William James Adams, Jr. (born March 15, 1975), professionally known by his stage name will.i.am ("will I am") is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, entrepreneur, actor, DJ and producer.
He came to prominence in the late 1990s as a member of the hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas. The group initially consisted of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and later added singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group had sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide. Their first worldwide success was the song "Where Is the Love?" in 2003, which topped 13 charts worldwide. Another successful single was the embattled duet between Adams and Fergie, "Shut Up". Their next album Monkey Business, was a worldwide success, certified 4× Platinum in the U.S., and spawning two singles, "My Humps" and "Don't Phunk with My Heart". In 2009, the group became one of only 11 artists to have simultaneously held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, with their singles "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling"; which topped the chart for an unprecedented 26 consecutive weeks in 2009. The album later produced a third Hot 100 number-one placement with "Imma Be", making the group one of few to ever place three number one singles on the chart from the same album before being followed with "Rock That Body" and "Meet Me Halfway" which managed to peak in the Top 10 of Hot 100. "I Gotta Feeling" became the first single to sell more than 1 million downloads in the United Kingdom. The Black Eyed Peas were ranked 12th on the Billboard's Decade-End Chart Artist of the Decade, and 7th in the Hot 100 Artists of the Decade.On the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony, which held in January 2010 they won 3 awards out of 6 nominations. In November 2010, they released the album The Beginning. In February 2011, the group performed at the Super Bowl XLV halftime show. The album's first two singles "The Time (Dirty Bit)" and "Just Can't Get Enough" became international hits and topped the charts in many countries. In July 2011, during their promotional tour the group announced that they are taking a break and have denied rumors that the band has broken up.
Will.i.am has also release four solo albums. The first Lost Change was released in 2001 on Atlantic Records. The album itself is the original soundtrack to the movie of the same name. A music video was made for the song, "I Am", however, no singles were released from the album. The second solo album Must B 21, was released on September 23, 2003. Track seventeen on the release, "Go!", was regularly used as the theme for the NBA Live 2005 and Madden NFL 2005 seasons. A video for the track was also recorded for use within the sports, however, no singles were released from the album. The third album Songs About Girls, was released on September 25, 2007. The first single released from the album was a club track titled "I Got It from My Mama" which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #31 on the 17th of August 2007. The album also featured singles "Heartbreaker" and "One More Chance". #willpower is the upcoming, fourth studio album.
Will.i.am is also a music producer, he has produced with other artists including Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Eazy-E, Britney Spears, U2, Rihanna, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Earth, Wind & Fire, Nicki Minaj, Cheryl Cole, 2NE1, SMAP, The Game, Nas, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Daddy Yankee, Wolfgang Gartner, and Juanes. He is a coach on The Voice UK. In collaborations and with Black Eyed Peas, he has a total of 34 Top 75 entries since 1998, and has sold 9,477,698 singles in the United Kingdom.
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