Will.i.am

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.

William Adams was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 15, 1975, the son of an African-American mother Debra (née Cain) and Jamaican father William Adams Sr. He has never met his father, and was raised by his mother in the Estrada Courts housing projects in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, where they were among the few African-Americans living in a predominantly Hispanic community.

He did not discover his full birth name until he was 25.

His mother encouraged him to be unique and to avoid conforming to the tendencies of the other youths in the neighborhood.

To guide his musical career, she sent him to public schools in the more affluent West Los Angeles area such as Paul Revere Charter Middle School, which was one hour-long bus journey away.

During the regular school year, he attended Palisades Charter High School.

During that time, he started going to raves with classmate Pasquale Rotella.

Adams' maternal uncle is former NFL player Lynn Cain, who inspired him during his early years.

While studying at summer school at John Marshall High School, Adams became best friends with Allan Pineda (better known as apl.de.ap), who would later become a member of the Black Eyed Peas.

While still in high school, Adams and Pineda performed in East Los Angeles clubs and were soon joined by three others to form the socially conscious Atban Klann rap group.

In the summer of 1988, will.i.am began his music career as an eighth-grader when he met up with rapper Allan Pineda (better known as apl.de.ap) and fellow student Dante Santiago.

Atban Klann caught the attention of rapper Eazy-E and Mason Miller, signing to his record label Ruthless Records in 1992.

Adams later said 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 an article with Los Angeles Times, he mentioned that the secrecy surrounding the whereabouts of raves is what made raving special and different from the mainstream.

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".

Atban Klann's first song, "Merry Muthafuckin' Xmas", was included on Eazy-E's extended plah 5150: Home 4 tha Sick (1992).

He is best known as the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he formed in 1995.

Afterward, the trio began recording an album, Grass Roots with the help of producers Mookie Mook and DJ Motiv8, but the album was never released due to Eazy-E's death in 1995.

Subsequently, they changed their name to 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.

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 namesake record label in 1998, which has signed artists including LMFAO, Kelis, and Macy Gray.

They were soon signed to Interscope Records, and released their debut single, "Joints & Jam", in early 1998.

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).

The album was successful enough for the group's contract to be renewed, and in 2000, a second album, Bridging the Gap, was released.

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.

As a solo artist, Adams released his first two albums, Lost Change (2001) and Must B 21 (2003) to lukewarm commercial response.

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.

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.

The former was released by Atlantic Records, while the latter contained the song "Go!", which served as theme music for the NBA Live 2005 and Madden NFL 2005 seasons.

In addition, his guest appearances on Fergie's 2006 single "Fergalicious" and Usher's 2010 single "OMG" peaked at numbers two and one on the chart, respectively.

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.

His third album, Songs About Girls (2007) marked his first entry on the Billboard 200 as a solo act and spawned the moderate hit single "I Got It From My Mama."

Outside of his music, Adams has 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.

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 peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.