Fergie

Fergie (born Stacy Ann Ferguson on March 27, 1975) is an American pop, hip hop, and R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. 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 ones, making Ferguson the first female solo artist to have three number ones from the same album since Christina Aguilera did with her 1999 debut

Ferguson was born in Hacienda Heights, California to Terri Gore and Patrick Ferguson.She has one sister, Dana, who is an actress. Her parents were Catholic and worked as schoolteachers. Ferguson had a strict Catholic upbringing.During her youth, she was "involved" with members of the Mexican gangs in Hacienda Heights, California. Ferguson attended Glen A. Wilson High School. She was also a Girl Scout.
As a child actress, Ferguson appeared on the television program Kids Incorporated for several years with Renee Sandstrom, who became a fellow member of Wild Orchid. Ferguson's well-scrubbed image on that show presents quite a contrast with the "ghetto-funk" image she has more recently begun to cultivate. 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). She also voiced Sally in the 1985 version of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show.
In July 2005, 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. Ferguson returned to acting in 2006, appearing in a minor role in the film Poseidon. She later appeared in 2007's Grindhouse.
Since September 2004, Ferguson has been dating actor Josh Duhamel,who stars in the television show Las Vegas. She appeared in the series, along with the Black Eyed Peas, in an episode titled "Montecito Lancers", which originally aired on November 1, 2004. She and Duhamel have recently purchased a house together.
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.
Ferguson was featured on Maxim's Hot 100 Women of 2006, and voted in at position #36.In 2007, she was voted in at #10.
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."
In 2003, Ferguson took over the lead female vocal duties for the Black Eyed Peas, replacing background singer Kim Hill, who had left the group in 2000. Ferguson recorded five songs with the group before she was invited to join them permanently. Ferguson's addition to the band, which had enjoyed underground success until then, helped them quickly grow into mainstream popularity.
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."

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 Dutchess is similar in style to that of the Black Eyed Peas, as fellow Peas member will.i.am is the album's executive producer. Ferguson has had five hit songs from The Dutchess, with "London Bridge", "Glamorous", and "Big Girls Don't Cry" becoming number one singles. Her second single, "Fergalicious", peaked at #2. "London Bridge" reached #2 on the United World Chart, while "Fergalicious" and "Glamorous" both made it to #4. "Big Girls Don't Cry" became Ferguson's first worldwide #1 single, and is her most successful single to date. "Clumsy" has been announced as the fifth single from The Dutchess due to the major success of "Big Girls Don't Cry", and has been set to be released on September 25 in the US. Ferguson has received her fifth Top 20 solo track from The Dutchess after "Clumsy" earned the 20 position on the Billboard Hot 100, on 17 November 2007.
Ferguson will release her second solo album in January 2008. Her producer, will.i.am, confirmed that the new album is half done. It is expected to be completed in December.