Fergie

Fergie: biography

Fergie is an American singer who began her career in the Sunday morning program, The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, in 1983. She earned international recognition after joining the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas.

Childhood and youth

Stacy Ann Ferguson was born on March 27, 1975, in California. Her parents, Jon Patrick and Theresa Ann, taught Humanities at schools and used a permissive upbringing style: they encouraged their beloved daughter to choose what she liked.

If the girl was banging pots and pans in a kitchen and made neighbors go crazy, Patrick would take her to his friend who had drums. When Stacy took an interest in knitting, just like her mother, the woman would give her colorful balls of yarn to play. At the age of six, Fergie visited a concert of the rock’n’roll queen, Tina Turner. As soon as she saw the charismatic, energetic woman showered in people’s love, Ferguson realized who she wanted to be.

The young talent began her career in commercials; she was accepted to the popular children’s program Kids Incorporated at eight. It brought much experience: she had to cry when she wanted to laugh and vice versa. Everybody treated her like an adult, not like a child. Fergie left the show five years later.

Music

The first popularity helped Ferguson find a job: she voiced one of the characters in The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. Besides, she took her first steps in music: the pop-group Wild Orchid that united the former Kids Incorporated girls was organized in 1994.

As soon as the trio formed, they signed a contract with RCA and presented the album Wild Orchid. About a million copies were sold; the girls were nominated for prestigious music awards. Besides, they hosted the TV program Great Pretenders on Fox Family.

The second album, Oxygen, was less popular than the debut. By the moment of the third album record, RCA decided it was not beneficial to collaborate with the band that found no place in music charts; the company canceled the contract with Wild Orchid.

Fergie began to consider a solo career, but it was too hard for her to tell her friends about her decision to leave the group. She put an end when Wild Orchid was opening the show for The Black Eyed Peas: the singer told will.i.am the group could use her help if they wanted a female vocalist.

Stacy was depressed after she left Wild Orchid. More than that, she used stimulants, which led to dependence when Fergie switched from ecstasy to amphetamine.

Later, the singer confessed at The Oprah Winfrey Show that she made an “agreement with God” in a church, where she escaped from her paranoia. It helped her get rid of her addiction.

Black Eyed Peas

In 2002, Black Eyed Peas worked on the third album Elephunk and invited Fergie to perform the song “Shut Up”. The group members liked her vocal so much that the woman participated in five more songs and became a regular in the band.

In June 2005, the group’s fourth album Monkey Business came out; it was notable for the singles “Don’t Phunk with my Heart”, “Don’t Lie”, “My Humps”, and “Pump It”. The next year, the musicians were working on their solo projects: The Dutchess (Fergie), Songs About Girls (will.i.am), Tabmagnetic (Taboo), You Can Dream (Apl.de.ap). Rumors had it the band was going to split up, but will.i.am told MTV that Black Eyed Peas remained together.

The woman’s debuting solo album The Dutchess contained 20 songs. She also presented several music videos: "Fergalicious”, “London Bridge”, “Party People”, “Big Girls Don't Cry”, and “Clumsy”.

2009 brought the new Black Eyed Peas work, The E.N.D (Energy Never Dies). Soon, the musicians announced they stopped collaborating for a while; Fergie threw herself into the second solo album. In July 2016, fans enjoyed the new music video “M.I.L.F.$.” that starred many celebrities: Kim Kardashian, Chrissy Teigen, Gemma Ward, Tara Lynne Barr, Devon Aoki, Isabeli Fontana, and Natasha Poly. The video was devoted to modern mothers who found time for their families and themselves.

The same year, in August, Black Eyed Peas reunited to present the single “#Whereisthelove”, the re-edited 2003 song “Where Is Love?”. Justin Timberlake, Sean Combs, Jamie Foxx, and Snoop Dogg contributed to it. The music video was released on September 1; it was the documentary about terrorist attacks and natural disasters of the recent years.

Personal life

In January 2009, Stacy married the actor Josh Duhamel. In May, fans were shocked to learn the news that the celebrity used to have sex with a woman. However, Fergie realized she would like to marry a man in the future and stopped dating girls. According to the musician, her husband knew about it before they married.

In August 2013, the couple’s son Axl Jack Duhamel was born; the boy was named after the leader of the group Guns N' Roses Axl Rose. Two days after Axl was born, the parents posted his photo on the Internet and joined the celebrities who did not keep their kids’ identities secret.

In September 2017, Fergie and Josh announced their break-up; they continue to bring up their son together.

Present days

In May 2016, the singer participated in the annual Rock in Rio festival and presented four songs: "Just Like You”, “Hungry”, “You Already Know”, and “Love is Pain” from her new album Double Dutchess. January 2017 brought the video “Life Goes On”. The video “Hungry” with Rick Ross came out in August.

Everybody could listen to the new work two days before the release in iPic Theaters. The premiere of the movie Double Dutchess: Seeing Double the Visual Experience was held there. The movie included the music videos for the new songs and Fergie’s story about how the album was created.

Besides, the singer opened an official Internet store with various products.

Today, Fergie continues to combine music and active social life: she participates in photo shoots, fashion shows, and TV and radio programs. The woman regularly posts concert photos and videos from vacation on Instagram.

The singer’s height is 5.35 feet (163 cm.), and her weight is 110.23 lbs. (50 kg.).

Fergie’s net worth is $45 million in 2019.

Discography

• 1996 — Wild Orchid
• 1998 — Oxygen
• 2001 — Fire
• 2003 — Elephunk
• 2005 — Monkey Business
• 2006 — The Dutchess
• 2009 — The E.N.D (Energy Never Dies)
• 2010 — The Beginning
• 2017 — Double Dutchess