will.i.am
William Adams (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, record producer and songwriter. 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 lead vocalist since its formation, although for the albums, he did so alongside singer Fergie—who joined the group in 2002 and departed after the latter album.
This article is about the American rapper. For other uses, see William.
will.i.am
William James Adams
- Will 1X
- illwilly
- Willonex
- Zuper Blahq
March 15, 1975
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Rapper
- singer
- record producer
- songwriter
- musician
- DJ
- actor
- Vocals
- keyboards
- bass
- drums
1988–present
Lynn Cain (uncle)
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 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. 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." 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. 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 singles and albums for other artists including Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, U2, Kesha, Lady Gaga, Psy, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Estelle, Nas, John Legend, Cheryl, and 2NE1, among others. Through his solo career and collaborative work 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.[3] He founded his namesake record label in 1998, which has signed artists including LMFAO, Kelis, and Macy Gray.
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.
Early life[edit]
William Adams [4] was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 15, 1975, the son of an African-American mother Debra (née Cain)[5][6] and Jamaican father William Adams Sr.[7] He has never met his father,[8] and was raised by his mother in the Estrada Courts housing projects in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles,[9] where they were among the few African-Americans living in a predominantly Hispanic community.[10][11] He did not discover his full birth name until he was 25.[7] 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,[8] 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.[12][13]
Adams' maternal uncle is former NFL player Lynn Cain, who inspired him during his early years.[14] 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. 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.[15]
Other ventures[edit]
Acting[edit]
The Black Eyed Peas, including will.i.am, first started acting in the commercial series "Instant Def" to advertise Snickers chocolate bars.[56] He starred in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa as the voice of the hippopotamus character Moto Moto. He also contributed a number of tracks to the film's soundtrack in collaboration with the score composer 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, and 2014's Rio 2, as a rapping red-crested cardinal named Pedro, and like Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, he contributed his singing voice to the film's soundtrack, along with his fellow co-stars. In The Urbz: Sims In The City, will.i.am appeared as himself along with the Black Eyed Peas, and the film also uses Black Eyed Peas' songs as its soundtrack. He briefly appeared as himself in the Tina Fey and Steve Carell comedy film Date Night. He appeared in the 2016 Grammy-nominated documentary film about American DJ and producer Steve Aoki, titled I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.[57]
The Voice UK and Australia[edit]
On being confirmed as a coach on The Voice UK, will.i.am said, "I'm proud to be doing The Voice UK because the UK was the first place I saw success," and "It's the place I'm the most creative outside of home." Danny Cohen, controller of BBC One, 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."[58] 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".[59]
In preparation for the role as a coach, he asked advice from friend and ex-The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole. Talking to Capital 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?'.[60] 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".
On November 26, 2013, will.i.am was announced as a coach for the 2014 series of the Australian version of The Voice along with fellow Voice UK judge Kylie Minogue. He was the winning coach having coached voice winner Anja Nissen in 2014. Neither will.i.am nor Minogue returned for the fourth series in 2015.
He has contributed to The Voice UK since 2012.[61] He also served as a coach on the UK version of The Voice Kids from 2017 to 2023.[62]
Fashion[edit]
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.[63] 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.[64] will.i.am instead had new partners and was launching i.am. Will.i.am is currently being sued $2 million for abandoning the project for which, the label states, he was obligated until 2016, but will.i.am insists it is already over. He also launched his own glasses range.[65][66]
Personal life[edit]
In December 2010, will.i.am discussed suffering from tinnitus as a result of his career.[80] In April 2013, he revealed that he has ADHD.[81] He became a vegan in early 2017.[82]
The i.am Angel Foundation provided fast internet access to the Estrada Courts housing project in Boyle Heights where he formerly lived.[9]
Legal issues[edit]
On June 22, 2009, gossip 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. No further action was taken.[83]
In late 2019, will.i.am's technology company i.am+ was the subject of multiple tax liens, with the state of California alleging over $500,000 in delinquent taxes and the federal government alleging $1.78 million in delinquent taxes and interest.[84]