Black Eyed Peas Lyrics and Profile

The original Black Eyed Peas lineup was born from the ashes of another hip-hop collective called Atban Klann (aka A Tribe Beyond a Nation), which included William Adams (known then as Will 1X, later will.i.am) and Allan Pineda (known later as apl.de.ap) alongside 3 other MCs. The two school friends were signed to Eazy-E's label, Ruthless Records, and performed in the quintet on the rapper's "Merry Muthafuckkin' Xmas" show in 1992. When Eazy-E died in 1995, however, the two MCs left to team up with Jaime Gomez (Taboo) to form The Black Eyed Peas.

The trio's 1998 debut album Behind the Front was released on Interscope and featured labelmate Macy Gray's vocals on "Love Won't Wait". The group was first characterised as an "antidote" to mainstream hip-hop and its thuggish image, while the album picked up generally positive reviews, charting at number 129 in the US. A 2000 follow-up called Bridging the Gap featured more hip-hop stars including Mos Def, Wyclef Jean, Les Nubian, DJ Premier and Jurassic 5's Chali 2na, charting at number 67.

Though the band started work on a third record in 2001, it was the arrival of singer Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson that saw the group target commercial success as a new direction. A more pop-friendly approach to songwriting, fashion and even guest star list followed, with 2003's Elephunk featuring pop poster boy Justin Timberlake on "Where is the Love". The single hit number 8, while the album pushed to number 14 and sold more than two million copies.

Extensive world tours followed, with "Where is the Love" hitting number one in Europe and Australia, before a second album with Fergie - Monkey Business - followed and spawned a number of hit singles like "My Humps" while selling three million copies.

The Peas' fifth album, The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies), came out in June 2009. The single "Boom Boom Pow" reached number one in the U.S. and stayed there for 12 weeks, as did perennial party-starter "I Gotta Feeling", leading the band to be one of the very few acts in history to hold the top two spots on the singles chart at the same time. They also won three Grammy's in February, 2010, including Best Pop Vocal Album for The E.N.D.