Walhalla temple, Germany

Along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, U.S.

A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field. The meaning of "Fame" has changed over the years, originally meaning "renown" as opposed to today's more common meaning of "celebrity".^[1]

In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or museums which enshrine the honorees with sculptures, plaques, and displays of memorabilia. Sometimes, the honorees' plaques may instead be posted on a wall (a '"wall of fame") or inscribed on a sidewalk (a "walk of fame" or an "avenue of fame"). In others, the hall of fame is more figurative, and just simply consists of a list of names of noteworthy individuals maintained by an organization or community.

The English-language term was first used for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at Bronx Community College, in New York City, although its inspiration, the Ruhmeshalle in Munich, Germany, also means "Hall of Fame". The Walhalla Temple in Bavaria, Germany, is an even earlier hall of fame, conceived in 1807 and built between 1830 and 1842.

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Halls of fame

Look up hall of fame in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• R. Rubin (1997). "The Mall of Fame". The Atlantic Monthly 280 (1): 14–18. 

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The Script
The Script, Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2008
Background information
Origin	Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Soft rock, alternative rock, blue-eyed soul, worldbeat
Years active	2001–present[1]
Labels	Sony Music Entertainment
Associated acts	mytown (1996-2001)
Website	thescriptmusic.com
Members
Danny O'Donoghue Mark Sheehan Glen Power

The Script are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Based in London after signing to Sony Label Group imprint Phonogenic, the band released their eponymous debut album in August 2008, featuring the hit songs "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" and "Breakeven". The album debuted at number one in Ireland and the UK.^[2] Their second album, Science & Faith, was released in September 2010, and contains the hit songs "For the First Time" and "Nothing". The album debuted at number one in Ireland and the UK, and number three on the US Billboard 200.^[2][3]

Their music has been featured in many video games and many popular television programs including 90210, Ghost Whisperer, The Hills, Waterloo Road, EastEnders, Made in Chelsea and The Vampire Diaries. Frontman Danny O'Donoghue is also a coach on The Voice UK.

Biography[link]

Danny O'Donoghue and Mark Sheehan met in a club in The Liberties area of Dublin, Ireland near the Guinness brewery, gravitating to each other through a shared liking of music, and in particular a love of R & B music (Rhythm and Blues). "At that time, MTV only came on in Dublin after midnight, it was the fuzzy channel, and for my generation urban culture was just a wave through us all," explains Sheehan. "It wasn't about gangs and guns; it was fashion and fun, singing and dancing." ^[4]

Mark and Danny were formerly part of a band that had formed in 1996 called mytown. Striking up a songwriting and production partnership, O'Donoghue and Sheehan's talent was recognized early, and, to their astonishment, they found themselves invited to Canada to collaborate with some of their production heroes, including such legends of modern R&B as Dallas Austin, Montell Jordan and Teddy Riley. They were based in the US for many years, but moved back to Dublin where they recruited Glen Power for their new band. He had been playing sessions from the age of fifteen, using the money to work on a solo project in his home. But that went on hold when his collaboration with Mark and Danny produced three songs in one week. The band signed to Phonogenic in 2005, and released an EP on Last.FM. The band's influences include a diverse group of artists that include U2, Coldplay, The Police, The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Van Morrison.^[5] O'Donoghue also made a reference to Amy Winehouse and Stevie Wonder while discussing his personal voice while singing. They have worked on a few collaborations with Amy Winehouse and Denzel Washington, varying styles and genres. He stated that the instrument he attempts to imitate is a violin, based on the string arrangements of Stevie Wonder, while Amy Winehouse is similar to a saxophone.^[6]

Danny and Mark started making demos for other artists, but when they met drummer Glen Power, the objective changed. The pair had never heard Power play, but they made a connection that motivated Sheehan to invite Glen on a working holiday to Los Angeles. In one week, the trio produced three songs. "It was like I found my home playing with these guys," says Glen. "I had never had a chance with any other band to express myself with such freedom." "Individually, we all had our own talents, but together it just went to another level," according to Danny.^{[cite this quote]}

In the beginning years of the band, Mark Sheehan's mother fell terminally ill, causing a lot of stress on the band and members, but it also had a positive effect on Sheehan's writing. With such strong emotional tension, the songwriter found new lyrics every day. Sheehan said that "That was the time when it finally came home to me how important music was to me, 'cause in my darkest moments that's what got me through." After Sheehan's mother's death, ten months after her diagnosis, Danny's father died four months later of a heart attack. Even with such trying moments in their early years, the band was able to rise out of it, albeit with somewhat bleak lyrics in several songs, as commented by Danny when referencing "We Cry": "There is not a lot of hope in the song, cause not everybody's life is full of hope. There's not always roses at the end."^[6]

[edit] The Script (2008–2010)

The Script performed "We Cry" for the first time on BalconyTV in Dublin on 13 September 2007.^[7] The band claimed that BalconyTV was the "first TV they ever did" and credited Michael Hunter as the "push we needed to propel us" when they won Best Band at the DanishTV Music Video Awards 2009 in the Pepper Club Dublin on 20 June 2008. At the awards the band said the award was their "first ever".^[8] The Script released their debut single "We Cry" on 14 April 2008. "We Cry" received "Single of the Day" on RTÉ 2FM, Today FM and by Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1, where many radio presenters heavily supported the band.^[9] The single peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart,^[10] giving the band their first top 20 single. The track also performed well on the Irish Singles Chart, peaking at number 9 and giving the band their first top ten single in their home country.^[10] The Script also performed 'We Cry' on one of the CW's TV series, 90210.

Their second single, "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", was released on 15 September 2008.^[11] The single reached number 2 in Ireland, Denmark, and the UK.^[12] The band released their debut album, The Script, on 11 August 2008. Following the success of "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one with sales of 20,240 copies where it stayed for eleven weeks. The album spent three weeks in the top ten and was the eighteenth best selling album in the UK of 2008. The album also entered the Irish Albums Chart at number one, holding the top spot for five weeks.^[13] It had, as of January 2009, spent 2 wks. in the top 10. The Irish office of Sony BMG music presented the group with their first multi-platinum disc for over 600,000 sales of their debut album, The Script.^[14]

The band's third single, "Breakeven", was released in Ireland on 21 November 2008 and in the UK on 29 December 2008. The single was an instant success on the Irish Singles Chart. After entering the chart at number forty, it spent one week before entering the top ten at number ten giving the Script their third top ten single in Russia. The single has, to date, spent 4 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 21. The band's fourth single "Talk You Down" was released in March 2009.^[15]

On 9 November The Script received an award at the World Music Awards for 'Best Selling Irish Act' of 2008 and on 19 February 2010, they won 'Best Live Performance' at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards. The band has confirmed that they plan to write a track for Leona Lewis's second album.^[16] In December 2008, the band were confirmed to be supporting Take That at their concert at Croke Park on 13 June 2009. The band played at the Cheerio's Childline concert on the opening night of Dublin's 02. They played among big stars Enrique Iglesias, Anastacia and many more.

On 7 April 2009 the band was confirmed to be supporting U2 on their third concert at Croke Park, which took place on 27 July 2009.^[17] On 29 April 2009, the band announced that their next single would be Before The Worst, to be released on 15 June 2009.^[18] On 17, 18 and 21 July 2009, The Script opened for Paul McCartney at the historic first concerts at New York's Citi Field^[19] and for U2 at Dublin's Croke Park.

The band's bonus track and B-side "Live Like We're Dying" was re-recorded by American Idol 2009 winner Kris Allen as the first single off his self-titled album. Allen's version of "Live Like We're Dying" was digitally released for download on 21 September 2009.^[20]

On 2 December 2009 the band's single "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" was featured as a remix on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show during the Enchanted Forest segment.

On 16 April 2010, their first U.S. single "Breakeven" was certified Platinum by the RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America), selling over one million copies in the U.S. and has since peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 2010. The band performed a headline tour in the United States that kicked off in San Diego on 11 October 2010 at the House of Blues and ended on 7 November 2010 at the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts.^[19] On 21 May 2010, they appeared live on NBC's Today Show as part of the show's outdoor Toyota Concert Series.

[edit] Science & Faith (2010-2011)

The Script announced a new album and single on their website on Monday, 19 July 2010. The first single from album Science & Faith, "For the First Time", was released in the UK on 20 August 2010 and the album followed on 13 September 2010. In the United States, "For the First Time" was released on iTunes on 8 November 2010, with "Science & Faith" was released on 18 January 2011.^[21] The song was first released in the United States on AOL Music on 29 September 2010.^[22] "For the First Time" has entered the UK charts at #5 and moved up to #4 the following week and entered the Irish charts at #1. The music video features Bono's daughter Eve Hewson. Science & Faith entered the Irish Album Chart and the UK album chart at #1.

The Script recorded their album in London, and vocalist Danny O'Donoghue says that the economic crisis in Ireland is "a microcosm for the rest of the world." He talks about people being stripped of everything that they own and how it inspired the band to write the songs for the new album. Danny says, "We're dealing with complex emotions in the simplest of ways, that's what we battle with in these songs." The subject matter might sound bleak at first, but Science & Faith is about optimism. "With Irish people, no matter how bad things get, you always pick yourself up and carry on."^{[cite this quote]}

On Friday, 24 September at 9:00am tickets for The Script's three nights at The O2 Dublin, two nights at The Odyssey, Belfast & two at The INEC, Killarney went on sale and sold out in less than 40 minutes, with over 60,000 tickets sold. On 1 October at 9:00am tickets for The Script arena tour in March 2011 went on sale. The tickets for all 12 arenas around the UK sold out in 5 days. They also announced that they would play a "Homecoming" concert at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. This is part of the Science & Faith Tour and will be their biggest headline show to date.

The Script also took part in Children in Need 2010. The Script will be participating in the VH1 Best Cruise Ever and sailing to Cozumel 28 April-2 May 2011. The Script took part in BRMB's live 2010 with acts such as The Saturdays, Mark Ronson and Mcfly. The Script were nominated for Best International Act at the 2011 Brit Awards. The Script announced that they will perform at: Pinkpop festival, V festival, Oxegen, Isle of Wight Festival, T in the park, Thetford Forest Show, iTunes Festival, Skanderborg Festival, Sudoeste Festival, Tennents ViTal.

The Script also played to the biggest indoor crowd of 18,300 people at The Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg South Africa 24 June 2011.

They later went on to play their official biggest crowd ever on 2 July 2011 in Dublin's Aviva Stadium, and performed to a sold-out crowd of 50,000 people. The Coronas and Tinie Tempah were support acts on the night.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• The Script (2008)
• Science & Faith (2010)

Tours and shows[link]

• Science & Faith Tour
• iTunes Festival 2011
• Isle Of Wight Festival 2011
• Radio City Music Hall - October 9, 2012
• V FEST 2011
• World Tour October 2012

Awards and Nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The Script at MySpace
• The Script at Billboard.com
• The Script on BalconyTV – Music With Nothing
• BBC Talking Shop: The Script by Neil Smith, 17 April 2008 at ITV
• BBC Music Club: The Script
• The Script CD review in MTVMexico.com
• Talk You Down Review at Daily Music Book
• The Script Interview in the Virgin Red Room
• Project This = Love, home to the only charity group for fans of The Script

This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that disputed facts are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page. (January 2012)

will.i.am
will.i.am in January 2010
Background information
Birth name	William James Adams, Jr.[1]
Also known as	will.i.am, Zuper Blahq, Will 1X
Born	(1975-03-15) March 15, 1975 (age 37) East Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, U.S.[2]
Genres	Hip hop, R&B, electro
Occupations	Rapper, actor, singer-songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, bass, clavinet, Fender Rhodes, drums, piano, moog bass
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Ruthless, Warner Sunset, Atlantic, Geffen, A&M, Interscope, Columbia, will.i.am music group
Associated acts	Demi Lovato, Eazy-E, Atban Klann, The Black Eyed Peas, David Guetta, Jack Johnson, Cheryl Cole
Website	will-i-am.com

William James Adams, Jr. (born March 15, 1975), better known by his stage name will.i.am ("will I am") is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, entrepreneur, actor, DJ and producer.

He came to prominence in the late 1990s as a member of the hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas The group consists of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide.^[3] Their first worldwide song was "Where Is the Love?" in 2003, which topped 13 charts worldwide. Another single was the European hit "Shut Up". Their next album Monkey Business, was a worldwide success, certified 4× Platinum in the U.S., and spawning two singles, "My Humps" and "Don't Phunk with My Heart". In 2009, the group became one of only 11 artists to have simultaneously held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, with their singles "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling"; which topped the chart for an unprecedented 26 consecutive weeks in 2009. The album later produced a third Hot 100 number-one placement with "Imma Be", making the group one of few to ever place three number one singles on the chart from the same album before being followed with "Rock That Body" and "Meet Me Halfway" which managed to peak in the Top 10 of Hot 100. "I Gotta Feeling" became the first single to sell more than 1 million downloads in the United Kingdom.^[4] The Black Eyed Peas were ranked 12th on the Billboard's Decade-End Chart Artist of the Decade, and 7th in the Hot 100 Artists of the Decade.On the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony, which held in January, 2010 they won 3 awards out of 6 nominations. In November 2010, they released the album The Beginning. In February 2011, the group performed at the Super Bowl XLV halftime show. The album's first two singles "The Time (Dirty Bit)" and "Just Can't Get Enough" became international hits and topped the charts in many countries. In July 2011, during their promotional tour the group announced that they are taking a break and have denied rumors that the band has broken up.

Will.i.am has also release four solo albums. The first Lost Change was released in 2001 on Atlantic Records. The album itself is the original soundtrack to the movie of the same name. A music video was made for the song, "I Am", however, no singles were released from the album. The second solo album Must B 21, was released on September 23, 2003. Track seventeen on the release, "Go!", was regularly used as the theme for the NBA Live 2005 and Madden NFL 2005 seasons. A video for the track was also recorded for use within the sports, however, no singles were released from the album. The third album Songs About Girls, was released on September 25, 2007. The first single released from the album was a club track titled "I Got It from My Mama" which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #31 on the 17th of August 2007. The album also featured singles "Heartbreaker" and "One More Chance". #willpower is the upcoming, fourth studio album.

Will.i.am is also a music producer, he has produced with other artists including Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Eazy-E, Britney Spears, U2, Rihanna, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Earth, Wind & Fire, Nicki Minaj, Cheryl Cole, 2NE1, SMAP, The Game, Nas, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Daddy Yankee, Wolfgang Gartner, and Juanes. He is a coach on The Voice UK.^[5]

Early life[link]

William Adams was born in East Los Angeles, and raised in the Estrada Courts housing projects in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, where he and his family were one of the few African Americans living in a predominantly Mexican American community.^[6][7] He never met his father,^[2] William Adams, Sr., and grew up with his mother, Debra,^[8][9] who encouraged him to be unique and to avoid conforming to the tendencies of the other youth in his neighborhood on the eastside of Los Angeles. She encouraged him to begin working on his musical career by sending him to public schools in affluent West Los Angeles.^[2] While attending Palisades Charter High School, will.i.am became best friends with Allan Lindo (stage name apl.de.ap), who was also a future member of The Black Eyed Peas. While still in high school, will.i.am and apl.de.ap performed in East L.A. clubs and were soon joined by three other entertainers to form the socially conscious rap group, Atban Klann. Atban Klann caught the eye of Compton rapper Eazy-E and was signed to his label, Ruthless Records, in 1991 (or 1992 as mentioned in 'Music Career' paragraph below – uncertainty).

will.i.am used to attend raves while in high school, and claims that his history with rave culture is why he chose a more electro sound for The Black Eyed Peas' albums The E.N.D. and The Beginning. Despite the use of electro and house music elements, will.i.am prefers to separate the underground from pop in order to maintain the theory that rave music is for esoterics of rave culture (such persons are otherwise known as 'ravers'). In an article with Los Angeles Times, he mentions that secrecy over the whereabouts of raves is what made raving special, and different from the mainstream.^[10]

Music career[link]

1988–2000: Formations and The Black Eyed Peas[link]

will.i.am performing with the Black Eyed Peas in June 2009

will.i.am's music career began in the summer of 1988, when as an eighth-grader, he met up with fellow rapper Allan Pineda (apl.de.ap) and fellow student Dante Santiago. They began performing together around Los Angeles and were soon discovered by rapper/entrepreneur Eazy-E, who signed them to his label Ruthless Records in 1992. At the time, Will was known as "Will 1X". The Atban Klann's first ever official track, "Merry Muthafuckin' Xmas", was included on Eazy-E's EP 5150: Home 4 tha Sick. After this, the trio began recording an album, "Grass Roots", with the help of producers Mookie Mook and DJ Motiv8, however, the album was never released, due to Eazy-E's death in 1995. After Eazy's tragic death, Atban Klann changed their name to the Black Eyed Pods, and Will replaced Dante with Jaime Gomez, better known under his stage name of Taboo. In 1997, they once again changed their name, this time to The Black Eyed Peas, and began recording their first album, "Behind the Front", with the help of soul singer Kim Hill. They were soon signed to Interscope Records, and released their debut single, "Joints & Jam", in early 1998. The album was successful enough for the group's contract to be renewed, and in 2000, a second album, Bridging the Gap, was released.

[edit] 2000–2003: Lost Change, Elephunk and Must B 21

Following the release of Bridging The Gap, Will began recording his first solo release, Lost Change, which was the official soundtrack to the film of the same name. Featuring collaborations with Medusa, Planet Asia and Terry Dexter, the album was a critical success,reviews wherever it was covered.

In November 2001, work began on a third Black Eyed Peas album, Elephunk. Development of the album began on November 2, 2001 and was released just under two years later in 2003. At the time of development, only will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo were to feature on the album. During the production of "Shut Up" (the second single released from the album), they realized that a female vocal would work well with the song. Originally, Nicole Scherzinger (lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls) was approached to make a guest appearance on the record. She was forced to decline because she already was signed to a contract with Eden's Crush. Danté Santiago then introduced Fergie to Will who was impressed with her vocal talents. She immediately formed a bond with the band and became a permanent member of the Peas and her photo was printed onto the album cover. Nine out of the fourteen tracks were composed by lyricist Robbie Fisher, who has been working closely with the band since the beginning stages of the album. In the United States, Elephunk reached number 14 on the Billboard Top 200 and is their first album to chart in the top 15. It gained even more commercial success in the UK Album Charts where it reached number 3. It has sold over 1.6 million copies in the UK and 8.5 million copies worldwide.^[11] The singles "Where Is The Love?" and "Shut Up" reached number 1. "Hey Mama" has been used for several advertisements including advertisements for Apple and iTunes. "Let's Get It Started" also received universal acclaim in the media section where a cover version of the song appears in the film Hot Tub Time Machine.^[12] After the success of Elephunk, the Peas were approached by EA games to feature some of their music on the 2004 game The Urbz. They remixed some of the tracks on Elephunk and translated it into Simlish and created new tracks for the game. They also feature in the game as playable characters.^[13]

The group released their breakthrough single, "Where Is The Love", in November 2002 (featuring Justin Timberlake, although he did not appear in the video). On the strength of that single and follow-up singles like "Shut Up", Elephunk went on to sell 8.5 million copies worldwide. During this time, Will recorded a second solo album, Must B 21. In 2002, Will recorded the song "Secrets" for the soundtrack to Dexter's Laboratory: The Hip-Hop Experiment, a film accompaniment to the Cartoon Network series. Prior to this, he had also composed the theme music for another Genndy Tartakovsky series, Samurai Jack.

[edit] 2003–2006: Monkey Business'

In November 2003, work began on a fourth Black Eyed Peas album, entitled Monkey Business, the second album with new band member Fergie. Upon the success of Monkey Business, which was released in 2005, the album was certified three times Platinum by the RIAA in the U.S. and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The Canadian Recording Industry Association (or CRIA) has certified Monkey Business 6x Platinum, with sales of over 600,000 copies. The Australian Recording Industry Association (or ARIA) has also certified Monkey Business 6x Platinum, denoting sales of over 420,000 copies. The album's tracks earned the group four 2006 Grammy Award nominations and they also won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Don't Phunk with My Heart". According to IFPI, over 2 million copies have been sold in Europe.^[14] In the UK alone, it has sold over 1 million copies, although this is significantly lower than their sales of Elephunk, which stand at over 1.6 million copies^[15] and 10 million worldwide. the band announced they were going to take a break to focus on their own personal projects. Will went on to produce Ferguson's first solo album, The Dutchess, which was released in 2006, before beginning work with Michael Jackson, who had requested Will's expertise for the recording and production of his new album. Work began on the Jackson album in 2006, and continued until the singer's death in 2009, at which point Will revealed that none of the material recorded during the period would be released. However, remixes recorded for Jackson's Thriller 25 anniversary album were released in 2008.

[edit] 2007–2009: Songs About Girls and Change Is Now

will.i.am with Sheryl Crow and Herbie Hancock performing We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert.

In 2007, Will announced that he had co-created an all-female soul band entitled the Paradiso Girls, who he intended to work with on an upcoming solo project. The album, Songs About Girls, was released in 2007. The album spawned three singles, "I Got It From My Mama", "One More Chance" and "Heartbreaker", and fared slightly better than his previous solo efforts, however, failed to shift more than 75,000 copies.

In 2008, Will contributed the song "One Tribe" to the Survival International charity album, Songs for Survival.^[16][17] Also in 2008, Will featured on rapper Flo Rida's debut album, Mail on Sunday, where he produced and featured on the song "In The Ayer", and featured on Usher's sixth album, Here I Stand. In January 2008, Will announced plans that he was masterminding a political album, Change is Now: Renewing America's Promise, in support of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The first single, "Yes We Can", featured a music video directed by Jesse Dylan. The lyrics of the song are composed almost entirely of excerpts from Obama's speech on January 8, 2008, following the New Hampshire presidential primary election. The video features appearances from numerous celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adam Rodríguez, Kelly Hu, Hill Harper, Amber Valletta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger, Nick Cannon, Bryan Greenberg, and Common and first appeared on the website for Dipdive. The video racked up three million views within a week and over four million subsequently on YouTube. On June 13, 2008, "Yes We Can" won an award at the 35th Annual Creative Arts and Entertainment Daytime Emmy Awards for "New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment".^[18] On February 29, 2008, the album's second single, "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.^[19] Following the 2008 election, and Obama's victory, Will released the album's third single, "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. In honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama as president, will.i.am collaborated with producer David Foster on the album's fourth single, "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 album's fifth and final single, "The Jackass Song". Will.I.Am It features a sample of Kanye West's "Heartless".^[20] Will wrote a blog post which featured the song on Dipdive, and released in February 2009.^[21] will.i.am attended and spoke at the FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff on January 8, 2011, declaring, "I am a FIRST fan."^[22] He has also named FIRST Founder Dean Kamen "one of [his] heroes" on his verified Twitter account.^[23]

[edit] 2009–present: Black Eyed Peas reformation and #willpower

In March 2009, Will announced plans for The Black Eyed Peas to return, and within months, their comeback single, "Boom Boom Pow", had reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart and Billboard Hot 100. They went on to have three #1 singles before releasing their comeback album, The E.N.D. The album's success warranted a second comeback album, The Beginning, released in November 2010. The album spawned another three hit singles, but the band soon announced plans they were to break again, following the conclusion of their world tour.^{[citation needed]} In 2009, Will worked with rappers Flo Rida and Akon for Flo's second studio album, R.O.O.T.S., and recorded four tracks with Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole for her debut solo album 3 Words. He also worked with Rihanna on her fourth studio album, Rated R, for a track called "Photographs". In February 2010, he wrote and produced the single "OMG" by Usher, which appeared on Usher's seventh studio album, Raymond vs. Raymond. In a YouTube video posted by YGLifeOfficial on March 15, 2010, Will expressed his desire to work with Korean K-pop girl group 2NE1, and help them achieve international success.^[24] Will has recorded a collaboration with Britney Spears, "Big Fat Bass", which features on her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale.^[25] Dated Aliya Katie Harris for 9 years of his life.

During the recording of The Black Eyed Peas' sixth studio album, The Beginning, band colleague Fergie announced in an interview that Will was in the process of recording a new solo album, tentatively entitled Black Einstein.^[26] Will formally announced that he was in the process of recording a fourth solo album, with some material being recorded under the pseudonym Zuper Blahq.^[27] In January 2010, a cut from the album, "I'm In the House", a collaboration with Steve Aoki, was released as a single, charting at #29 on the UK Singles Chart due to strong downloads. In October 2010, a second cut from the album, "Check It Out", a collaboration with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2011, a third cut from the album, "Dance", a collaboration with Natalia Kills, peaked at #62 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video was directed by James Sutton, and features a cameo by Natalia. In April 2011, Will recorded four songs for the soundtrack of the animated film Rio, in which he voiced a character. "Hot Wings (I Wanna Party)", "Drop It Low", "Real In Rio" and "Advice For The Young At Heart", featuring an array of artists including Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway and Tears for Fears. None of the songs managed to chart, however, Will announced that he was going to remix the tracks for inclusion on Black Einstein. In September 2011, a fourth cut from the album, "Forever", a collaboration with Wolfgang Gartner, was released as a single. It was around this time that Will announced that he changed the title of the album from Black Einstein to #willpower.^[28] The video premiered on August 26, 2011. In November 2011, Will premiered what is intended to be the album's official lead single, "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)", a collaboration with Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger. Will announced via his Twitter that the video for "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)" was filmed in LA, and that before he returned home, he stopped off in Brazil to film the video for the album's second official single, "Great Times". In December 2011, a fifth cut from the album, "Party Like An Animal", a collaboration with Dutch singer Eva Simons & LMFAO, premiered at the HTC Beats Launch party. Will also announced he has collaborations with Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, Swizz Beatz and a couple others on the album. He also stated there is a possibility Shakira could feature on the album.^[29] #willpower is due for release in 2012. will.i.am later confirmed that Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber would also appear on #willpower.^[30]

Other ventures[link]

Acting[link]

will.i.am first started acting alongside the rest of the members of The Black Eyed Peas in the commercial series "Instant Def" to advertise Snickers.^[31] He starred in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa as the voice of the character Moto Moto. He contributed a number of tracks to the movie's motion picture soundtrack in collaboration with industry heavyweight Hans Zimmer. will.i.am played John Wraith in his major film debut, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a prequel to the X-Men film series. He also guest starred on the CBS drama Joan of Arcadia as God, one of several actors who played this role during the series. He also starred in the 2011, animated film Rio, as a rapping red-crested Cardinal named Pedro, and like Madagascar: Escape to Africa, he contributed his singing voice to the film's soundtrack, along with his fellow co-stars. will.i.am played a fathering role in The Urbz: Sims In The City, which uses The Black Eyed Peas' songs as its soundtrack. He briefly played himself in the Tina Fey and Steve Carell Comedy Date Night.

The Voice[link]

On 25 October 2011, it was reported that American rapper will.i.am would be joining The Voice UK as a coach. A source said, "Will is 95 per cent a done deal. He a big star and loves nurturing new talent. He shoots from the lip, and will not be afraid to tell it like it is. Although, I doubt The Voice will be as bitchy as The X Factor".^[32] will.i.am was later confirmed as a coach on The Voice UK, of this he said, "I'm proud to be doing The Voice UK because the UK was the first place I saw success," he said. "It's the place I'm the most creative outside of home." Cohen added, "I am thrilled that will.i.am has signed up to be a coach on The Voice. He is a huge star who will bring a unique creativity to the show."^[33] Talking about the differences between the show and X Factor, "I won’t be a judge on X Factor. The Voice is different. You can’t even compare the two. One, you have people in the music industry, current and legends, coaching the next generation. The other format you have judges critiquing, giving their opinions on things when they don’t really know, other than Randy Jackson on Idol.^[34]

In preparation for the role as a coach, he asked friend and ex-X Factor judge Cheryl Cole. Talking to Captial FM he said, "I reached out to Cheryl for advice on keeping your cool, having a poker face, the importance of sticking with the singers – it's their dream, a lot of the times when you have other performers a part of the show, celebrities tend to want the shine so they hog up time. So my whole thing was that I want to do The Voice, but I don't want to hog up time to where the singers up there are looking like, 'Is this about you guys?'.^[35] In March 2012, it was reported that he had turned his "plush" dressing room into a recording studio, and "instead of just listening with his headphones, he has installed some mega bass bins". A show source said, ""Will.i.am goes everywhere with his music kit. So it was no surprise to everyone when he and his crew turned up with a stack of gear on the first day. Producers thought it was great as we want him to be happy while he's on the show, and who knows what ideas he'll come up with for his acts? But the stuffy suits upstairs were a bit unhappy about it. Will has some serious bass in there and it was vibrating the walls—you could almost see the dandruff being shaken off their heads".^[36]

Fashion[link]

Before joining The Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. In 2001, he began designing his own signature clothing line, i.am, which made its official debut in 2005 at the Magic Apparel Trade Show in Las Vegas.^[37] In 2007, will.i.am teamed up with Blue Holdings to design a premium denim collection, i.am Antik, that was scheduled to debut in August 2007 at the Project Show in Las Vegas.^[38] will.i.am instead had new partners and was launching i.am. Will.i.am is currently being sued for $2 million for abandoning the project for which, the label states, he was obligated until 2016, but will.i.am insists is already over

Other activities[link]

will.i.am speaking at the 2011 FIRST kickoff at Southern New Hampshire University with Dean Kamen

will.i.am appeared at the kickoff event for the 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition, Logo Motion held at Southern New Hampshire University.^[39] He stated that he is "a big fan", and that the newly unveiled game was "dope". During his interview, he said that "his mama will work with yo mama". He also performed a concert for FIRST at the 2011 FIRST World Championship at the Edward Jones Dome. will.i.am appeared in concert with the Black Eyed Peas as a part of a special concert for 2011 FIRST Robotics Championships. It was recorded for a special aired by ABC on August 14, 2011 at 7 pm. In January 2011, Intel named will.i.am as "director of creative innovation", with input in developing smart phones, tablets and laptops.^[40] In January 2012, he appeared on the BBC TV series Top Gear, as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, where he revealed he will be starting his own car company called IAMAUTO.

will.i.am is the founder of i.am angel, a non-profit dedicated to "transforming lives through education, opportunity and inspiration." In an interview, the performer said "I hope none of the kids I send to school only want to do music. The world doesn't need another musician. They need another Bill Gates."^[41]

Personal life[link]

According to an interview with the British tabloid The Sun, will.i.am says he suffers from tinnitus, a disorder which is common among musicians who have been exposed to loud music for prolonged periods of time.^[42] He is the nephew of former NFL player, Lynn Cain.

Feud with Perez Hilton[link]

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.^[43] 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 Tweeting 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.^[44]

According to news reports, AP article via MSNBC,^[45] Hilton called will.i.am a "faggot" in the club, but Polo Molina (Black Eyed Peas's tour manager) was responsible for punching Hilton from behind. The incident was captured by a nearby photographer^[46] and also in a video that documents the encounter. Gossip website TMZ released a video showing the incident.^[47] Liborio Molina, a 36-year-old California resident, has been charged with one count of assault.^[48][49] Since the incident, will.i.am has received support from other celebrities including Josh Duhamel, John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson, LMFAO, Zac Efron, Breckin Meyer and Jimmy Kimmel.^{[50][51][52][53][54]}

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Lost Change (2001)
• Must B 21 (2003)
• Songs About Girls (2007)
• #willpower (2012)

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

TV series[link]

Video games[link]

Awards[link]

Daytime Emmy Awards

• 2008, New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment: "Yes We Can"^[55]
• 2011, Best Original Song "What I Am"^[56]

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^[57]

Latin Grammy Awards

• 2006, Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album: "Timeless", Sérgio 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.^[58]

Kids Choice Awards

2011– Favorite Band and three times KCA winners

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Will.i.am

• Official website
• will.i.am on Twitter
• will.i.am's channel on YouTube
• will.i.am at the Internet Movie Database
• will.i.am at Beatbuggy
• iam-fan – will.i.am website