Black Eyed Peas

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Black Eyed Peas

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Img_capt = Left to right: will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo in 2001
Img_size =
Landscape = yes
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Los Angeles, California, United States
Genre = Hip hop, pop, R&B, dance-pop, funk
Years_active = 1995–present
Label = Interscope, A&M
Associated_acts = Justin Timberlake, Dante Santiago, Right Said Fred, The Pussycat Dolls, Macy Gray
URL = [http://www.blackeyedpeas.com/ www.blackeyedpeas.com]
Current_members = will.i.am
apl.de.ap
Taboo
Fergie
|Past_members = Kim HillThe Black Eyed Peas is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles. As of 2008, the group is composed of will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie. Since its breakout album "Elephunk" in 2003, the group's pop/dance-oriented style of hip hop music has sold an estimated twenty-seven million albums and singles worldwide.Fact|date=August 2008

History

will.i.am (born 1975 William James Adams Jr.) and apl.de.ap (born 1974 Allan Pineda) began rapping and performing together around Los Angeles. The pair signed to Ruthless Records (run by Eazy-E) after catching the attention of the nephew of Jerry Heller (Eazy-E's manager). Along with Mookie Mook (Burning Star), Dante Santiago & DJ Motiv8 (Father Of B.E.P.), they called their group "Atban Klann". Their debut album, "Grass Roots", was never released because Ruthless did not consider the social themes reflected in the group's music to be marketable to their audience.After Eazy-E died of AIDS in 1995, They changed their name to Black Eyed Peas; will.i.am explained on the front cover of the "Monkey Business" album that "Black Eyed Peas are food for the soul", hence the name. will.i.am has cited the Red Hot Chili Peppers as an influence and said he named his band after a food, like them. They replaced their original third member Mookie, with Dante Santiago the Peas original singer. Then Taboo (born Jaime Gomez) joined the group. In 1996, they produced and appeared on a song entitled "That's Right" for Brian Austin Green's hip-hop album "One Stop Carnival". Later, they began using Kim Hill as a steady background singer. She left the band in 2000 for unknown reasons and was replaced by Fergie in 2003. Unlike many hip-hop acts, they chose to perform with a live band and adopted a musical and clothing style that differed wildly from the "gangsta rap" sounds of other Los Angeles-based hip-hop acts at the time. Through the mid-'90s, they performed in the local club circuit alongside fellow acts such as Ozomatli and Jurassic 5.

The group were signed to Interscope Records and released their debut, "Behind the Front", in 1998. The album won the group (and their accompanying live band, the Bucky Jonsons) critical acclaim. The album featured the single "Joints & Jams", which was included on the "Bulworth" soundtrack. Their second album, "Bridging the Gap", was released in 2000; it featured the single "Request + Line" featuring Macy Gray.

Elephunk

Their breakout album, "Elephunk", was released in 2003. It was the group's first album to feature the vocals of Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson who was brought to the group by Dante Santiago and she became the replacement for background singer Kim Hill, who left the band in 2000.

From "Elephunk" came "Where is the Love?", a single featuring Justin Timberlake which became Black Eyed Peas' first major hit, peaking at #8 on the U.S. Hot 100, but topping the charts practically everywhere else, including six weeks at #1 in the UK where it became the biggest-selling single of 2003. The single had similar results in Australia, staying at #1 for 6 weeks as well. The album subsequently spawned "Shut Up," which peaked at #2 in the UK and topped the charts in many other European countries including France and Germany, as well as Australia, holding on to the #1 spot for 3 weeks there. "Elephunk" won worldwide success and went Gold and Platinum in the US, UK, Germany, and other European markets.

sample box start variation 2|Audio samples: multi-listen start|Audio samples of: multi-listen item|filename=LetsGetRetarded2Sample.ogg|title="Let's Get Retarded" (2005)|description=The single version is "Let's Get It Started." |format=Ogg multi-listen end

The third single from the album, although significantly re-styled from the original "Elephunk" version, "Hey Mama" hit the top 10 in the Australia, UK, Germany and other European countries and reached #23 in the U.S. The song received even more exposure in 2003 when it was featured in the second of iPod's silhouette TV commercials.

During Black Eyed Peas' concert tour in Asia in 2004, apl.de.ap's life story was featured in a weekly Filipino TV drama special called "Maalaala Mo Kaya" ("Would You Remember"), which explained his childhood with his poor family in Pampanga, Philippines. ("The Apl Song", with the chorus written in Tagalog, a language of the Philippines, from their album "Elephunk", also tells his story.) It was at this time that apl.de.ap formed the Filipino Songwriters and Artist Group (FSAG) with Leli, a songwriter also from Pampanga, Philippines, who had developed her writing craft in Compton in the early eighties.

Black Eyed Peas' song "Let's Get Retarded" was restyled as "Let's Get It Started" for an NBA Finals worldwide commercial. The song was quite successful on the charts worldwide, peaking at #21 on the U.S. Hot 100, #11 in the UK, and at #2 in Australia. This spot featured Carlos Santana. On the CD, it is listed as a bonus track, and is before the other bonus track "Third Eye." The revised song had great success as a single, particularly on the iTunes music download service and was also featured on the soundtrack to the stoner road trip comedy "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle". The song earned the group a 2005 Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Black Eyed Peas were then featured in the video game "" as characters. They re-recorded "Let's Get It Started" and "Shut Up" as well as other songs in "Simlish," the dialect language used by The Sims characters. This revised version was also used in the ads for the iMac G5, with will.i.am and Fergie singing about the computer.

"Monkey Business"

's version.

As well as being a hip-hop album, "Monkey Business" also features some acoustic guitar playing from Jack Johnson in the single "Gone Going."

In September 2005, Black Eyed Peas released an "iTunes Originals" playlist of their greatest hits, as well as some that were re-recorded especially for purchase through iTunes. The play list includes popular songs such as "Don't Lie," "Shut Up," and a new version of "Where Is the Love?." It also has small stories containing info and commentary about the songs and how the group first met.

On November 27, 2005, Black Eyed Peas performed at the half-time show at the Canadian Football League's 93rd Grey Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia.

sample box endOn December 10, 2005, the Peas cover of the John Lennon classic "Power to the People," which was mostly recorded on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, was released by Amnesty International as part of the Make Some Noise campaign to celebrate human rights. The song was later released on the 2007 John Lennon tribute album, "". The same day, Black Eyed Peas performed their version live on the UK television program "The Record of the Year" together with John Legend and Mary J. Blige.

On March 21, 2006, Black Eyed Peas released a remix album, entitled "" to iTunes. It features remixed versions of "Ba Bump," "My Style," "Feel It," "Disco Club," "They Don't Want Music," "Audio Delite at Low Fidelity," and the standard version and video of "Like That." The following week, it was released on CD without the music video. Participants on the EP included DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Erick Sermon, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Large Professor.

Already having produced the bulk of the Peas' albums, will.i.am has begun his solo career in earnest by producing and collaborating with a variety of musicians, among them Sergio Mendes, Carlos Santana, Too Short, Kelis, John Legend, RBD, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, and Nas.

The E.N.D (The Energy Never Dies)

In an interview on the red carpet, Taboo said that the new album, including all 4 members, will be out in December 2008 or in January 2009. [http://revver.com/video/1123517/eva-longoria-jessica-alba-selena-gomez-2008-alma-awards/]

2004 tour

In 2004, The Black Eyed Peas embarked on the Elephunk tour, hitting multiple continents and countries such as Europe and South America.

2005 tours

In fall 2005, The Black Eyed Peas set off to tour with Gwen Stefani, as supporting act. In December of 2005, they embarked on the "European Tour", which toured multiple countries in Europe.

2006 tour

In March 2006, Black Eyed Peas hit the road again as the featured headliner for the 6th Annual Honda Civic Tour [ [http://www.HondaCivicTour.com http://www.HondaCivicTour.com] "HondaCivicTour.com" Retrieved on 04-27-07 ] with supporting bands Flipsyde and The Pussycat Dolls. They again brought the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus on the tour with them to craft new songs for Fergie's solo debut album.

European & Asian Legs

The European leg which opened in Tel Aviv, Israel, continued to Ireland, United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.After heading to Europe and Asia, they toured the US again, and South America.

Black Eyed Peas have starred in a series of web shorts for Snickers called Instant Def, appearing as a group of hip-hop superheroes.

On December 31, 2006, Black Eyed Peas performed at the their last stop on the Monkey Business tour, at Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for more than 1 million people, being their biggest concert until nowadays.

2007 tours

Black Eyed Peas performed at the UK leg of Live Earth on July 7, 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London. will.i.am also performed a new song, "Help Us Out", at the event, which is now on his album, "Songs About Girls", as "S.O.S. (Mother Nature)".

Black Eyed Peas headlined the main Ocean Stage at the Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo, Japan on August 11, and Osaka, Japan on August 12, 2007. The act comprised of the band performing their hits, as well as Fergie singing solo tracks from The Dutchess. Will.i.am also sang songs from his upcoming album.

In 2007, Black Eyed Peas embarked on the Black Blue & You World Tour, visiting over 20 countries, including Macau, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Hungary, South Africa, South Korea, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Singapore, China, Russia ,Australia, Nigeria, Mexico, Thailand, Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Argentina, Philippines, El Salvador and Brazil. This tour was presented by Pepsi, in conjunction with the new 'Pepsi More' advertising campaign, featuring Black Eyed Peas. In fact, "More" was a promotional single made just for the new Pepsi spot.

The Peapod Foundation

A free Sunday concert in May in South Africa with Black Eyed Peas launched the [http://www.peapodfoundation.org/ Peapod Foundation] . All tickets were previously handed out to the public through an SMS campaign and ticket giveaways to ensure that people who wouldn't ordinarily have a chance to afford the concert could see the band perform.

Discography

*1992: "Grass Roots" (As Atban Klann)
*1998: "Behind the Front"
*2000: "Bridging the Gap"
*2003: "Elephunk"
*2005: "Monkey Business"
*2009: "The E.N.D (The Energy Never Dies)"

Compilation Albums

*2006: ""

Number-one singles

DVDs

*2004: "Behind The Bridge To Elephunk"
*2006: "Bring In The Noise, Bring In The Phunk"
*2006: " [http://www.amazon.com/Blackeyed-Peas/dp/B000HLDAWM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1222355996&sr=1-3 Music Video's On DVD] "
*2006: "Live From Sydney To Vegas"

Grammy Award history

References

External links

* [http://www.blackeyedpeas.com/ Official Black Eyed Peas website]
* [http://www.peapodfoundation.org/ Peapod Foundation website]
* [http://www.allbepfanstogether.com/ Official Black Eyed Peas Fan Club website]