Singer Fergie reunited with her Black Eyed Peas members onstage at the 2026 American Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 25, 2026. The group took home the award for Best Throwback Song for their 2010 hit song Rock That Body. For those uninformed, Best Throwback Song is a new category the awards ceremony introduced this year, and the Black Eyed Peas song won over 4 Non Blondes‘ What’s Up and Goo Goo Dolls‘ Iris.
Fergie was part of Black Eyed Peas from the early 2000s to 2017. She officially exited the group in 2018 and was replaced by J. Rey Soul that same year. Soul appeared on the first season of The Voice of the Philippines in 2013, where Black Eyed Peas member Apl.de.ap was a coach.
Fergie stepped back from Black Eyed Peas to focus on being a mother to her son Axl, whom she shares with ex-husband Josh Duhamel. The singer gave a heartfelt speech as she and her former groupmates, will.i.am, Taboo, and Apl.de.ap, accepted the award for Best Throwback Song, calling her groupmates her brothers.
Fergie also revealed that Rock That Body was the song that made her son listen to other Black Eyed Peas songs, saying:
“What a moment. I want to thank all of the fans for voting for this so I can stand up here right now with my longtime friends and brothers, the Black Eyed Peas. In honor of this special song, this era, ‘Rock That Body,’ there’s so many memories along the line with that.”
She continued:
“I want to thank everyone who made TikToks and Instagram videos and making this moment possible so that my son would put our song on his playlist. To all of our supporters who have made content throughout the years, thank you so much. Sometimes, the content you make is so big and the feelings are so big for me it’s overwhelming to look because there’s so much love that you put into it and I just wanna say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I see you, you mean so much.”
Rock That Body was released on Black Eyed Peas‘ fifth studio album The E.N.D., which included hits like Boom Boom Pow, Imma Be, and I Gotta Feeling. Rock That Body peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its release.
In a September 2025 Intagram post, Black Eyed Peas revealed that Rock That Body received “3× Platinum @riaa_awards certification in the U.S.” and landed “in @tiktok’s Top 10 Songs of the Summer globally.”
Fergie previously reunited with Black Eyed Peas for a birthday bash
In December 2025, Fergie took to her Instagram account to reveal that she and her Black Eyed Peas bandmates had gathered together to celebrate their milestone birthdays, given that she, will.i.am, and Taboo had all turned 50 that year. The singer posted photos of the group with the caption:
“Finally got to break bread and celebrate our milestone birthdays together. What a special night with my brothers, filled with so much love.”
Fergie was not the first female vocalist in Black Eyed Peas‘ lineup. The group was first formed in the 1990s with lead singer Kim Hill, who left after things started to get “clumsy and messy” and executives asked her “to grind on will.i.am in a bathing suit.” In a 2019 op-doc published by The New York Times, Hill explained about being objectified, adding that a “tug of war was about my sexuality and how much of that I was willing to like, literally strip down.”
“There was new management now, so it’s a whole different set of expectations and pressure. It just started to get clumsy and messy. You want me to grind on will.i.am in a bathing suit? That was being asked of me, never by the guys. That was happening from an executive level,” she added.
After Hill left, the group considered Nicole Scherzinger as the female vocalist before going with Fergie. The singer joined the group in the early 2000s and remained the female vocalist on its hits, including Pump It, My Humps, Boom Boom Pow, and Rock That Body.
In 2017, Fergie stepped away from the group and officially announced her departure in 2018. In a 2020 interview with Billboard, the other members explained her decision to step away from Black Eyed Peas, with will.i.am adding:
“We love her, and she’s focusing on being a mom. That’s a hard job, and that’s what she really wants to do and we’re here for her. …It’s really the way Fergie designed it, so we’re respecting her design. We love Fergie, and we don’t want anything but awesomeness for her.”
Other winners at the 2026 American Music Awards include K-Pop group BTS for Artist of the Year, Sabrina Carpenter‘s Man’s Best Friend for Album of the Year, SZA for Best Female R&B artist and Zara Larsson’s Midnight Sun for Breakthrough Album of the Year, to name a few.
Edited by Juhi Marzia