The Black Eyed Peas 2015-present: 20th anniversary, new projects Did they record a new album in 2015? Black Eyed Peas would start recording sessions for their seventh studio album in 2015. Have they toured during this time period? I don't know. Are all the original members still in the band? On February 18, 2018, will.i.am confirmed Fergie's departure from the band, in an interview with the Daily Star. Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? The performance, which included a pyrotechnic display, ran over time and forced the kick-off to be delayed by several minutes. Did they do a special event for their 20th Anniversary? On the 20th anniversary of their debut, the Peas premiered a new song titled "Yesterday" through Apple Music, Has Yesterday become a hit song? I don't know. Is Fergie still performing on her own? I don't know. Have they recorded any songs without Fergie? The song as well as the accompanying video feature many other popular artists and all four members of the group, will.i.am, Fergie, apl.de.ap & Taboo.
Is the rest of the group angry that Fergie went out on her own?
Is the rest of The Black Eyed Peas angry that Fergie went out on her own?
During an interview with NRJ, will.i.am in talking about his solo album also confirmed that the Black Eyed Peas would start recording sessions for their seventh studio album in 2015. In an interview on Capital Breakfast, will.i.am said that the Peas will reform in 2015 for their 20th anniversary. The Peas premiered a new song titled "Awesome" that was included in commercials for the 2015 NBA playoffs. The song did not include Fergie, with people questioning if she would be a part of the upcoming album. On the 20th anniversary of their debut, the Peas premiered a new song titled "Yesterday" through Apple Music, though the song also does not feature Fergie. On August 31, 2016, the Black Eyed Peas released a new version of their song "Where Is the Love?". The song is titled #WHERESTHELOVE and is credited to "The Black Eyed Peas featuring The World". The song as well as the accompanying video feature many other popular artists and all four members of the group, will.i.am, Fergie, apl.de.ap & Taboo. On June 3, 2017, they performed at the opening ceremony of the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final in Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The performance, which included a pyrotechnic display, ran over time and forced the kick-off to be delayed by several minutes. On June 2, 2017, a Billboard article rumored that Fergie was departing from the band. will.i.am dismissed this, but they did announce that she was taking a break from the group to work on her sophomore solo album Double Dutchess while the remaining members were working on the graphic novel Masters of the Sun. On January 9, 2018, Black Eyed Peas released their first single in seven years, without Fergie, titled "Street Livin'". On February 18, 2018, will.i.am confirmed Fergie's departure from the band, in an interview with the Daily Star. CANNOTANSWER
CANNOTANSWER
"Finally" is a song recorded by American singer Fergie for her debut studio album, The Dutchess (2006). It was written by Fergie, Stefanie Ridel and John Legend, who produced the song alongside Ron Fair. The song was released as single on March 18, 2008.

Background and promotion 
A music video for "Finally" was shot by director Marc Webb, but never released – it was canceled in post-production without explanation. The video shoot took place at the former Hollywood Hills home of Frank Sinatra and featured several male models from Wilhelmina Models as part of the shoot.

Writing and production 
"Finally" was written by John Stephens (John Legend), Stacy Ferguson (Fergie) and Stefanie Ridel. The song was produced by John Legend and Ron Fair. Ridel and Fair produced Fergie's vocals, which were recorded at Chung King Recording Studios in New York City and Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood. The strings were arranged and conducted by Fair and recorded by Allen Sides at Signet Sound in West Hollywood, California. Anatoly Rosinsky, Bruce Dukov, Helen Nightengale, Josefina Vergara, Julie Gigante, Liane Mautner, Natalie Leggett, Becky Bunnell, Roberto Cani, Sarah Thornblade, Shoshana Claman, Sid Page, Tiffany Hu, Katia Popov, Michele Richards, Phillip Levy, Songa Lee and Tammy Hatwan performed the strings for "Finally".

The viola was performed by Andrew Duckles, Brian Dembow, Thomas Diener and Vicky Misckolczy, while the cello was performed by David Low, Larry Corbett, Suzie Katayama and Tim Loo. Nico Abondolo and Mike Valerio performed the bass in the song, while John Legend performed the piano. Additional Pro Tools editing was done by Tal Herzberg. The song was engineered by Josh Chervokas and "Angry" Mike Eleopoulos, with assistance from Anthony Caruso and Bevin Robinson. The song was mixed by Sides.

Composition and critical response 
"Finally" is a "bombastic ballad", set to the style of Broadway theatre. It features a "dramatic piano" and "string-laden" coda. The song is set in common time composed in a moderate tempo of 84 beats per minute, with a main key of C major with a vocal range from the tone of G3 to the note of E5. Fergie "gets introspective" and "lets loose" about her past troubles and dreams in the song. According to Bill Lamb of About.com, Fergie "blows the listener away" with "Finally", a track that is "truly huge".

"Finally", according to Spence D. of IGN, would "on paper" seem to be a "flop", "just like her other attempts at serious sounding tunes" on The Dutchess. He, however, stated that the song "actually works", mostly because Fergie "lets loose with her voice", showing that she has range and a "nice, warm set of pipes". He concluded by stating that while the song "may be at odds with her bangin' club persona", it is a "rich, introspective number" that showcases Fergie's "maturity and sincerity rather nicely". According to a reviewer from Alloy, Fergie shines "without a trace" of hip hop, reggae, or rap, which proves that she does not need sexual lyrics or synth-produced dance beats to "show off her pipes". That same reviewer wrote that "Finally" is "the biggest surprise" on The Dutchess.

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Fergie's "ardent joy" on "Finally" is probably as "publicly naked as she's ever allowed herself to be". She wrote that "not that she's morphing into some kind of "My Heart Will Go On" ballad queen; Fergie is too adept on the dance floor to forsake it." While giving a negative review of The Dutchess, Mike Joseph of PopMatters wrote that Fergie "shows hints of promise" in "Finally". According to Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times, the song "may one day conquer radio".

Live performances 
Fergie and Legend performed the song together at the 50th Grammy Awards. Fergie performed the track multiple times on television, most notably on 2008's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and The Tyra Banks Show. Fergie performed the song with John Legend at the Idol Gives Back show on Wednesday, April 9, 2008. Fergie has also performed the song in an episode of Nickelodeon's "Dance on Sunset".

Charts

Release history

References 

2006 songs
2008 singles
Fergie (singer) songs
Songs written by Fergie (singer)
Song recordings produced by Ron Fair
2000s ballads
Songs written by John Legend
Songs written by Stefanie Ridel
Pop ballads "A Little Work" is a song recorded by American singer Fergie for her second solo studio album, Double Dutchess (2017). The song was released as the album's fifth single and distributed to contemporary hit radio on November 14 in the United States by Dutchess Music and BMG Rights Management.

An accompanying music video, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, was released alongside the album.

Promotion
Fergie first performed the song live on The Today Show on September 22, 2017 at the launch of Double Dutchess. After the song was chosen as a single, it was promoted on The Talk on October 24, and then on The Late Late Show with James Corden on October 30. She additionally performed the song on Miss Universe on November 26 during the evening gown competition. The song was later performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers on December 14, 2017.

Music video

The complete video for “A Little Work” runs for over 11 minutes and was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. Deemed a short film, it begins showing scenes of the singer battling her demons in a padded room and in a straitjacket as Fergie herself narrates how she often felt watched and how difficult it was leaving in constant fear due to drug abuse. It was then that she saw an empty church on Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, and in fear of her own demons, tried to hide through the different aisles and started praying. As Fergie continues to share her story, the video also shows visions of soldiers in war before she embraces one, who wears her surname - Ferguson - on his name badge, as a kind of homage to her late grandfather, whom she calls her “guardian angel”, and then flashbacks of his funeral, as she believes he was the one that guided her in the right direction. At the ending, Fergie is shown walking out of the church, holding hands with her son Axl as she realizes that she needed to honor herself, and she still works on it even today.

It enlights a specific situation in the singer's life she once narrated to Oprah Winfrey in an episode of Oprah's Next Chapter back in 2012 when talking about her previous addiction issues. "I got into a scene. I started going out and taking ecstasy. From ecstasy, it went to crystal meth. With any drugs, everything is great at the beginning, and then slowly your life starts to spiral down." She described her worst moment as being paranoid in a church and thinking that the FBI and SWAT teams were waiting for her outside. When she emerged from the building and discovered drugs were playing tricks on her and she had imagined the whole thing, she finally decided to quit it for good. To Women's Wear Daily, she said: Jonas found this church that was going to be torn down very soon, and all this amazing graffiti that was on there [...] Part of that whole song is just a battle in your mind about overcoming negativity and anything that’s in your way, and just powering through that and finding your tools to overcome that, whatever they may be. And being in that church, there was a presence and it was thick. It was a moment, for sure.

The idea to dramatize Fergie's previous experience with addiction came after Åkerlund conducted an in-depth conversation with the singer about her life in her own home, footage which was also used in the final cut. In an interview for Rolling Stone, Fergie spoke of its conception: "It was very interesting, the idea of wanting to play that out in the cinema – and not only that, but make it larger than life, make it grand."
On October 30, 2017, right before the song got serviced to radios, a short edit of the video running over 3 minutes long was uploaded to online outlets.

Personnel
Taken from Tidal.
 Fergie Duhamel – vocals, performer, songwriter
 Henry Russell Walter – producer, vocals, songwriter
 Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer
 John Haynes – mixing engineer
 Rachel Findlen – engineer
 Clint Gibbs – engineer
 Jacob Kasher Hindlin – vocals
 Theron Thomas – vocals, songwriter
 Kevin Fisher – vocals
 Sophia Black – vocals
 Lukasz Gottwald – vocals, songwriter
 Chloe Angelides – vocals
 Timothy Thomas – vocals, songwriter
 Tyler Sheppard – vocals
 Jennifer Eashoo – vocals
 Cameron Montgomery – assistant engineer

Charts

Release history

References 

2017 songs
2017 singles
Songs written by Fergie (singer)
Songs written by Theron Thomas
Songs written by Timothy Thomas
Songs written by Cirkut (record producer)
Song recordings produced by Cirkut (record producer)
Fergie (singer) songs
Music videos directed by Jonas Åkerlund
Contemporary R&B ballads
Songs written by Dr. Luke "Glamorous" is a song recorded by American singer Fergie for her debut studio album, The Dutchess (2006). The song features vocals from hip-hop rapper Ludacris. It was released as the third single from The Dutchess worldwide except for in the United Kingdom, where it served as the second single. The song was serviced to mainstream radios on January 23, 2007, and to Rhythmic radios on February 20, 2007, in the United States, through A&M Records, together with will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records.

It was written by Fergie, Ludacris, will.i.am, Elvis Williams and Polow da Don; the latter also produced the song. "Glamorous" is an airy R&B song that has a slower feel from the album's previous hip hop and dance-tinged singles. The lyrics deal with the lead staying rooted despite her success and fame. "Glamorous" garnered generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who commented on its smooth, generic sound and its lyrics, which have been likened to those of Gwen Stefani's "Luxurious" (2005), Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny from the Block" (2002) and Madonna's "Material Girl" (1985).

The song achieved commercial success worldwide, peaking inside the top 10 in several countries, including Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. "Glamorous" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Fergie's second number one hit on the chart as a solo artist. The song also became her third best-selling song in the United States, amassing sales of over 3,000,000 copies as of August 2012, and earning a double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for "Glamorous" features Fergie in scenes in which she portrays a successful actress and a teenager, acting as flashbacks from her past. "Glamorous" was featured in the video game, Grand Theft Auto V, on the in game radio station Non Stop Pop FM.

Background
"Glamorous" was written by Stacy Ferguson, Jamal Jones, Will Adams, Elvis Williams and Christopher Bridges. The production and drum programming was helmed by Jones under his stage-name Polow da Don. Adams, under his stage-name will.i.am, was in charge of the song's arrangement while Ron Fair produced the additional vocals present on the track. The song features co-writer Williams, who provided the keys, and Mike Hartnett, who played the guitars. The technical work performed on "Glamorous" includes engineering, which was orchestrated principally by Travis Daniels and was assisted by Mack Woodward. Tal Herzberg, who has worked the Black Eyed Peas on previous studio recordings, performed additional engineering on the track with the use of Pro Tools. Tony Maserati was signed as the principal mix engineer while Ryan Kennedy assisted him at The Record Plant in Hollywood, California. The song was finally recorded at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia and The Record Plant in Hollywood, California by "Angry" Mike Eleopoulos.

"Glamorous" was released as the third single from The Dutchess (2006), after "London Bridge" and "Fergalicious". A&M Records, together with will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records, solicited the song to mainstream radios on January 23, 2007, and to Rhythmic radios on February 20, 2007, in the United States. It was later released as a single around the world on March 16, 2007, as a CD single.

Composition

"Glamorous" is a downtempo R&B song that has a smooth, silky feel and contains elements of techno. Music critics likened the song to Gwen Stefani's "Luxurious" and Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny from the Block". According to Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music, the song is comparable to the music of Janet Jackson. Spence D. of IGN noted that the song contained a mid-1980s vibe and influences of musical works by Madonna and Prince. According to the digital music sheet published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, the song was written in a key of C major. Having a beat measure of 130 beats per minute, it is set in common time and moves through a moderately fast tempo. The vocals range from a low register of E3 to a high register of C5. It has a basic sequence of G-Am7-Fmaj7 as its chord progression. Lyrically, "Glamorous" is an autobiographical account about how Fergie has remained true to her background, despite widespread fame and mainstream success.

Critical reception
Bill Lamb of About.com gave "Glamorous" a three and a half star rating, praising the song's smooth R&B feel but dismissed its use of spelling out the title in the lyrics. Lamb also noted that "The frequent sparks of self-referential humor present in much of Fergie's music are missing here which limits the distinctiveness of this song" and explained it "veers a bit uncomfortably close" to Gwen Stefani's 2005 single "Luxurious" (Love. Angel. Music. Baby., 2004). He concluded his review, writing "unlikely to be a 3rd #1 for Fergie, and it may even struggle for top 10 status, but it is likely to linger as pleasant pop filler on the radio for the first few months of 2007." Spence D. of IGN called the song "somewhat generic", praising Fergie's flow and Ludacris' appearance on the track, but ultimately called it a "rather vapid exercise".

Liz Black of Cinema Blend called "Glamorous" "a stunning account of her ability to keep it real despite life in the first class." Kelefa Sanneh of New York Times wrote "Glamorous" and "Clumsy" to be songs fans can savor. Brian Rafferty of Idolator praised it as a "perfect No. 1 for a quarter when there ain’t shit else going on" and called Fergie's mid-song interjection of "fuck y'all" more convincing than the profanities present in RJD2's The Third Hand (2007), naming it the best gratuitous curse word in the top ten.

Commercial performance
In the United States, "Glamorous" made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 98 on the issue dated January 27, 2007, while the previous single "Fergalicious" was still inside the top five. A month later, it rose to number nine, in that week becoming the "greatest digital gainer". In the following week, it fell to number 33 following the removal of the single from digital retailers. "Glamorous" returned in the top 10 after its re-release, rising from number 55, and peaked at number one on the issue dated March 24, 2007, selling 166,000 downloads during that week. It became her second number one single in the United States and held the top position for two weeks. The single spent 29 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, 24 of which were in the top 50. The single went on to sell 3,012,000 digital downloads in the United States, enough to earn a double-platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Glamorous" stands as Fergie's third best-selling single behind "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Fergalicious". The song was moderately successful on Billboard component charts Adult Pop Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while achieving chart topping success on Hot Dance Club Songs and reaching number two on Pop Songs. In Canada, the song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart.

The commercial reception of "Glamorous" in other countries was generally positive, with some countries matching the success experienced in the United States. In Australia, the song debuted at number 10 on the singles chart. It eventually rose to number two on May 28, 2007, being held off by Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend". The song eventually left the chart after 26 weeks, selling 70,000 copies in the country and earned a platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). On the 2007 end of the year charts, it ranked number 10 on the singles chart and number six on the urban chart. "Glamorous" entered the New Zealand Top 40, like in Australia, at number 10. The song ascended and come down within the top 20 for nine weeks, reaching number nine twice during that time. The song shipped over 7,500 copies to New Zealand, earning a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, the song made its first appearance on the singles chart on February 18, 2007, at number 56. It jumped to number 27 the next week and continued rising until its seventh week, when it peaked at number six. The song spent three weeks inside the top 10 and exited the chart after six months. According to The Official Charts Company, the song sold 205,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In Ireland, the song reached a peak position of number three in its seventh week like it did in the United Kingdom, but lasted inside the top 10 longer (ten weeks).

Music video
Directed by Dave Meyers, and shot in an anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, the video, which had its world premiere on MTV's TRL on February 7, 2007, begins in the year 1994 with Fergie and Polow da Don at a keg party in East Los Angeles before she was famous, with everyone at the party shouting "If you ain't got no money take yo broke ass home". The camera then rotates upward where it is present day and Fergie is lounging in a Bombardier Global Express business jet, and as the chorus suggests, "flying first class, up in the sky". The flight attendant is played by Freddy Rodriguez. She is seen watching the music video on her LG enV for her band's "Pump It". Fergie then lands and enters a limo waiting for her where she goes with her friends to a drive thru at a Taco Hall, as indicated by the takeout bag she collects, though the lyrics comment that this is Taco Bell instead. The video at this point does a transition to the past (1990s) where it is suggested Fergie came to this same restaurant with her friends before her glamorous life. The transition occurs as Fergie sings of the days when she had a Mustang. The limo transforms into a Mustang convertible. She and her friends are wearing fashion and have hairstyles similar to those of 1980s pop culture. The video then returns to present day where Fergie and Ludacris are shown shooting a film called Glamorous, a throwback to Bonnie and Clyde. The couple are shown holding Thompson submachine guns while being held up by police near a canyon, apparently for stealing money. Ludacris raps his verse to Fergie telling her all the expensive things he will buy for her. Fergie and Ludacris are then shown shooting down the cops, after which the film shoot ends. After the shoot, Fergie proceeds to sit in a chair with her name on it, as people rush over to do her makeup. While this is happening, she thanks her fans for making her famous. Scenes of this are intercut with Fergie getting back on the plane she came on, while she flashes back to when she was younger, where her father warned her about the coldness of show business. Fergie is then shown at the same kegger from earlier in the video, with her Black Eyed Peas bandmate apl.de.ap, Alfonso Ribeiro, Polow da Don, and B-Real from Cypress Hill with whom she clinks plastic glasses, followed with the plane she is on in the present day flying into London as the sun sets.

Credits and personnel
Recording and mixing
 Recorded at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia and The Record Plant in Hollywood, California.
 Mixed at The Record Plant in Hollywood, California.

Personnel
 Stacy Ferguson, Jamal Jones, Will Adams, Elvis Williams - songwriting
 Polow da Don - production, drum programming
 will.i.am – arrangement
 Ron Fair - additional vocal production
 Elvis Williams - keyboards
 Mike Hartnett - guitar
 Travis Daniels - engineering
 Mack Woodward - assistant engineering
 Tal Herzberg - Pro Tools engineering
 Tony Maserati - mixing
 Ryan Kennedy - assistant engineering
 "Angry" Mike Eleopoulos - recording

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Dutchess, A&M Records, Will.i.am Music Group, Interscope Records.

Track listing
 UK CD single
 "Glamorous" (album version) – 4:07
 "True" (Spandau Ballet cover) – 3:45
 Europe CD1
 "Glamorous" (album version) – 4:08
 "Glamorous" (Space Cowboy Remix) – 4:37
 Europe CD2 & Australian CD single
 "Glamorous" (album version) – 4:08
 "Glamorous" (Space Cowboy Remix) – 4:37
 "True" (Spandau Ballet cover) – 3:48
 "Glamorous" (music video) – 4:10

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also
 List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2007
 List of number-one dance singles of 2007 (U.S.)

References

2000s ballads
2006 songs
2007 singles
Fergie (singer) songs
Interscope Records singles
Ludacris songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director)
Song recordings produced by Polow da Don
Contemporary R&B ballads
Songs written by Polow da Don
Songs written by Ludacris
Songs written by Blac Elvis
Songs written by Fergie (singer)
Songs written by will.i.am
Songs about consumerism