Fergie (singer)

Fergie
Fergie at the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards
Background information
Birth name	Stacy Ann Ferguson
Born	March 27, 1975 (1975-03-27) (age 34) Hacienda Heights, California, United States
Origin	Whittier, California, United States
Genre(s)	Pop, dance-pop, hip hop, R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, rapper, actress, model, philantropist
Instrument(s)	Singing, rapping
Years active	1984–present
Label(s)	A&M, Interscope, will.i.am music group
Associated acts	Wild Orchid, Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, John Legend, Kumi Koda,
Website	www.fergie.com

Stacy Ann Ferguson (born March 27, 1975),^[1] better known by her stage name Fergie, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was a 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 a vocalist for the hip hop/pop group the Black Eyed Peas, as well as a solo artist, having released her debut album, The Dutchess, in September 2006.^[2] The album has so far spawned five Billboard Hot 100 top 5 singles (3 of which went to number one) making The Dutchess the seventh album from a female artist to spawn five Top 5 hits.^[3]

Biography

Early life

Ferguson was born in Hacienda Heights, California, the daughter of Terri Jackson (née Gore) and Patrick Ferguson.^[4] She has a younger sister, Dana, who is an actress. Her parents are of Irish, Scottish, Mexican and Native American descent.^[5][6] The daughter of devout Catholic school teachers, she was raised in a suburban area with strict Roman Catholic values while attending Mesa Robles Middle school and Glen A. Wilson High School.^[7] 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 cheerleader, straight-A student and a spelling bee champion,^[7] as well as a Girl Scout ^[8]

Acting career

As a child actress, Ferguson appeared as Stacy on the television program Kids Incorporated for several years with her TV sister Renee Sands, who became a fellow member of Wild Orchid. On the show, she sang 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 2003, Ferguson had a guest role on the Rocket Power special, Reggie's Big Beach Break, on Nickelodeon; she voiced a 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.^[9] The role eventually went to Selma Blair. Ferguson finally returned to acting in 2006, appearing as a lounge singer in Wolfgang Peterson's remake of The Poseidon Adventure. She later appeared in 2007's Grindhouse. Ferguson will be starring in the musical Nine.

Fashion designer and model

Ferguson is also a fashion designer; she has launched for Kipling two successful lines of handbags, one for autumn 2007 the other for spring 2008.

Ferguson, in collaboration with Brown Shoe, is launching two footwear lines that will hit stores in Spring 2009. One is called "Fergie", and the other "Fergalicious by Fergie".

As a model she has worked for numerous campaigns, including Candie's, Kipling, and Peach John (in Japan) among others. Recently she has become the new face of Calvin Klein.

She also featured in a commercial for HP.

Personal life

Ferguson is engaged to actor Josh Duhamel,^[10] who starred in the television show Las Vegas. They met, and began dating, in September 2004^[11] 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 reside in Brentwood, California^[12] in a house that they purchased together in 2007.^[13]

In April 2007, she gave an interview in which she admitted that she went on a sex and drugs spree when she turned eighteen, 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."^[14] 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."^[15]

Ferguson was featured on Maxim's Hot 100 Women of 2006, and voted in at position #36.^[16] In 2007, she was voted in at #10.^[17]

Ferguson has stated in several interviews that she is an avid user of hypnotherapy, which she used to overcome her crystal meth addiction and to relax.^[18][19]

Music career

Wild Orchid: 1991–2001

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."^[20]

The Black Eyed Peas: 2003–present

In 2003, the Black Eyed Peas were recording their third album, 2003's Elephunk, when will.i.am invited Ferguson 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.i.am was asked to sum up his bandmates, he called Ferguson the "body" of the group.^[7]

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."^[21][22]

Solo career: 2006–present

After two successful Black Eyed Peas albums, Ferguson began pursuing a solo career. She recorded two songs for the Poseidon soundtrack and performed "Auld Lang Syne" in the film. Her first album, released on September 19, 2006, was titled The Dutchess.^[23] 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 Ferguson is leaving the Black Eyed Peas, as she 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. "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 scored her fifth consecutive Top 5 hit from The Dutchess after "Clumsy" reached a peak position #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, on December 22, 2007.

Fergie before a Black Eyed Peas concert at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in 2004.

In addition to promoting her albums and singles, Ferguson appeared at Wembley Stadium on July 1, 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 November 5, 2007.

On November 18, 2007, Ferguson won the Pop or Rock "Favorite Female Artist" at the American Music Awards.^[24] In addition, her song "Big Girls Don't Cry" also earned Ferguson a Grammy nomination for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance", which she lost to Amy Winehouse. In December 2007, Blender picked Ferguson as their woman of the year.^[25]

During the 2008 broadcast of Idol Gives Back, Ferguson also performed with Ann Wilson of Heart. The two (with Nancy Wilson on guitar) performed "Barracuda".^[26]

The song "Labels or Love" was recorded for the 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" was featured on Kumi's single "Moon", released on June 11, 2008. The single debuted at #2 on the Oricon Weekly Single Charts.^[27] She also performed a "duet" with Michael Jackson (her vocals mixed with Jackson's 1982 recordings), "Beat It 2008" on Thriller 25, the 25th anniversary release of Jackson's iconic album Thriller.^[28]

Selected filmography

Discography

Main article: Fergie discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website
• Stacy Ferguson at the Internet Movie Database
• Concert Review