Black Eyed Peas : Will.I.Am defends 'blackface' performance at MTV VMAs

If there hasn't already been enough outrage over the 2010 MTV VMAs, the internet is now firing not just at Lady Gaga's steak-and-kidney frock but at Will.I.Am's face paint. The Black Eyed Peas frontman has hit back at criticism of his "blackface" at the awards show. "Let go of the past," he wrote. "There are far more important things to bark about."

Will.I.Am appeared in the pre-show for Sunday night's gala, performing Check It Out with Nicki Minaj. While his partner donned purple lycra and a hot pink hairdo, Will.I.Am went for black leather, dark sunglasses and pancake makeup. It was a look more Max Headroom than Al Jolson, but never underestimate the internet's capacity for righteous indignation. Before long, Will.I.Am was being accused of poor taste, minstrelsy and even "setting black people back".

The rapper seemed scarcely able to believe it. "Are you guys serious?" he wrote on Twitter. "My outfit set 'black people back 100 yrs'?" Telling fans to "choose your twits wisely", he insisted that "no education sets people back, [or] no jobs, [or] bad health". "Just because I wear all-black clothing including head mask ... it shouldn't be looked at as racial," he wrote. "There are far more important things to bark about (jobs, health, education) [than] a black man wearing all black everything."

Amusingly, the artwork for the song Check It Out shows Will.I.Am in the same costume, but has the opposite problem – a complete lack of colour. But the Black Eyed Peas frontman's best response seems to be his coincidental new song for Sesame Street, What I Am. "I'm going to keep my head up high," he sings in the video, which debuted this week. "Nothing's going to bring me down." Perhaps he should dress up like Big Bird.

Black Eyed Peas: Taboo launches shoe line

Singer of the Black Eyed Peas Taboo launch to the latest Pea to spin off a shoe line. Few years ago the Fergie had launched a women's shoe collection, and now Taboo is launching the Taboo Deltah 3008 collection exclusively at Footaction and the higher end Taboo x Jump at Saks.

He said, "I am the first hip hop to the Mexican American to launch a shoe line. . . I'll proud to be representing!". At Saks during Fashion's Night Out to Taboo will preview the jump line on Sept. 10.

Black Eyed Peas pour it hot in Ottawa

OTTAWA — It didn’t take long for the party to get started at the Black Eyed Peas concert Sunday night at Scotiabank Place.

In fact, it was instantaneous, as each member of the California super group rose up through the stage floor to the pulsating beat of Let’s Get It Started, a sure-fire party favourite. Bathed in a green laser-like halo, they certainly kicked off the concert in grand style to the delight of the crowd of 15,200 who danced in the aisles, fists pumping through the air.

“Wassup, Ottawa?” came the cry from the stage, and the audience responded, giving back lots of love and admiration to the group which is surely one of the most entertaining concert attractions today. Pure energy, high-voltage music with catchy hooks and a sense of dramatic posturing makes the group fun to watch and listen to.

The quartet is in the midst of a world tour titled The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) that began last year and they show no sign of fatigue. And whether they are performing solos or together on stage as a unit they excel as performers and singers.

Stacy Ann Ferguson — better known as Fergie — is the centrepiece of the group, and she showed her vocal talent on Meet Me Halfway, her soaring voice piercing the rafters of Scotiabank Place, or getting funky on Don’t Phunk With My Heart. She even strutted down the catwalk that jutted out into the audience, showing that she can strut with attitude with the best of models.

Black Eyed Peas perform Halifax Rocks

On stage from the moment they stepped with their massive party anthem Let’s Get It Started, until they left with I Gotta Feeling, the Black Eyed Peas had about 25,000 fans on the Halifax Common in an absolute frenzy. The Grammy Award six time winning artists and No. 1 hit makers came as advertised on Saturday night as headliners for Halifax Rocks 2010. The group featuring will.i.am, Fergie, apl.de.ap and Taboo delivered their bass pumping hits that shook the foundation of the city greenspace. The stage show featured back up dancers dressed in robotic like costumes, a laser light show and large screens offering various cool visuals.“We don’t know when we’ll be back here, so let’s party,” will.i.am told the crowd. The jacked up audience happily obliged, boppin’ to the beat of every hit song. Prior to taking the stage, the Black Eyed Peas looked on as Weezer performed a lively 50 minute set. The peas on stage Several members of Weezer joined when it was time for them to close the show. During I Gotta Feeling, Fergie gave the mic to Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo who belted out lines from the chorus.

E.N.D. Tour Has Staying Power To Black Eyed Peas

Sitting in an Athens hotel room on a humid summer day in early July, Will.i.am recalls the days when he and his fellow members of the Black Eyed Peas made a collective $150 per show and were ecstatic about it.
"We would jump up and down because we got paid, even though it meant we had to split it with each other and the band, meaning about $20 a piece," he says. "Then we got paid $2,000 for a show. And then I remember the first time we got paid a million bucks for an hour. I was like, 'Wow!' That was only four years ago."
Today, Will.i.am, Fergie, Apl.de.ap and Taboo have much more to be excited about. In a tough touring climate, the Peas continue doing sellout business. While other marquee acts are canceling shows and suffering from poor ticket sales this summer, the Black Eyed Peas are in the midst of their most ambitious concert outing yet, the E.N.D. world tour, promoting the album of the same name.
Through the end of June, the E.N.D. tour has grossed $47.7 million and drawn 740,000 fans to 54 shows, including 53 sellouts, according to Billboard Boxscore. North American summer shows will further boost those numbers, assuring that the E.N.D. run will rank as one of the most successful tours of this year.
CONTAGIOUS 'FEELING'The "E.N.D." album, released in June 2009 on Interscope Records, has sold 2.6 million copies domestically, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and 4 million outside the United States, according to Tom Land, international marketing director at Universal Music Group International. It has yielded a run of Billboard Hot 100 hits including "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling," which commanded the top of the Hot 100 for half of the 2009 chart year.
Although the Peas have a wealth of hit singles internationally, "I Gotta Feeling" emerged as their signature tune for this campaign, according to Land. The track broke a U.K. record last month by becoming the first download to sell 1 million copies, according to the Official Charts Co. It peaked at No. 1 in Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. It also went top five in Germany, the Netherlands and Japan.

Leaving Black Eyed Peas Rumors and Fergie Laughs Off Pregnancy

When it comes to rumors about baby bumps and career changes, Fergie still has her sense of humor.
“Obviously I’ve left (The Black Eyed Peas.) I’m gone.” Fergie joked with Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson at the 2010 BET Awards on Sunday..
The singer also addressed reports that she and husband Josh Duhamel are expecting.
“I’m already pregnant,” she continued. “The baby is on its way tonight.”
Fergie’s band mate, will.i.am, urged their fans not to believe everything they read on Twitter.
“We can’t believe all the (Tweets.),” he told Shaun. “You don’t know if it was a twit that wrote that!”
Fergie, 35, said Josh was even fooled by the false reports.
“I was actually organizing a room with my mom, trying on old clothes, trying to purge and cleanse and Josh came in. He’s like, ‘I just got these Google alerts. It says you’re leaving the Peas and we’re having a baby,’” Fergie recalled.
Despite the online rumors of the pair’s split, Peas member Taboo, said, “Next week, we leave to Europe to do our festivals.”

Black Eyed Peas' Fergie admits to fancying Cheryl Cole

Bisexual Black Eyed Peas' singer Fergie says she fancies Cheryl Cole. Speaking about the Girls Aloud singer, she said: "I'd take her on a date and she knows it", before adding that whoever does end up with Cole "will be lucky". This comes despite continued rumours that Cole is involved romantically with Fergie's Black Eyed Peas' bandmate will.i.am (The Sun).
From the papers:
Noel Gallagher dined out at posh London eaterie Zuma with his missus Sara MacDonald and Russell Brand (various).
Kele Okereke says he's switched partying for keeping fit while on tour (The Sun).
Alan McGee says he thinks Oasis will reform within five years because the money they stand to get is too great to ignore (Daily Record).
Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint sang Beastie Boys' '(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)' at the launch party for the new film in Florida (The Sun).