34.05, -118.25
William Adams (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he formed in 1995. The group, having released nine total studio albums, reached their furthest success in the 2000s with their albums Elephunk (2003), Monkey Business (2005), The E.N.D. (2009), and The Beginning (2010). Adams has served as the lead vocalist since its formation, although for the albums he did so alongside singer Fergie—who joined in 2002 and departed from the group after the latter album.
As a solo artist, Adams released his first two albums, Lost Change (2001) and Must B 21 (2003) to lukewarm commercial response. The former was released through Atlantic Records, while the latter contained the song "Go!", which served as theme music for the NBA Live 2005 and Madden NFL 2005 seasons. His third album, Songs About Girls (2007) spawned the moderate hit single "I Got It From My Mama," and marked his first entry on the Billboard 200 as a soloist. His fourth album, #willpower (2013) reached number nine on the chart and saw further success with its singles "Scream & Shout" (with Britney Spears) and "#thatPOWER" (featuring Justin Bieber). The former song reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, his guest appearances on Fergie's 2006 single "Fergalicious" and Usher's 2010 single "OMG" reached numbers two and one respectively on the chart.
A prolific record producer and songwriter, Adams has amassed credits on recordings for other artists including Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, U2, Kesha, Lady Gaga, Psy, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Estelle, Nas, John Legend, Cheryl, and 2NE1, among others. In collaborations and with the Black Eyed Peas, he has a total of 41 top-40 entries on the UK Singles Chart since 1998, and has sold 9.4 million singles in the country. He founded his own namesake record label in 1998, which has signed artists including LMFAO, Kelis, and Macy Gray.
Outside of his musical career, Adams has also served as a panelist and mentor on the reality competition series The Voice UK (2012–present), The Voice Australia (2014), and The Voice Kids (2017–2023). He is the recipient of seven Grammy Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, and a Daytime Emmy Award.