Will.i.am's band nearly vanished when its first record label collapsed
In 1992 Eazy-E signed a teenage rap duo called Atban Klann to Ruthless Records. They recorded an album, but when Eazy-E died in 1995 it never came out. The group regrouped, renamed itself twice, and in 1997 became the Black Eyed Peas, fronted by the young William Adams, later known as will.i.am.
Adams was born in Los Angeles on March 15, 1975, and grew up with his mother in the Estrada Courts housing projects of Boyle Heights, one of the few African-American families in a mostly Hispanic neighbourhood. He never met his Jamaican father and only learned his full birth name at 25. His mother pushed him to stand apart from the local crowd and sent him to schools in wealthier West Los Angeles, an hour away by bus each way.
Music grew out of dancing. In high school he belonged to a breakdancing crew called Tribal Nation, where he met Allan Pineda Lindo, later apl.de.ap, and the pair's group took its name from the phrase a tribe beyond a nation. After the Ruthless setback, Jaime Gomez, known as Taboo, joined, Interscope signed the renamed Peas, and their debut single appeared in 1998.
Their breakthrough came almost by accident. While making the album Elephunk, the trio decided one track needed a female voice. Nicole Scherzinger was approached first but was tied to another contract, so a friend introduced them to Fergie, who impressed them so much she became a permanent member and landed on the cover. Elephunk, released in 2003, went on to sell 8.5 million copies worldwide, and the group even rerecorded songs in the invented Simlish language for a 2004 video game.
Solo success took longer: his first two albums failed to chart, though a later record reached number nine in America on the strength of a duet with Britney Spears. He started his own label in 1998, which signed acts including Kelis and Macy Gray, launched the tech company i.am+ in 2013, and became a mentor on The Voice UK. He has won seven Grammy Awards.
Source: Will.i.am
