Fergie (singer)

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Fergie
Fergie at the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards
Background information
Birth name	Stacy Ann Ferguson
Born	March 27, 1975 (1975-03-27) (age 33) Hacienda Heights, California, United States
Origin	Whittier, California, USA
Genre(s)	Pop, dance-pop, R&B, pop rap, hip hop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, rapper, actress, model
Label(s)	A&M, Interscope, will.i.am music group
Associated acts	Kids Incorporated (as a road act), Wild Orchid, Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, Polow da Don
Website	www.fergie.com

Stacy Ann Ferguson (born March 27, 1975), better known by her stage name Fergie, is an American pop/R&B singer-songwriter, actress, and rapper. She is a former member of the kids' television series Kids Incorporated, and the girl group Wild Orchid. Ferguson was also a co-host of the television show Great Pretenders. She is currently a vocalist for the hip hop/pop group the Black Eyed Peas, as well as a solo artist, releasing her debut album, The Dutchess, in 2006. The album has so far spawned three U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number one singles and five Top 5 hits, making The Dutchess the seventh album from a female artist to spawn five Top 5 hits.^[1]

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Fergie's Logo

Ferguson was born in Hacienda Heights, California, the daughter of Terri Jackson (née Gore) and Patrick Ferguson.^[2] She has one sister, Dana, who is an actress. Her parents are Roman Catholics of Irish, Scottish and Mexican descent.^[3][4] The daughter of devout Catholic schoolteachers, she was raised in a suburban area with strict Roman Catholic values while attending Glen A. Wilson High School and Mesa Robles Middle school.^[5] She is quoted as saying that as a child she was so hyperactive, doctors wanted to put her on Ritalin until her mom vetoed the idea. Through dance school, her mom found her an agent and voiceover work, providing the voices for Lucy and Sally in Peanuts cartoons. From 1984 to 1989, she spent summers performing chart hits on the TV show Kids Incorporated. All that time she was a straight-A student. She was even a spelling bee champion.^[6]

[edit] Acting career

As a child actress, Ferguson appeared on the television program Kids Incorporated for several years with Renee Sands, who became a fellow member of Wild Orchid. On the show, the actress displayed her singing talents, singing Whitney Houston's "One Moment In Time". Ferguson was the voice of Sally Brown in two Charlie Brown specials: It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (1984), and Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985).

In July 2003, Ferguson had a guest role on the Rocket Power special, Reggie's Big Beach Break, on Nickelodeon; she voiced a fictitious pop music star named Shaffika. In March 2005, casting for Revolution Studios's big-budget remake of John Carpenter's The Fog was underway. Ferguson was set to return to acting in the role of lighthouse radio deejay Stevie Wayne (a part originated by scream queen Adrienne Barbeau). A last minute conflict arose, preventing her contract from closing and Ferguson left the project.^[7] The role eventually went to Selma Blair. Ferguson finally returned to acting in 2006, appearing as lounge singer Gloria in Wolfgang Peterson's remake of The Poseidon Adventure. She later appeared in 2007's Grindhouse.

[edit] Personal life

Ferguson is engaged to actor Josh Duhamel,^[8] who starred in the television show Las Vegas. They met, and began dating, in September 2004^[9] when she and her band appeared on Duhamel's show (in an episode titled "Montecito Lancers", which aired on November 1, 2004). Ferguson and Duhamel purchased a house together in 2007.^[10]

In April 2007, she gave an interview in which she admitted that she went on a sex and drugs spree when she turned 18, saying: "I have had lesbian experiences in the past. I won't say how many men I've had sex with—but I am a very sexual person."^[11] In December 2007 when asked "Bisexuality and homosexuality are often either frowned or mocked upon in certain circles. Does that bother you?", she replied "No, it doesn’t bother me. I’m just me".^[12]

Ferguson was featured on Maxim's Hot 100 Women of 2006, and voted in at position #36.^[13] In 2007, she was voted in at #10.^[14]

Fergie has stated in several interviews that she is an avid user of hypnotherapy, which she used to overcome her crystal meth addiction and which she currently uses to relax when she gets stressed out.^[15][16]

[edit] Music career

[edit] Early works and the Black Eyed Peas: 1991-2005

Fergie performing Clumsy at the Dance on Sunset

Ferguson was a member of the female trio Wild Orchid, which she fronted with Stefanie Ridel and fellow Kids Incorporated star Renee Sandstrom. Wild Orchid released two albums, but after completing a third album, their record label declined to release it, and she left the group shortly thereafter. Her disappointment with Wild Orchid led to an addiction to crystal methamphetamine. In September 2006, Ferguson talked with Time about quitting her crystal meth addiction. "It was the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with," she says. "It's the drug that's addicting. But it's why you start doing it in the first place that's interesting. A lot of it was being a child actor; I learned to suppress feelings."^[17]

In 2003, the Black Eyed Peas were recording their third album, 2003's Elephunk, when Will.i.am invited Fergie to try out for a song called "Shut Up". She got the gig and instantly bonded with the trio to record five additional songs on the album.

In the following spring, shortly before Elephunk came out, Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine had offered Ferguson a permanent spot to take over vocal duties and fill the spot left void by background singer Kim Hill, who had left the group in 2000. When Will of the group was asked to sum up his bandmates, he called Fergie the "body" of the group.^[18]

In 2005, Ferguson inadvertently urinated on stage during a performance at San Diego's Street Scene festival. Ferguson later commented on the incident: "I had a few drinks before the show, but I didn't think to go to the bathroom before we went onstage. We were jumping around...and my bladder just started."^[19][20]

[edit] Solo career: 2006-present

After two successful Black Eyed Peas albums, Ferguson began pursuing a solo career. Her first album, released on September 19, 2006, was entitled The Dutchess. The album's name is a misspelled variant of the former title of Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, with whom Ferguson shares a surname and popular nickname. The solo deal does not mean the demise of the Black Eyed Peas, as Ferguson intends to remain with the group, alternating between the two duties. The album is similar in style to that of the Black Eyed Peas, as fellow Peas member will.i.am is the album's executive producer.

The Dutchess spawned six hits for Ferguson, beginning with "London Bridge", "Fergalicious", "Glamorous", "Big Girls Don't Cry" ,"Clumsy", and "Finally." Her second single, "Fergalicious", peaked at #2 on the Billboard Charts. "London Bridge" reached #2 on the United World Chart, while "Fergalicious" and "Glamorous" both made it to #4; the latters all reached #1 in the U.S. "Big Girls Don't Cry" became Ferguson's first worldwide #1 single, and is her most successful single to date. "Clumsy" was announced as the fifth single from The Dutchess after the major international success of "Big Girls Don't Cry". Ferguson has received her fifth Top 5 solo track from The Dutchess after "Clumsy" earned at #5 position on the Billboard Hot 100, on 22 December 2007.

In addition to promoting her albums and singles, Ferguson appeared at Wembley Stadium on 1 July 2007, performing "Glamorous" and "Big Girls Don't Cry" in a concert for the late Princess Diana put on by her two sons Prince William and Prince Harry; the DVD of the concert was released 5 November 2007.

On November 18, 2007, Ferguson won the Pop or Rock "Favorite Female Artist" at the American Music Awards.^[21] In addition, her song "Big Girls Don't Cry" also earned Ferguson a Grammy nomination for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance," of which she lost. In December 2007, Blender picked Ferguson as their woman of the year.^[22]

During the 2008 Idol Gives Back, Ferguson also did a performance duet with Ann Wilson of Heart. The two (with Nancy Wilson on guitar) performed "Barracuda".^[23]

The song "Labels or Love" was recorded for the upcoming Sex and the City movie soundtrack. In an Entertainment Weekly interview, director and writer Michael Patrick King stated that "it’s an entirely new song with lyrics, but it has the Sex and the City theme as the DNA — on steroids.”

Ferguson has also appeared on Nickelodeon's show Dance on Sunset. Ferguson has recently released an EP for download on iTunes featuring unreleased singles. The CD version was released on May 27, 2008.

Ferguson collborated with Japanese singer Kumi Koda on the song "That Ain't Cool". "That Ain't Cool" will be featured on Kumi's single Moon, released on the 11th of June.^[24]

[edit] Discography

Main article: Fergie discography

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Selected filmography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Fergie

• Official website
• Official website of the Black Eyed Peas
• Stacy Ferguson at the Internet Movie Database
• Fergie on MySpace