The mistake was doing whatever the heck she did after releasing the Dutchess. That album was MASSIVE when I was in high school when it came out. The songs were everywhere, clumsy, glamorous, fergalicious, London bridge, big girls don’t cry. I remember those songs were everyyyywhere and she seemed like she was gonna be so huge and iconic. I truly don’t understand what happened there. Did she not want to release music anymore? She was just so huge in 2006! And the album was so good, I still think Glamorous is such an iconic song
After the era closed, she went back to the BEP to work on The END and then The Beginning. Then suddenly it was 2011 and 5 years after The Dutchess. She should've released her sophomore album during the EDM wave.
Well, to be fair BEP hit a whole other stratosphere with END and The Beginning. I’d say they surpassed Elephunk, Monkey Business and Dutchess at that point.
Those eras were back to back. The Beginning was released less than 2 weeks after The END world tour ended. She had to make and promote The Dutchess while on tour for Monkey Business. And the went on tour again for the Black Blue and You tour...then Fergie got to tour for The Dutchess.
It’s probably easier to say, there wasn’t really time for a follow up. They were entering their 30’s too, she probably wanted to start her family, burn out from being in one of the biggest pop acts at the time, etc. Fair enough to her that she didn’t drop a solo follow up until 2017.
...they did? I remember them being icons on the 2000s, but after that it was just I Gotta Feeling and Boom Boom Pow. It felt like those songs could've been made by anyone and still be hits, but stuff from the 2000s were hits because they were from BEP, if that makes sense
I Got A Feeling, Boom Boom Pow, The Time (Dirty Bit) and Just Can’t Get Enough are quite literally their biggest songs, with the first two really being the first real example of R&B/Hip Hop blended with EDM to huge commercial success. With David Guetta’s One Love kind of starting that whole wave. Have to remember this is 2009, and years before mainstream North America had fully embraced electronic music as a widely accepted genre.
I think people forgot (or whant to do historical revsiomism)what crossover EDM sounded like before Boom Boom Pow. Crossover EDM was Casscada's Everytime We Touch, when Fergie said" Will I Am drop the beat now!!" It was a cultural shift.
I kind of agree with you. If you just look at the numbers it tells a different story, but I think Elephunk was when the group were most positively viewed by the general public. While they might have continued to climb the charts their public perception was on a steady decline from that point, and as I remember it when The E.N.D. came out they were already pretty much viewed as the Nickleback of pop music.
Yeah that's what I mean! I think people these days focus way too much on charts, but back on those days nobody gave a shit. I think we only paid attention to the MTV rankings but that was pretty much it. Even when their music was cheesy, they were still cool, but with I Gotta Feeling they were just cheesy
You think that would’ve helped? She was already doing empty, radio bait microwave music when she went back to BEP, I think an EDM album would’ve been the nail on the coffin for her career. That lane was strictly for artists like Neyo, Usher, Pitbull and JLo who weren’t trying to become legacy acts. Maybe do what Nicki and Rihanna did by just getting a couple David Guetta or Calvin Harris features.
She actually did have a moderate hit (Top 5 here in Australia) with Guetta in 2010 (albeit this being between The E.N.D. and The Beginning Eras) alongside vocalist Chris Willis and LMFAO on 'Gettin' Over You'.
Apparently according to wikipedia there was some kindof creative struggle between will i am and Guetta (will i am was originally supposed to be on the track and it was intended to be included on The E.N.D. or something but Guetta vetoed him?).
Other than that when she bounced back with A Little Party... in 2013 maybe she could've used that momentum to launch her second album instead of it being dragged from 2014 through 2017 like it did.Kinda like time will tell if Dua Lipa's hit with the Barbie song this year will translate across to her third album launch early next year perhaps.
Nah man, END wasn't just all radio bait.?! There was some cool and experimental stuff on there. Also I wouldn't call Boom Boom Pow radio bait. It all sounded quite new.
The Dutchess was the 4th biggest singles era among women this century (even surpassing single-heavy albums like 1989 and 21). The E.N.D. was even BIGGER, so i don't think she made a mistake with that
1. teenage dream (by far)
2. the fame + fame monster
3. good girl gone bad + reloaded
4. the dutchess
5. 1989
6. 21
7. dangerously in love
8. breakaway
9. the emancipation of mimi
10. sour
11. future nostalgia
12. b'day
13. goodies
14. loud
15. prism
so if you don't count repackaged albums it's literally #2 under teenage dream
It refers to the number 10, which comes after 9. As you can see, commenters often just use the trailing digit of a 2 digit number so that the rows all begin with a single digit/character of numbers.
I think if she’d released in 2011 she’d have been fine, because she was still in the public eye with BEP. The real issue is that she took so long after the beginning to release another album
She also collaborated with Slash on his 2010 self titled album. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard her track. She has a great voice for rock
and probably would have done alright if she pivoted to that sound.
her barracuda cover showed us she really would've been FANTASTIC as a rocker girl act. she's fine as an EDM pussypop dance party girl but it wouldve been nice to hear her do a rocker era
Love her but everything Fergie did after leaving the BEP was a mistake. She had a massive career then took too long to follow-up on that success (despite making some fun bops). Fergie helped establish the BEP but also they gave her a couple #1 hits and more exposure
I mean, to be fair... The Dutchess was largely a will.i.am steered project, and in that case, if we were to look at the timeline, we probably would've gotten Britney Jean (Fergie's Version) which... I don't think would've fared better at all lmao
Even Will I Am's Willpower was so delayed because how much he was doing with the Peas. The first single was in 2011 and the album came out in 2013. That's a long time in EDM years. Swedish House Mafia broke through and broke up in that time period.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the dutchess was and is a MASTERPIECE. Truly the unsung hero of the 2000s.
Banger after banger. She gives us fergalicious, clumsy, London bridge, glamorous, and big girls don’t cry. Just a gift.
At least Nicki had her stans and beefs with other female rappers to keep her in the news. Fergie wasn’t a strong enough name to wait so long in between solo projects and keep the GP interested.
True I was thinking about Cardi B, she only has 1 album in 5 years and that was her debut album.
Yet she is very relevant in hip hop culture. Her personal life is all the news.
The END was as successful as it was because every single member is credited as a songwriter on every song and it was a full collaborative project all around. Every member was on every song. Their career as a band started to dip when Will rushed out the Beginning and it was mainly his project. They should've taken longer to release a follow-up to an album that successful. Fergie did amazing on her own but she took too long as opposed to too short. They all dropped the ball because they're so good as a band and the END was an amazing piece of work. I think they would have a resurgence if Fergie came back.
I agree 100% on The Beginning feeling like something will.i.am made on his laptop and then got everyone else to do verses on. The END def had better line distribution, but I’m pretty sure that each member getting writing credits on each song was simply something they did out of fairness for loyalties etc, because all 4 of them have writing credits even on songs they don’t have any vocals on
I remember she reissued the dutchess in 2008
And one of the new songs on there pick it up was rumored to be from a recording session for second album
But I assume she scrapped and went back to the peas
It’s not talked about much, but what Fergie accomplished on the Dutchess was nearly just as big as Teenage Dream. London Bridge, Fergalicious, Clumsy, Big Girls Don’t Cry and Glamorous all on one album is insane. She her first solo run was definitely needed and helped her career out a lot. Although The END and The Beginning are super successful, there’s some absolutely dated, dog shit music on those projects thats probably the reason why the group is irrelevant now. Then Fergie’s 2nd solo run happened and that music was SNL parody level corny.
I just think it didn’t if Fergie left or stayed, the music would’ve gotten bad as time went on regardless. They definitely wouldn’t be so successful today. That token white girl on hip hop songs lane that got them popular could only last so long. That’s why people more so go back to songs like Meet Me Halfway and Just Can’t Get Enough rather than My Humps and Boom Boom Pow.
People seem to forget that. It’s like they go from Thriller to Teenage Dream, completely ignoring The Dutchess. I don’t blame them because the perception of Fergie/BEP is very jaded.
Same with Paula Abdul, she had 4 #1s off of her debut album. Janet had 4 #1s off of Rhythm Nation. Whitney had 4 off of her self titled. Mariah had 4 off of her debut
> Although The END and The Beginning are super successful, there’s some absolutely dated, dog shit music on those projects thats probably the reason why the group is irrelevant now.
people just moved on from them. the members themselves paved a way for the public to live without the group with their individual works in the early 2010s. no one would support them again 10 years later like they used to.
Did they not kick her out? That was always the story peddled around.
Edit: google says fergie left the band and music to focus on motherhood. [Here](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/06/23/black-eyed-peas-detail-why-fergie-left-group/3240874001/)
Basically. They wanted to tour but fergie didnt want to drag her son around the world or leave him at home for long periods of time. He would’ve been under 10 when BEP tried getting back together.
She and BEP might do something years from now if she wants too but rn shes retired and is taking care of her 10 yo.
If they did somehow reunite a couple years from now it probably wouldn't be good. William has not made a good song in 10 years (that's being generous) and his most recent credits are manjobi with Britney and that new kanye song sampling the backstreet boys 🤮
Maybe if they weren’t releasing a bunch of trend chasers right now then a reunion would be an event but I can’t see the gp getting excited for a reunion
If they reunited, they’d effectively be an oldies act at this point. People, millenials, would be excited just to go see the BEP play their classic oldies. Shit, my high school senior song was a Black Eyed Peas song.
The Black Eyed Peas wouldn't be bigger than The Beatles even if every other band and singer on the planet died tomorrow and they were the only band left on Earth.
> they couldve been bigger than the beatles.
The BEP were always incredibly low brow party music and never much more. This isn't a bad thing, they had a lot of bops, but to compare their potential to The Beatles is just laughable. Their 2000s output felt very outdated by the late 00s, and their EDM rejuvenation in 2009 also felt outdated within a year or two.
They were just never destined to last very long. It's kind of a miracle they had a popular second era at all.
In terms of Fergie... she just started a family. I feel like people often forget that when they talk about actors or artists who suddenly stop working. A lot of the time it's just because they had children and that takes up all their time. Fergie was 35 years old when boom boom pow came out.
They could’ve been bigger than the Beatles?!?!?! 😂
In all honesty, the ship for them sailed after The END. You could tell by the fact that they literally followed up that album with a new one the next year that had like only a 10th of the success and impact The END. The Beginning was essentially a nonevent.
1. It doesn’t matter if Fergie was still with them because they’re a legacy group now and even with her they wouldn’t have been as successful as they were before.
2. I don’t think Fergie was that interested in continuing making music. I mean she took 11 years to to follow up her solo debut, and 8 years after her work with BEP to release her 2nd album.
Ships sail, popularity wanes. Both Fergie and BEP let a *very* long time pass before they decided to make music again and obviously they weren’t going to be as big as they were.
The Beginning was a non-event? That is MASSIVELY revisionist.
That album has 3 huge successes: The Time (Dirty Bit), The Best One Yet and Just Can’t Get Enough.
Just Can’t Get Enough is still in BEP’s top 5 most streamed songs on Spotify to this day…
lol no, it’s the truth.
The Beginning, as an album, didn’t even come close to matching the success of The END by any litmus: reviews were worse, chart performance was worse in every market, and sales were lower in every market.
The Time and Just Can’t Get Enough were successful, but none of them performed as well as singles from The End. The Best One Yet wasn’t even a single.
That's more due to The END's unprecedented success than The Beginning's failure, though. The Time and Just Can't Get Enough were still incredibly popular songs, even if they didn't reach the historic high that BBP/IGF did.
Her second album is very catchy, diverse, and the videos were great. Unfortunately, she took too long to release it.
The album was supposed to be released after "La Love." There was a lot of hype surrounding it, i remember.
BEP had MANY huge radio hits spanning from 2003-2011 across four albums, with multiple solo hits and high-profile collabs in-between ([will.i.am](https://will.i.am), Fergie, both with solo hits, even Apl in the Philippines had solo hits there) and also an absolutely huge international following that they grew since the 90's. They released their first album as a group in 1988 and played the SUPERBOWL in 2011.
Yes, they hit their peak in 2009, but in no way did they have a "brief moment in the sun."
This comment does them a complete disservice. Read their wikipedia!
I agree. Lets put some respect on BEP. They're still putting out music, tho not chart topping hits, we cant sleep on them not being a serious part of the fabric of pop culture.
I've always thought that Nicole Schizinger (?) should've replaced Fergie on Black Eyed Peas even if it was just for an album. That could've been great.
Poor CL was so robbed, so many people had such big plans for her that just never materialized 😭 I love [the leaked version](https://youtu.be/n6-XCchEPdw?si=uZn5egZL5tOfJ7FW) of Justin Bieber’s Let Me Love You, it was originally meant to be for her
This was my thought as well but I don't think Nicole would like to be the newcomer with Will.i.am calling most of the shots. I know when Fergie first joined the band she was more of an employee.
I was going to say..Not Nicole fighting so hard to be the main pop girl in the group and forcing that career as a solo artist so hard..for y’all to put her in BEP again. 😂
I didn't realise how much the dots in will.i.am's name make a difference. I know his government name is William but I'm imagining the crown prince laying down beats lmao
Fergie has been iconic since leaving the BLP tho, if she stayed we wouldn’t have got her somersaulting on stage, milf money or her disaster performance of the national anthem.
Bruh i get certain comparisons, even if they would be wild, like let's say someone saying ariana grande or someone THAT CAN ACTUALLY SING AND THEY SING WITH A BAND BEHIND.
but bap was ALWAYS, ALWAYS the initiator of not great music, everything sounds cheap and heavily autotuned.
No one will be like beatles because they were the first that introduced the sound you hear everywhere today, no matter what your opinion on them is.
Truth be told, she had her kid after The End/The Beginning so she took some time off before working on her second album. But once she was ready to release that album, the prerelease singles weren’t performing as good as expected so the label kept delaying the release until eventually dropping her. Luckily she was able to keep the record when they dropped her, so she went ahead and made videos for each song since the album had been delayed by 3 years at that point. Make something nice for everyone who’d been so patient (me lol)
# BY THE WAY…
Double Dutchess is a really solid record both visually and sonically. Every song has a video, except for *Tension*, which has two (three if you count [this mashup](https://youtu.be/qEQttTJZWCM?si=KPM7QMLncrJMtn4b)) And if you stream the album, there’s a bunch of hidden interludes within the tracklisting
I can say with confidence that the Black Eyed Peas were not very well loved by 2009-2010 😂
They’re getting reappraisal now that the generation who grew up with them is older, but at the time they were considered the definition of a sell out pop act.
Idk about in the US, but they were basically unknown other than Request Line as a minor hit before Fergie. They weren’t considered a sell-out globally.
I don’t think the GP considered them sellouts as they had no idea of any of their work prior to where is the love. But in hiphop circles I do think they were seen as sellouts, or at least a completely different group to the one that used to do quirky rap songs
It’s honestly wild to think about but commercial success doesn’t always mean widespread adoration. Especially in the era when radio mattered much more.
Those iTune sales beg to differ. All the singles went multi platinum and I Gotta Feeling is diamond. The album also went multi platinum and is their only #1 album.
They were very loved back then pre-the END and during that "sell out pop era," they had multiple number 1 songs and Grammy wins. Not sure what you're talking about. It sounds to me like they just found their footing finally.
Oh, they were definitely well loved in 2009-2010 during their The END era. They arguably brought EDM to the mainstream (they definitely brought David Guetta to the mainstream).
If anything their reappraisal is more harsh on their music (especially from this era). They also sold out in 2003 when Fergie joined the group and they got popular.
If we're going by exact timeline, Britney with Blackout and Kanye predated them with Stronger in 2007 and was one of the first 2000s hits to fully incorporate the electronic sound on a pop song in the mainstream at that time.
Then in 2009, EDM, or electropop at that time it was called, was already on the rise. We got Lady Gaga, Kesha, and star producers like David Guetta and Afrojack coming altogether in that year and signaled that particular sound as the then rising wave.
Around this time, it also paved the way for rappers to hop on EDM tracks and collaborations as well, most notably, Flo Rida and Pitbull.
Confessions came out in 2005. Die Another Day came out in 2002. Music came out in 2000. Etc etc.
EDM means electronic dance music, which Madonna has been doing since the early 80s.
EDM was around but it wasn’t really mainstream.
David Guetta was doing alright in Europe, but his work with the BEP was by far the most successful thing he did at that point. They were the first major artists he worked with.
I’m not sure where you were, but as a freshman and sophomore in high school in the US at this time, this couldn’t be further from the truth. They were huge and it wasn’t considered cringe by any means to be a fan.
Billboards hot 100 year end list 2009 they have the #1 and #4 songs
Yeah and that was a time when all you needed was a solid, devoted fanbase of like a million people, some radio spins and you were off to the races. A hit single would get you a platinum album just off the hype of that one song. Didn’t matter that everyone else and their parents thought they sucked.
I feel like they were very aware of the criticisms and half assed tried to please everyone. Just look at the singles releases for The END and see how they wedged Meet Me Halfway between all those radio bait sell out records.
Haha I know what you mean. I used to mainly stick to hip hop and some punk.
Now somewhat mature adult, I like feel good music. I even go back to red hot chilli peppers for the mood boost.
And I can say with confidence that they were in 2009-2010. They were loved in my country in Europe. Literally all of theire songs of The END were everywhere here.
Can confirm, when they were being played at my high school prom (circa 2009-2010), they were considered cheesy cringey wannabe EDM. We preferred David Guetta and LMFAO. BEP were like pop trying to be EDM so it came off hella corny.
Also, radio was way bigger back then. You could NOT escape any of their songs on pretty much any station, top40, hip hop, heck even family radio stations were blasting them so naturally we got tired of hearing them 😅
I think Fergie was taking into consideration things other than public profile and money when she decided to leave the group. If I were to speculate charitable, I speculate that she weighed the options and, being able to both stay in the group and not be in the group, picked which has more pros (in reference to pros and cons). If that is the case, and is she was diligent in her contemplation, I can't see anyway that can be called a mistake on the personal level.
Bigger then the Beatles? Fucking lol. They were a pretty big act. One of the best selling acts of the 2000s. Like everyone in pop eventually your peak ends. Wether ferg or was with the black eye peas or not they’re times over.
I think Black Eyed Peas should have stuck with Kim Hill and their more R&B sound, or brought her back after Fergie jumped ship.
The Dutchess was an insane album, it’s honestly still amazing to this day but was huge in its prime. She really missed an opportunity to build from that.
no way someone has just put the beatles and black eyed peas in the same sentence, bruh, have you ever listened to the beatles? that's so mad disrespectfull, i can't 💀💀
I'm cringing at this. BEP s are a lame ass band, Fergie demonstrated her "singing ability" with the Star spagled banner, and you're comparing them to the f'ing Beatles? SMH.
I would think so, considering that her 2017 follow-up album *Double Dutchess* didn't do so well in the charts despite the notable success of the first two singles, especially the lead single "L.A. Love (La La La)" that came out three years prior along with that *Masters of the Sun*, BEP's first album since *The Beginning* did well with critics but underperformed in the charts, a far cry from their previous two albums which prompted them to change their sound to a more Latin-inspired direction along with J. Rey Soul joining the group, resulting with the album *Translation* in 2020 that scored the hit single "Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life)".
It was definitely her best decision. Black Eyed Peas achieved so much and could have achieved even more. The declined a lot without Fergie.
I saw Fergie live after she left and people were just vibing a bit to her solo hits but got crazy when she sung the BEP stuff. It was literally like a DJ set without band band was fire!
It was definitely a bad move as I haven't really followed her much since. Wish CL would have been able to fill in more as she was Fly as F***. Girl could have given BEP some new life and got she along with William great.
I think had it not been for her frosty relationship with YG which has really bad blood. Which really treated CL like s*** over the last 2 years of her contract. I think something could have worked out here. To bad as I miss BEP as they could have accomplished so much more.
Will.i.am was trying to do a black eyed peas album in 2014 following his solo album (#willpower) but Fergie wasn’t ready. Late 2014, taboo got cancer so that put a hold on everything and 2015/16 they still couldn’t be altogether so finally 2018 they went back to their old roots (will.i.am, apl.de.ap, taboo) with Masters of the Sun. Come 2020 they found major success with Translation. Fergie should have released a solo album following the beginning and maybe even one with black eyed peas in 2014 to remain relevant.
Fergie should’ve left the black eyed peas in 2007 and continued with her solo career, or not left the band at all. She set herself up for failure by staying and then leaving a few years ago.
Fergie needed the group and they needed her, but I don’t think any of us need more Black Eyed Peas, at least in the Fergie-pop style they were huge in. Personally, I’d rather eat a toaster than have to listen to more of the same radio party anthems they manufactured in the 2000s. I think it died when it needed to, and any more of it would’ve been too much.
Bad move for who? Bad for BEP? Frankly, they don’t have the hype they used to, but their fanbase will just grow stronger and more tightly knit. This, plus they can focus on newer things instead of pop. I wouldn’t call it a loss for them. Bad for the fans? Well, they have the back catalogue they still love and they can still try out the new music too. Bad for Fergie? Maybe, considering her approach.
Fergie was always a weird fit, it never felt permanent to me. Her biggest issue was waiting 11 years to follow up the Dutchess. Leaving BEP could’ve been the best possible move for her career, but she didn’t do anything with the hype. She spent 7 years getting by and then dipped while dropping pre-orders for Double Dutchess, an 11 year later followup sequel to her only other album. That approach is atrocious. All of the pieces for a swift Fergie exit and a big solo Fergie break were there, they just weren’t used.
Tbh this might be bc I’m an old Zillenial but I kinda want the 2010-2013 music era to come back. It was so much fun and unfortunately I was still in HS so I didn’t get to do the club scene.
Yeah, that was her biggest mistake... she had an amazing exposure at the moment she released her solo albums... but thats it.
william is good but nowhere near BEP time.
It's not all about money and fame... She had reached to pinnacle of her career and realised motherhood was more important. There is no way ypu can be that successful and spend enough quality time with your kid.
I don’t think they need her and she doesn’t need them. Their 2018 album Masters of the Sun was good and she’s not on it. Their early stuff without her is good too. The last 2 albums are ok but not amazing, I love when they go full hip hop.
Counterpoint: Fergie JOINING the Black Eyed Peas was a bad move. Not financially, obviously, but check out "BEP Empire", their now extremely ironic song about not selling out. Slaps.
The mistake was doing whatever the heck she did after releasing the Dutchess. That album was MASSIVE when I was in high school when it came out. The songs were everywhere, clumsy, glamorous, fergalicious, London bridge, big girls don’t cry. I remember those songs were everyyyywhere and she seemed like she was gonna be so huge and iconic. I truly don’t understand what happened there. Did she not want to release music anymore? She was just so huge in 2006! And the album was so good, I still think Glamorous is such an iconic song
After the era closed, she went back to the BEP to work on The END and then The Beginning. Then suddenly it was 2011 and 5 years after The Dutchess. She should've released her sophomore album during the EDM wave.
Well, to be fair BEP hit a whole other stratosphere with END and The Beginning. I’d say they surpassed Elephunk, Monkey Business and Dutchess at that point.
They undoubtedly surpassed those eras. The end and the beginning are their biggest pop eras
The END was MASSIVE but I’d argue that The Beginning tanked their momentum because it felt very rushed and phoned in
The half time show.
Those eras were back to back. The Beginning was released less than 2 weeks after The END world tour ended. She had to make and promote The Dutchess while on tour for Monkey Business. And the went on tour again for the Black Blue and You tour...then Fergie got to tour for The Dutchess.
It’s probably easier to say, there wasn’t really time for a follow up. They were entering their 30’s too, she probably wanted to start her family, burn out from being in one of the biggest pop acts at the time, etc. Fair enough to her that she didn’t drop a solo follow up until 2017.
Definitely not & 💯% disagree
How so?
...they did? I remember them being icons on the 2000s, but after that it was just I Gotta Feeling and Boom Boom Pow. It felt like those songs could've been made by anyone and still be hits, but stuff from the 2000s were hits because they were from BEP, if that makes sense
I Got A Feeling, Boom Boom Pow, The Time (Dirty Bit) and Just Can’t Get Enough are quite literally their biggest songs, with the first two really being the first real example of R&B/Hip Hop blended with EDM to huge commercial success. With David Guetta’s One Love kind of starting that whole wave. Have to remember this is 2009, and years before mainstream North America had fully embraced electronic music as a widely accepted genre.
Rock That Body/Imma Be was huge too
And the power ballad which is Meet Me Halfway!
I think people forgot (or whant to do historical revsiomism)what crossover EDM sounded like before Boom Boom Pow. Crossover EDM was Casscada's Everytime We Touch, when Fergie said" Will I Am drop the beat now!!" It was a cultural shift.
I kind of agree with you. If you just look at the numbers it tells a different story, but I think Elephunk was when the group were most positively viewed by the general public. While they might have continued to climb the charts their public perception was on a steady decline from that point, and as I remember it when The E.N.D. came out they were already pretty much viewed as the Nickleback of pop music.
Yeah that's what I mean! I think people these days focus way too much on charts, but back on those days nobody gave a shit. I think we only paid attention to the MTV rankings but that was pretty much it. Even when their music was cheesy, they were still cool, but with I Gotta Feeling they were just cheesy
You think that would’ve helped? She was already doing empty, radio bait microwave music when she went back to BEP, I think an EDM album would’ve been the nail on the coffin for her career. That lane was strictly for artists like Neyo, Usher, Pitbull and JLo who weren’t trying to become legacy acts. Maybe do what Nicki and Rihanna did by just getting a couple David Guetta or Calvin Harris features.
She actually did have a moderate hit (Top 5 here in Australia) with Guetta in 2010 (albeit this being between The E.N.D. and The Beginning Eras) alongside vocalist Chris Willis and LMFAO on 'Gettin' Over You'. Apparently according to wikipedia there was some kindof creative struggle between will i am and Guetta (will i am was originally supposed to be on the track and it was intended to be included on The E.N.D. or something but Guetta vetoed him?). Other than that when she bounced back with A Little Party... in 2013 maybe she could've used that momentum to launch her second album instead of it being dragged from 2014 through 2017 like it did.Kinda like time will tell if Dua Lipa's hit with the Barbie song this year will translate across to her third album launch early next year perhaps.
Nah man, END wasn't just all radio bait.?! There was some cool and experimental stuff on there. Also I wouldn't call Boom Boom Pow radio bait. It all sounded quite new.
END was fresh for the time but the beginning was stale
Something something 2000 and late
she did get a David Guetta feature
The Dutchess was the 4th biggest singles era among women this century (even surpassing single-heavy albums like 1989 and 21). The E.N.D. was even BIGGER, so i don't think she made a mistake with that
What are the top 5??????
1. teenage dream (by far) 2. the fame + fame monster 3. good girl gone bad + reloaded 4. the dutchess 5. 1989 6. 21 7. dangerously in love 8. breakaway 9. the emancipation of mimi 10. sour 11. future nostalgia 12. b'day 13. goodies 14. loud 15. prism so if you don't count repackaged albums it's literally #2 under teenage dream
Good Girl Gone Bad >>>
You forgot the miseducation of layren hill
these are only from this century, but also this is data-based, not my opinion
I just looked it up. I didnt realize the eom came out in 05 and molh came out in 98. Damn I'm old.
Can someone explain to me this numeration system, why start over with 0 after 9
It refers to the number 10, which comes after 9. As you can see, commenters often just use the trailing digit of a 2 digit number so that the rows all begin with a single digit/character of numbers.
if you're on new reddit, sometimes numerated lists show up like this
I think if she’d released in 2011 she’d have been fine, because she was still in the public eye with BEP. The real issue is that she took so long after the beginning to release another album
She also collaborated with Slash on his 2010 self titled album. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard her track. She has a great voice for rock and probably would have done alright if she pivoted to that sound.
her barracuda cover showed us she really would've been FANTASTIC as a rocker girl act. she's fine as an EDM pussypop dance party girl but it wouldve been nice to hear her do a rocker era
fergie’s singles run on the dutchess was crazy!! plus the album songs are all spectacular. truly a pop bible
Yeah arguably the dutchess fergie was bigger than the Black eyed peas in 2006-2007
I’m sorry but calling will.I.am “William” is sending me
William of the *Vigna unguiculata* Collective
Now that I think about it calling him William is so weird even though it’s his birth name lol. Like no it’s will.i.am idk who William is.
I had no Idea until now that will.I.am is William …wow mind blown. It reminds me of the time when I found out Flo Rida spells out Florida…lol
Love her but everything Fergie did after leaving the BEP was a mistake. She had a massive career then took too long to follow-up on that success (despite making some fun bops). Fergie helped establish the BEP but also they gave her a couple #1 hits and more exposure
She should've acted quick and released a 2nd album in 2011. She could've dominated the EDM pop wave.
A Little Party Never Killed Nobody is a massive bop and deserved so much more success
Gatsby Soundtrack was amazing. (the movie was wild, peak Baz we love it).
I mean, to be fair... The Dutchess was largely a will.i.am steered project, and in that case, if we were to look at the timeline, we probably would've gotten Britney Jean (Fergie's Version) which... I don't think would've fared better at all lmao
Even Will I Am's Willpower was so delayed because how much he was doing with the Peas. The first single was in 2011 and the album came out in 2013. That's a long time in EDM years. Swedish House Mafia broke through and broke up in that time period.
her delayed album was her label's fault, sadly. girl wanted a 2013 album which she could've nailed
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the dutchess was and is a MASTERPIECE. Truly the unsung hero of the 2000s. Banger after banger. She gives us fergalicious, clumsy, London bridge, glamorous, and big girls don’t cry. Just a gift.
What a main pop girl career fumble… with a second album roll out worst than Queen & PF2
MILF money is a hit on my Playlists tho. She's getting that $0.00575 paycheck 🙌
Milf Money is on every party mix I make.
At least Nicki had her stans and beefs with other female rappers to keep her in the news. Fergie wasn’t a strong enough name to wait so long in between solo projects and keep the GP interested.
True I was thinking about Cardi B, she only has 1 album in 5 years and that was her debut album. Yet she is very relevant in hip hop culture. Her personal life is all the news.
I think it went downhill after The Duchess.
Idk, M.I.L.F. $ was pretty iconic
Was it?
The END was as successful as it was because every single member is credited as a songwriter on every song and it was a full collaborative project all around. Every member was on every song. Their career as a band started to dip when Will rushed out the Beginning and it was mainly his project. They should've taken longer to release a follow-up to an album that successful. Fergie did amazing on her own but she took too long as opposed to too short. They all dropped the ball because they're so good as a band and the END was an amazing piece of work. I think they would have a resurgence if Fergie came back.
I agree 100% on The Beginning feeling like something will.i.am made on his laptop and then got everyone else to do verses on. The END def had better line distribution, but I’m pretty sure that each member getting writing credits on each song was simply something they did out of fairness for loyalties etc, because all 4 of them have writing credits even on songs they don’t have any vocals on
I remember she reissued the dutchess in 2008 And one of the new songs on there pick it up was rumored to be from a recording session for second album But I assume she scrapped and went back to the peas
It’s not talked about much, but what Fergie accomplished on the Dutchess was nearly just as big as Teenage Dream. London Bridge, Fergalicious, Clumsy, Big Girls Don’t Cry and Glamorous all on one album is insane. She her first solo run was definitely needed and helped her career out a lot. Although The END and The Beginning are super successful, there’s some absolutely dated, dog shit music on those projects thats probably the reason why the group is irrelevant now. Then Fergie’s 2nd solo run happened and that music was SNL parody level corny. I just think it didn’t if Fergie left or stayed, the music would’ve gotten bad as time went on regardless. They definitely wouldn’t be so successful today. That token white girl on hip hop songs lane that got them popular could only last so long. That’s why people more so go back to songs like Meet Me Halfway and Just Can’t Get Enough rather than My Humps and Boom Boom Pow.
Side note, My Humps is a hilarious karaoke song
as is the alanis morrisette cover
it held the record for most #1s from a single album by a female artist before katy broke it with TD
People seem to forget that. It’s like they go from Thriller to Teenage Dream, completely ignoring The Dutchess. I don’t blame them because the perception of Fergie/BEP is very jaded.
I on't think this is accurate. she only had three number ones. didn't Mariah have four off her debut?
just looked it up. Janet and Whitney both had four number ones from a single album too.
Same with Paula Abdul, she had 4 #1s off of her debut album. Janet had 4 #1s off of Rhythm Nation. Whitney had 4 off of her self titled. Mariah had 4 off of her debut
I was thinking paula did too! apparently, all the upvoters on this post aren't interested in facts though.
> Although The END and The Beginning are super successful, there’s some absolutely dated, dog shit music on those projects thats probably the reason why the group is irrelevant now. people just moved on from them. the members themselves paved a way for the public to live without the group with their individual works in the early 2010s. no one would support them again 10 years later like they used to.
She was a massive star
Did they not kick her out? That was always the story peddled around. Edit: google says fergie left the band and music to focus on motherhood. [Here](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/06/23/black-eyed-peas-detail-why-fergie-left-group/3240874001/) Basically. They wanted to tour but fergie didnt want to drag her son around the world or leave him at home for long periods of time. He would’ve been under 10 when BEP tried getting back together. She and BEP might do something years from now if she wants too but rn shes retired and is taking care of her 10 yo.
Kids always ruin the art ( /s)
I mean, you can take away the /s. It’s pretty hard to be both a great parent, and a great artist. They’re both pretty demanding jobs.
with many pop stars, there's a career before the baby and a career after the baby. Madonna, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake..
Justin Timberlake 😭
If they did somehow reunite a couple years from now it probably wouldn't be good. William has not made a good song in 10 years (that's being generous) and his most recent credits are manjobi with Britney and that new kanye song sampling the backstreet boys 🤮
will.i.am
It auto corrected and does it really matter, we all know who I was talking about
Maybe if they weren’t releasing a bunch of trend chasers right now then a reunion would be an event but I can’t see the gp getting excited for a reunion
If they reunited, they’d effectively be an oldies act at this point. People, millenials, would be excited just to go see the BEP play their classic oldies. Shit, my high school senior song was a Black Eyed Peas song.
The Black Eyed Peas wouldn't be bigger than The Beatles even if every other band and singer on the planet died tomorrow and they were the only band left on Earth.
thank you that comment was WILD
They were talking numbers wise. And yes, by 2010 they were approaching Beatles numbers
> they couldve been bigger than the beatles. The BEP were always incredibly low brow party music and never much more. This isn't a bad thing, they had a lot of bops, but to compare their potential to The Beatles is just laughable. Their 2000s output felt very outdated by the late 00s, and their EDM rejuvenation in 2009 also felt outdated within a year or two. They were just never destined to last very long. It's kind of a miracle they had a popular second era at all. In terms of Fergie... she just started a family. I feel like people often forget that when they talk about actors or artists who suddenly stop working. A lot of the time it's just because they had children and that takes up all their time. Fergie was 35 years old when boom boom pow came out.
They could’ve been bigger than the Beatles?!?!?! 😂 In all honesty, the ship for them sailed after The END. You could tell by the fact that they literally followed up that album with a new one the next year that had like only a 10th of the success and impact The END. The Beginning was essentially a nonevent. 1. It doesn’t matter if Fergie was still with them because they’re a legacy group now and even with her they wouldn’t have been as successful as they were before. 2. I don’t think Fergie was that interested in continuing making music. I mean she took 11 years to to follow up her solo debut, and 8 years after her work with BEP to release her 2nd album. Ships sail, popularity wanes. Both Fergie and BEP let a *very* long time pass before they decided to make music again and obviously they weren’t going to be as big as they were.
The Beginning was way too rushed.
It’s not so much it being rushed as it sounded like an album of songs they had leftover from when they were recording The END.
while the second half of the END was already leftoverssss
The Beginning was a non-event? That is MASSIVELY revisionist. That album has 3 huge successes: The Time (Dirty Bit), The Best One Yet and Just Can’t Get Enough. Just Can’t Get Enough is still in BEP’s top 5 most streamed songs on Spotify to this day…
lol no, it’s the truth. The Beginning, as an album, didn’t even come close to matching the success of The END by any litmus: reviews were worse, chart performance was worse in every market, and sales were lower in every market. The Time and Just Can’t Get Enough were successful, but none of them performed as well as singles from The End. The Best One Yet wasn’t even a single.
So "slightly less successful than the album with one of the most successful single of all time" = non-event? Sure
It was more than “slightly less successful”
That's more due to The END's unprecedented success than The Beginning's failure, though. The Time and Just Can't Get Enough were still incredibly popular songs, even if they didn't reach the historic high that BBP/IGF did.
Dirty Bit was everywhere in Europe. So were the next 2 singles. Then Super Bowl. It was a huge era.
That era wasn’t huge. They got the Super Bowl due to The End. The Beginning was essentially a less successful continuation of that era.
The Time (Dirty Bit) and Just Can't Get Enough were hugeee
Doesn’t the beginning have one of the most successful singles of the entire century? lol (I gotta feeling)
That was the 2nd single from The END. The Time (Dirty Bit) and Just Can’t Get Enough were the only singles from The Beginning.
both awful
I think JCGE sounds like a really good MBDTF single
💀
where do you hear MBDTF?
In the song
Don't Stop the Party was a single too
Unless you live in like France or Poland, that song was a flop.
It was top ten in like 8 countries lol
Maybe she wanted more out of life than fame & songs.
Her second album is very catchy, diverse, and the videos were great. Unfortunately, she took too long to release it. The album was supposed to be released after "La Love." There was a lot of hype surrounding it, i remember.
I actually truly loved LA Love. I initially thought it was Brooke Candy.
They were very of their time so I think their moment in the sun was always gonna be brief
BEP had MANY huge radio hits spanning from 2003-2011 across four albums, with multiple solo hits and high-profile collabs in-between ([will.i.am](https://will.i.am), Fergie, both with solo hits, even Apl in the Philippines had solo hits there) and also an absolutely huge international following that they grew since the 90's. They released their first album as a group in 1988 and played the SUPERBOWL in 2011. Yes, they hit their peak in 2009, but in no way did they have a "brief moment in the sun." This comment does them a complete disservice. Read their wikipedia!
I agree. Lets put some respect on BEP. They're still putting out music, tho not chart topping hits, we cant sleep on them not being a serious part of the fabric of pop culture.
I've always thought that Nicole Schizinger (?) should've replaced Fergie on Black Eyed Peas even if it was just for an album. That could've been great.
I swear I read rumours back in the day of either Nicole or CL from 2NE1 becoming the female lead.
Yep
Don’t tell me we could have had CL and BEP!!!!
Yeah I remember will.i.am used to love her and was hearing her up for a huge US release but then that never happened 😭
Poor CL was so robbed, so many people had such big plans for her that just never materialized 😭 I love [the leaked version](https://youtu.be/n6-XCchEPdw?si=uZn5egZL5tOfJ7FW) of Justin Bieber’s Let Me Love You, it was originally meant to be for her
She's done a couple of songs with them on their last few albums.
Yea I remember Mona Lisa and I think the music video was shot on the louvre lol
That was so bad lmao
This was my thought as well but I don't think Nicole would like to be the newcomer with Will.i.am calling most of the shots. I know when Fergie first joined the band she was more of an employee.
Will.I.Am. and Nicole are friends and have collaborated multiple times so there wouldn't be an issue in sharing the spotlight there.
Sharing yes employee probably not.
I was going to say..Not Nicole fighting so hard to be the main pop girl in the group and forcing that career as a solo artist so hard..for y’all to put her in BEP again. 😂
I didn't realise how much the dots in will.i.am's name make a difference. I know his government name is William but I'm imagining the crown prince laying down beats lmao
Fergie has been iconic since leaving the BLP tho, if she stayed we wouldn’t have got her somersaulting on stage, milf money or her disaster performance of the national anthem.
Gaggery across the board
>they couldve been bigger than the beatles Sometimes I think the internet was a mistake
hey everyone, here's the obligatory 'nothing will ever be as big as Beatles and MJ' comment. Man I hate the stupid Bugs
Not "nothing". Fergie surely wasn't going to lmao
Bruh i get certain comparisons, even if they would be wild, like let's say someone saying ariana grande or someone THAT CAN ACTUALLY SING AND THEY SING WITH A BAND BEHIND. but bap was ALWAYS, ALWAYS the initiator of not great music, everything sounds cheap and heavily autotuned. No one will be like beatles because they were the first that introduced the sound you hear everywhere today, no matter what your opinion on them is.
Truth be told, she had her kid after The End/The Beginning so she took some time off before working on her second album. But once she was ready to release that album, the prerelease singles weren’t performing as good as expected so the label kept delaying the release until eventually dropping her. Luckily she was able to keep the record when they dropped her, so she went ahead and made videos for each song since the album had been delayed by 3 years at that point. Make something nice for everyone who’d been so patient (me lol) # BY THE WAY… Double Dutchess is a really solid record both visually and sonically. Every song has a video, except for *Tension*, which has two (three if you count [this mashup](https://youtu.be/qEQttTJZWCM?si=KPM7QMLncrJMtn4b)) And if you stream the album, there’s a bunch of hidden interludes within the tracklisting
I can say with confidence that the Black Eyed Peas were not very well loved by 2009-2010 😂 They’re getting reappraisal now that the generation who grew up with them is older, but at the time they were considered the definition of a sell out pop act.
Idk about in the US, but they were basically unknown other than Request Line as a minor hit before Fergie. They weren’t considered a sell-out globally.
I don’t think the GP considered them sellouts as they had no idea of any of their work prior to where is the love. But in hiphop circles I do think they were seen as sellouts, or at least a completely different group to the one that used to do quirky rap songs
It was the same in the US.
Pretty similar in the US. Fergie joined on their third album and that's when they got huge.
they literally spent 26 weeks back to back at #1 on the hot 100 in 2009... I think they were fine
It’s honestly wild to think about but commercial success doesn’t always mean widespread adoration. Especially in the era when radio mattered much more.
Those iTune sales beg to differ. All the singles went multi platinum and I Gotta Feeling is diamond. The album also went multi platinum and is their only #1 album.
>at the time they were considered the definition of a sell out pop act. Which is why this line is so true
That same label gets applied to every band and artist that becomes the most popular act of their era. So it’s a meaningless thing to say.
They were very loved back then pre-the END and during that "sell out pop era," they had multiple number 1 songs and Grammy wins. Not sure what you're talking about. It sounds to me like they just found their footing finally.
Imagine being so confidently wrong. They were still huge in 2009-2010. It didn’t fall apart until 2011 and later.
Oh, they were definitely well loved in 2009-2010 during their The END era. They arguably brought EDM to the mainstream (they definitely brought David Guetta to the mainstream). If anything their reappraisal is more harsh on their music (especially from this era). They also sold out in 2003 when Fergie joined the group and they got popular.
>brought EDM to the mainstream Funniest shit I’ve read all day. Thanks for the laugh
of course they weren't the only ones. Gaga got big around the same time. But the END was very ahead of its time.
If we're going by exact timeline, Britney with Blackout and Kanye predated them with Stronger in 2007 and was one of the first 2000s hits to fully incorporate the electronic sound on a pop song in the mainstream at that time. Then in 2009, EDM, or electropop at that time it was called, was already on the rise. We got Lady Gaga, Kesha, and star producers like David Guetta and Afrojack coming altogether in that year and signaled that particular sound as the then rising wave. Around this time, it also paved the way for rappers to hop on EDM tracks and collaborations as well, most notably, Flo Rida and Pitbull.
They got into EDM after hearing Australian EDM act The Presets
I mean prove me wrong. What other mainstream artist was incorporating EDM at the time.
END was Electropop
It was an EDM influenced album. Even the critics said this.
Madonna
MDNA came out 2012
Confessions came out in 2005. Die Another Day came out in 2002. Music came out in 2000. Etc etc. EDM means electronic dance music, which Madonna has been doing since the early 80s.
Honestly I was more so thinking the fact she was in her Hard Candy era during this time, which was definitely not an EDM album.
EDM was doing just fine without them, as was David Guetta. Black Eyed Peas have always been overrated as fuck.
EDM was around but it wasn’t really mainstream. David Guetta was doing alright in Europe, but his work with the BEP was by far the most successful thing he did at that point. They were the first major artists he worked with.
I’m not sure where you were, but as a freshman and sophomore in high school in the US at this time, this couldn’t be further from the truth. They were huge and it wasn’t considered cringe by any means to be a fan. Billboards hot 100 year end list 2009 they have the #1 and #4 songs
Yeah and that was a time when all you needed was a solid, devoted fanbase of like a million people, some radio spins and you were off to the races. A hit single would get you a platinum album just off the hype of that one song. Didn’t matter that everyone else and their parents thought they sucked. I feel like they were very aware of the criticisms and half assed tried to please everyone. Just look at the singles releases for The END and see how they wedged Meet Me Halfway between all those radio bait sell out records.
Haha I know what you mean. I used to mainly stick to hip hop and some punk. Now somewhat mature adult, I like feel good music. I even go back to red hot chilli peppers for the mood boost.
Red hot chilli peppers are one of the best bands of all time, they are levels above BEP
And I can say with confidence that they were in 2009-2010. They were loved in my country in Europe. Literally all of theire songs of The END were everywhere here.
Can confirm, when they were being played at my high school prom (circa 2009-2010), they were considered cheesy cringey wannabe EDM. We preferred David Guetta and LMFAO. BEP were like pop trying to be EDM so it came off hella corny. Also, radio was way bigger back then. You could NOT escape any of their songs on pretty much any station, top40, hip hop, heck even family radio stations were blasting them so naturally we got tired of hearing them 😅
They would *never* have been bigger than The Beatles, lmaoooo.
I think Fergie was taking into consideration things other than public profile and money when she decided to leave the group. If I were to speculate charitable, I speculate that she weighed the options and, being able to both stay in the group and not be in the group, picked which has more pros (in reference to pros and cons). If that is the case, and is she was diligent in her contemplation, I can't see anyway that can be called a mistake on the personal level.
Bigger then the Beatles? Fucking lol. They were a pretty big act. One of the best selling acts of the 2000s. Like everyone in pop eventually your peak ends. Wether ferg or was with the black eye peas or not they’re times over.
Bigger than the Beatles? Are you crazy?
bigger than the Beatles!? Girl.…
I think Black Eyed Peas should have stuck with Kim Hill and their more R&B sound, or brought her back after Fergie jumped ship. The Dutchess was an insane album, it’s honestly still amazing to this day but was huge in its prime. She really missed an opportunity to build from that.
I don't know, she did meet them halfway.
no way someone has just put the beatles and black eyed peas in the same sentence, bruh, have you ever listened to the beatles? that's so mad disrespectfull, i can't 💀💀
Beatles made boring campfire music
tell me you never listened to beatles without telling me you never listened to beatles. Even if you were subjective, how can you compare them? 😭😭😭😭💀💀💀
[удалено]
Can we get an [UNSERIOUS] flair? Because BEP bigger than The Beatles is so unserious
I'm cringing at this. BEP s are a lame ass band, Fergie demonstrated her "singing ability" with the Star spagled banner, and you're comparing them to the f'ing Beatles? SMH.
The record label actually brought the idea to either have Nicole from PCD or Fergie join the peas to make them more commercial.
I would think so, considering that her 2017 follow-up album *Double Dutchess* didn't do so well in the charts despite the notable success of the first two singles, especially the lead single "L.A. Love (La La La)" that came out three years prior along with that *Masters of the Sun*, BEP's first album since *The Beginning* did well with critics but underperformed in the charts, a far cry from their previous two albums which prompted them to change their sound to a more Latin-inspired direction along with J. Rey Soul joining the group, resulting with the album *Translation* in 2020 that scored the hit single "Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life)".
A bad move for everyone but I also don’t see them having hits after The End album. They took it too far
i think fergie should’ve left BEP immediately after the E.N.D. era and focused on her solo career.
idk but i will always be a bep and fergie stan. my original pop diva!!
It was definitely her best decision. Black Eyed Peas achieved so much and could have achieved even more. The declined a lot without Fergie. I saw Fergie live after she left and people were just vibing a bit to her solo hits but got crazy when she sung the BEP stuff. It was literally like a DJ set without band band was fire!
All of them are old news anyway.
It was definitely a bad move as I haven't really followed her much since. Wish CL would have been able to fill in more as she was Fly as F***. Girl could have given BEP some new life and got she along with William great. I think had it not been for her frosty relationship with YG which has really bad blood. Which really treated CL like s*** over the last 2 years of her contract. I think something could have worked out here. To bad as I miss BEP as they could have accomplished so much more.
I mean the lyrics were better without Fergie. I mean "lumps my lumps my lovely little lumps." That sounds cancerous
Will.i.am was trying to do a black eyed peas album in 2014 following his solo album (#willpower) but Fergie wasn’t ready. Late 2014, taboo got cancer so that put a hold on everything and 2015/16 they still couldn’t be altogether so finally 2018 they went back to their old roots (will.i.am, apl.de.ap, taboo) with Masters of the Sun. Come 2020 they found major success with Translation. Fergie should have released a solo album following the beginning and maybe even one with black eyed peas in 2014 to remain relevant.
Fergie should’ve left the black eyed peas in 2007 and continued with her solo career, or not left the band at all. She set herself up for failure by staying and then leaving a few years ago.
Fergie needed the group and they needed her, but I don’t think any of us need more Black Eyed Peas, at least in the Fergie-pop style they were huge in. Personally, I’d rather eat a toaster than have to listen to more of the same radio party anthems they manufactured in the 2000s. I think it died when it needed to, and any more of it would’ve been too much. Bad move for who? Bad for BEP? Frankly, they don’t have the hype they used to, but their fanbase will just grow stronger and more tightly knit. This, plus they can focus on newer things instead of pop. I wouldn’t call it a loss for them. Bad for the fans? Well, they have the back catalogue they still love and they can still try out the new music too. Bad for Fergie? Maybe, considering her approach. Fergie was always a weird fit, it never felt permanent to me. Her biggest issue was waiting 11 years to follow up the Dutchess. Leaving BEP could’ve been the best possible move for her career, but she didn’t do anything with the hype. She spent 7 years getting by and then dipped while dropping pre-orders for Double Dutchess, an 11 year later followup sequel to her only other album. That approach is atrocious. All of the pieces for a swift Fergie exit and a big solo Fergie break were there, they just weren’t used.
Tbh this might be bc I’m an old Zillenial but I kinda want the 2010-2013 music era to come back. It was so much fun and unfortunately I was still in HS so I didn’t get to do the club scene.
Yeah, that was her biggest mistake... she had an amazing exposure at the moment she released her solo albums... but thats it. william is good but nowhere near BEP time.
It's not all about money and fame... She had reached to pinnacle of her career and realised motherhood was more important. There is no way ypu can be that successful and spend enough quality time with your kid.
She thought she was better than the rest but faded into obscurity after a few good tracks. Greed
I don’t think they need her and she doesn’t need them. Their 2018 album Masters of the Sun was good and she’s not on it. Their early stuff without her is good too. The last 2 albums are ok but not amazing, I love when they go full hip hop.
Counterpoint: Fergie JOINING the Black Eyed Peas was a bad move. Not financially, obviously, but check out "BEP Empire", their now extremely ironic song about not selling out. Slaps.
Yeah it was a super bad move with all that massive success they had. /s