- Pop singer and songwriter born Stacy Ann Ferguson in 1975 in Hacienda Heights California.
- Ferguson’s show business career began as a child – she was the voice of Sally in Peanuts television cartoons in the mid-80s, and she was a cast member in the Disney Channel show Kids Incorporated from 1984 to 1989. By the early 90s, she was a member of the teen girl group Wild Orchid, and in 1994, the group had a record contract. Wild Orchid released three studio albums between 1997 and 2001 – the first was moderately successful, but the later albums were not. By September 2001, Ferguson left the group, frustrated by the band’s image and hooked on meth (she used hypnotherapy to break her addiction).
- In May 2001, Wild Orchid performed a show that included the Black Eyed Peas as another act. Ferguson met will.i.am at the event, and after she left Wild Orchid, will.i.am invited Ferguson to provide vocals on a Black Eyed Peas song called Shut Up. She immediately connected with the group, and she contributed vocals to most of the tracks on their Elephunk. She became an official member of Black Eyed Peas prior to the release of the album in 2003, using the stage name Fergie. For more on her career with the Black Eyed Peas, see my blog post from January 8, 2021.
- Fergie had the ambition of a solo career while also performing with the Black Eyed Peas. In 2006, she released her debut solo album, The Dutchess. The album was a huge hit, certified 5x platinum, and peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The first five singles from the album were multi-platinum as singles – Fergie was the first artist to have five multi-platinum singles from the same album. Three songs topped the Hot 100 – London Bridge, Glamorous and Big Girls Don’t Cry – while Fergalicious reached #2, and Clumsy peaked at #5. The album title was derived from The Dutchess of York, who at the time was Sarah Ferguson, who also had the nickname of Fergie (Sarah Ferguson still retains the title Dutchess of York even though she divorced Prince Andrew in 1996).
- She continued to tour and record with the Black Eyed Peas and in 2014 she began to record her second studio album. Several singles were released in 2014 and 2016, but the Double Dutchess album was not released until 2017 – eleven years after her debut. By then, she had officially left the Black Eyed Peas. The album was moderately successful. L.A. Love (La La) reached #27 on the Hot 100 and #5 on the Hot Rap Songs chart, while M.I.L.F. $ peaked at #34 and #7 respectively.
- After releasing her second album, Fergie became more focused on family life and her business ventures than on releasing new music. She has two side businesses – Fergie Footwear (a fashion footwear brand) and Ferguson Crest (a winery). Her son Axl was born in 2013.
- Fergie’s years with the Black Eyed Peas led to six Grammy awards, and she was part of two more Grammy awards when she contributed vocals to Kanye West’s All of the Lights in 2011. She appeared in twelve films between 1986 and 2017, and in over twenty television roles from 1984 to 2018. Here’s her music video to her best song (my opinion) – Big Girls Don’t Cry.