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Saturday, December 7, 2013

Fergie, The #84 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Stacy Ferguson was born in Hacienda Heights, California. She was a straight-"A" student at Glen A. Wilson High School, studied dance and began to do voiceover work, notably as the voice of Sally in the Peanuts cartoons It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown in 1984 and Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown in 1985.  From 1984-1989, Stacy appeared in the children's television series Kids Incorporated.  She joined the girl group Wild Orchid, and the group began meeting with record labels.

Wild Orchid signed a music publishing deal with Sony Publishing and a recording contract with RCA in 1994.    Wild Orchid's first single, "At Night I Pray", debuted on the Billboard charts in 1996, and the following year, the group released their self-titled album.  Wild Orchid released the album Oxygen in 1998 and opened for Cher in concert in the United States and Canada.  In 2001, Ferguson left Wild Orchid.

Meanwhile, the Black Eyed Peas were recording their third album, Elephunk, in 2003, when will.i.am invited Ferguson to audition to sing the song "Shut Up".  Ferguson succeeded, and recorded five additional songs on the album.  By the following spring, she had a full-time job in the group. 

The Black Eyed Peas went on to score many hits, including "Where Is The Love?", "Don't Phunk With My Heart" and "My Humps", among others.  

In 2006, Fergie recorded a solo album, The Dutchess, while remaining with the Black Eyed Peas.  The opening single, "London Bridge", went to #1 in the United States, #3 in the U.K. Germany, and Australia, #6 in Switzerland and #8 in Ireland.





"Fergalicious", featuring will.i.am, hit #2 in the U.S., #4 in Australia and #5 in New Zealand.  It won a Best Pop Song honor at the ASCAP Awards.






The next single, "Glamorous", featuring Ludacris, made it three Top 5 songs in a row, reaching #1 in the United States, #2 in Australia, #3 in Ireland and #6 in the U.K.  "Glamorous" also won a Best Pop Song honor at the ASCAP Awards.








Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry", was a #1 smash in the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland, and peaked at #2 in the U.K., #3 in Switzerland, #4 in Sweden and #6 in Germany.  Fergie was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards and "Big Girls Don't Cry" was named Song of the Year at the ASCAP Awards.

Fergie walked away with seven Billboard Music Awards:  Female Artist of the Year, Female Hot 100 Artist of the Year, Pop 100 Artist of the Year, Pop 100 Song of the Year, Pop 100 Airplay Track of the Year (for "Big Girls Don't Cry") and Best Digital Songs Artist.  She was also nominated for Artist of the Year and Hot 100 Artist of the Year.  Fergie was nominated for Favorite Female Singer and Favorite Pop Song (for "Big Girls Don't Cry") at the People's Choice Awards, for World's Best-Selling R&B Artist and World's Best-Selling New Artist at the World Music Awards, and she also won the trophy for Female of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards.
The Dutchess went to #5 on the Album chart, was eventually certified Triple Platinum and Fergie won the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Vocalist.  "Clumsy" gave Fergie yet another hit from the album, hitting #3 in Australia, #4 in Canada and New Zealand and #5 in the United States and also receiving recognition for Best Pop Song at the ASCAP Awards.

Fergie was also nominated for Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards.  In 2006, Ferguson began hosting Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on ABC for the pre-taped Hollywood segments.

In 2006, Fergie appeared in the remake of the movie Poseidon and she starred in Grindhouse in 2007 and the musical film Nine in 2008.  Ferguson and the other cast members of Nine received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Ferguson and the Black Eyed Peas scored two huge hits in 2009 with "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta' Feeling", combining for a Rock Era record 26 consecutive weeks at #1.  
Later that year, Fergie became a part owner of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League.  In 2010, Ferguson released the fragrance, Outspoken

Some reports indicate that Ferguson has begun writing for a second solo album, but as of this date, it has not been released. 

Fergie has enjoyed five Top 40 hits, with a perfect five-for-five reaching the Top 10, and three #1's.  Her only solo album has sold three million copies in the United States and eight million worldwide.

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