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Stacy Ann Ferguson (born March 27,
1975), better known by her stage name Fergie, is an American
singer-songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She was a member of the
children's television series Kids Incorporated, and the girl group Wild
Orchid. Ferguson was also a co-host of the television show Great
Pretenders. She is the female 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. The album spawned five Billboard Hot 100 Top
5 singles (three of which went to number one) making The Dutchess the
seventh album from a female artist to spawn five Top 5 hits.
Ferguson was born in Hacienda Heights, California, the daughter of Terri
Jackson (née Gore) and Patrick Ferguson. Her parents are of Mexican,
Irish, Scottish and Native American descent. The daughter of devout Roman
Catholic school teachers, she was raised in that faith and attended Mesa
Robles Middle School and Glen A. Wilson High School. She studied dance and
began to do voice-over work, providing the voice for Sally in two
made-for-television Peanuts cartoons, (It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown,
1984, and Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown, 1985) as well as on
four episodes of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. From 1984 to 1989, she
starred on the TV show Kids Incorporated. All that time, she was a
cheerleader, straight-A student and a spelling bee champion, as well as a
Girl Scout.
In 1994, she played Ann in the episode of Married... with Children,
"Nooner or Nothing." 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 Adrienne Barbeau). A last minute conflict
arose, preventing her contract from closing, and Ferguson left the
project. 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 had supporting
roles in 2007's Grindhouse and the 2009 musical film Nine.
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.
While performing for Wild Orchid, Fergie developed an addiction to crystal
methamphetamine which followed her after she left the group in 2001. In
September 2006, Ferguson talked with Time magazine 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."
The Black Eyed Peas were recording their third album, 2003's Elephunk,
when William Adams (will.i.am) invited Ferguson to try out for a song
called "Shut Up". She got the gig and instantly bonded with the trio,
going on to record five additional songs on the album.
The following spring, shortly before Elephunk came out, Interscope
chairman Jimmy Iovine offered Ferguson a permanent spot to take over vocal
duties and fill the void left by background singer Kim Hill's departure in
2000.
After releasing her debut solo album, she and the Black Eyed Peas in late
March 2009 released their song "Boom Boom Pow" from the album The E.N.D.,
which went to number-one in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, the group's
first chart topper. They subsequently released a second single from the
album, "I Gotta Feeling", which proved an even greater success than the
first, moving from number 2 behind Boom Boom Pow to the top spot on July
11, and staying 14 straight weeks at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100,
the longest stay at the top of 2009. The two hit singles back to back kept
the Black Eyed Peas on the top for 26 consecutive weeks, from April 18
through October 16.
When Adams was asked to sum up his bandmates, he called Ferguson the
"body" of the group.
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 debut solo album, The Dutchess, was released on September 19, 2006.
The album's name is a misspelled variant of the title of Sarah Ferguson,
the Duchess of York, with whom Ferguson shares a surname and popular
nickname. 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, a mix of pop and R&B songs, spawned six hits for Ferguson,
beginning with "London Bridge", "Fergalicious", "Glamorous", "Big Girls
Don't Cry", "Clumsy", and "Finally". "Big Girls Don't Cry" became
Ferguson's first worldwide number-one single, and is her most successful
single to date. Ferguson scored her fifth consecutive Top 5 hit from The
Dutchess after "Clumsy" reached a peak position of number five on the
Billboard Hot 100.
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. 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.
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".
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 collaborated 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 number two on the Oricon
Weekly Single Charts. 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. She also headlined the New Year's Eve party held at The Venetian
and The Palazzo casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 31, 2008.
Ferguson will sing on Slash's solo album Slash to be released in February
2010. She also sings a version of "Paradise City" as a bonus track on
Slash's first single Sahara to be released on November 11, 2009 in Japan.
In 2009, Ferguson appeared in the movie Nine, which was directed by Rob
Marshall and also starred Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, and
Daniel Day Lewis. Ferguson's only present music project is with the Black
Eyed Peas; the band joined her in London to record. After London, she is
due to give a concert in Dubai.
She was involved with Justin Timberlake prior to 2001. Ferguson and actor
Josh Duhamel met and began dating in September 2004 when she and her band
appeared on Duhamel's show Las Vegas (in an episode titled "Montecito
Lancers", which aired on November 1, 2004). The two married on January 10,
2009. Ferguson and Duhamel live in Brentwood, California and are planning
to have a baby in 2010.
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." 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." In May 2009, Ferguson stated that she is
bisexual. 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. |
