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William James Adams, Jr. (born March 15, 1975), better known by his stage name will.i.am (Template:Pron-en will-eye-AM) and occasionally his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, songwriter, singer, actor, and producer. will.i.am rose to fame as a frontman and co-founder of the hit hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas, with rappers apl.de.ap, Taboo, and later added member, R&B singer Fergie. As a producer, he has produced with artists such as Cheryl Cole, Daddy Yankee and Usher, as well as several tracks for Michael Jackson, which will be released on Jackson's forthcoming posthumous album.

In September 2007, will.i.am's record label Universal Music Group decided on a pilot scheme to reward file sharing with cash incentives, which included tracks from his latest solo album, Songs About Girls.

In 2008, will.i.am was hired by Michael Jackson to produce and remix some songs for the Thriller re-release, Thriller 25. Also in 2008, will.i.am contributed the song, "One People," to the Survival International charity album, Songs for Survival.

will.i.am appeared in the We Are the World 25 for Haiti music video. He is previewed in the video/song "OMG" (2010) by Usher.

He performed at the annual Electric Daisy Carnival in June 2010.

In October 2010, Will.i.am appeared on ITV1's popular TV show the X Factor as a celebrity guest judge to Cheryl Cole, when it came to the stage of the judges houses. Here he helped the Girls Aloud singer decide who would go through to the live shows.

In a YouTube video posted by YGLifeOfficial on March 15, 2010, will.i.am expressed his desire to work with and help k-pop girl group 2NE1 achieve international success. He later produced many songs and recorded with them in his own studio located in Los Angeles and also in a London studio.

will.i.am played a fathering role in The Urbz: Sims In The City, which uses The Black Eyed Peas' songs as its soundtrack.

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On February 29, 2008, a second video, "We Are the Ones," was released on Dipdive and YouTube. Including cameo appearances from Jessica Alba, Ryan Phillippe, Kerry Washington, pop punk band Yellowcard's front man, Ryan Key, John Leguizamo, Regina King, Tyrese Gibson, Eric Mabius, Tichina Arnold, Adrianne Palicki, comedian George Lopez, and singers Macy Gray, Zoe Kravitz and The Black Eyed Peas' Taboo, the video features everyone chanting "O-BA-MA" as a portrayal as their hopes and wishes for Barack Obama and his presidential campaign.

On November 4, 2008, will.i.am spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper about his support for then-Senator Obama using CNN's 'hologram' technology.

After the 2008 election, will.i.am released "It's a New Day." The video reflects on the historical events that led to the election of the first African-American president and the public's reaction to his election. The video features celebrities such as Fergie, Olivia Wilde, Kanye West, Harold Perrineau, Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick. The video first debuted on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The track also appears on the 2009 compilation album, Change is Now: Renewing America's Promise.

In honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama as president, will.i.am collaborated with producer David Foster on the patriotic song "America's Song", with contributing vocals from Seal, Bono, Mary J. Blige, and Faith Hill.

In response to Barack Obama's reaction following Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards will.i.am penned "The Jackass Song". It features a sample of Kanye West's "Heartless". will.i.am wrote a blog post along with the song on Dipdive.

Controversies

After-party incident in Toronto

On June 22, 2009, blogger Perez Hilton accused will.i.am and his entourage of assaulting him in Toronto after the MuchMusic Video Awards, a charge will.i.am denied in a video posted on his blog. From his account, Hilton was rude to Fergie and will.i.am confronted the blogger. will.i.am gave his account on his blog:

I didn't hit you. I told you that I didn't like the fact that you disrespected us. It’s cool to have your opinion, but dude, apparently you were bleeding outside the club, I was like next to you by a tree, waiting for my car and instead of calling the police you Twittered that I assaulted you. Sounds like somebody wants mad attention and is not really concerned about his health. I didn’t hit you, and this is very wrong that you are Twitting that I did that, once again disrespecting me and everything I stand for. And they’re lies and that’s wrong. Shame on you, shame on your behavior. And that’s just messed up.

Awards

Daytime Emmy Awards

• 2008, New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment: "Yes We Can"

Grammy Awards

will.i.am has won 7 Grammy Awards:

• 2005, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Let's Get It Started", The Black Eyed Peas
• 2006, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Don't Phunk with My Heart", The Black Eyed Peas
• 2007, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: "My Humps", The Black Eyed Peas
• 2009, Best Urban/Alternative Performance: "Be OK"
• 2010, Best Short Form Music Video: "Boom Boom Pow", The Black Eyed Peas
• 2010, Best Pop Vocal Album: "The E.N.D.", The Black Eyed Peas
• 2010, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group: "I Gotta Feeling", The Black Eyed Peas

Latin Grammy Awards

• 2006, Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album: "Timeless", Sergio Mendes (producer)

BMI Awards

• 2010, BMI presented the BMI President’s Award to will.i.am in recognition of his work as an artist, producer, and humanitarian. The honor is bestowed on an individual who has distinctly and profoundly influenced the entertainment industry. .

Discography

• Lost Change (2001)
• Must B 21 (2003)
• Songs About Girls (2007)

See also

• Black Eyed Peas discography
• will.i.am production discography

References

1. Pay-per-listen innovation from Black Eyed Peas man (thelondonpaper)
2. Songs for Survival – Survival International
3. Swift, Jacqui (2008-10-17). "Bruce Parry says he owes the tribal people so much | The Sun |Showbiz|Something For The Weekend". The Sun. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
4. "Electric Daisy Carnival – to take over Exposition Park LA". DanceNova. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
6. "Video - Breaking News Videos from". CNN.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
7. "The Jackass Song" uploaded by will.i.am
8. Blog written by will.i.am
9. "Perez Hilton Asks Twitter Followers to Call Police on will.i.am". latimes.com. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
10. "[Dipdive] iamwill » TV". Dipdive.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
11. "daytime entertainment emmy awards creative arts, creative craft winners". Emmyonline.org. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
12. "GRAMMY.com". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
13. "BMI Honors will.i.am, Lil Wayne, Polow Da Don, EMI Music Publishing & More at Urban Awards". bmi.com. Retrieved 2010-10-06.

External links

• Official website
• Will.i.am on Twitter
• Will.i.am at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• Living people
• 1975 births
• 1990s singers
• 2000s singers
• 2010s singers
• American film actors
• American male singers
• African American rappers
• American record producers
• Grammy Award winners
• Hip hop record producers
• Hip hop singers
• Latin Grammy Award winners
• Rappers from Los Angeles, California
• Ruthless Records artists
• Black Eyed Peas members