .

During their concert at Alton Towers in Staffordshire on the July 6, 2011, The Black Eyed Peas announced they are taking an indefinite hiatus following the completion of their current tour, as they did between 2005 and 2009. Will.i.am later confirmed the news on Twitter, adding that the break does not mean they will "stop creating".

On September 3, 2011, the group performed a concert in Minot, North Dakota to benefit the victims of the 2011 Souris River flood that damaged over 4,000 homes and displaced over 12,000 people in Minot and along the Souris River. Fergie is married to Minot native, Josh Duhamel .

On November 23, 2011 the group made their last performance for The Beginning (concerts)|The Beginning Tour in Miami with opening acts such as Cee Lo Green , Queen Latifah and many others.

On January 8, 2012, According to Nielsen SoundScan was elected the second artist (first and only band) all-time best-selling Music download|tracks digital with 42,405,000 million alone USA to the end of 2011.

Members

Current members

Will.i.am|William Adams – vocals , songwriting , record producer|producer (1992–present)

Stacy Ferguson – vocals , songwriting (2001–present)

Jaime Gomez – vocals , songwriting (1995–present)

Allan Pineda – vocals , songwriting , record producer|producer (1992–present)

Discography

Behind the Front (1998)

Bridging the Gap (Black Eyed Peas album)|Bridging the Gap (2000)

Elephunk (2003)

Monkey Business (album)|Monkey Business (2005)

The E.N.D. (2009)

The Beginning (The Black Eyed Peas album)|The Beginning (2010)

Tours

Awards and nominations

Copyright Citations

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Black Eyed Peas Photo by: www.smh.com.au


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