Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group, consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and J. Rey Soul. Originally an alternative hip hop group, they subsequently refashioned themselves as a more marketable pop-rap act. Although the group was founded in Los Angeles in 1995, it was not until the release of their third album, Elephunk, in 2003, that they achieved high record sales.
Black Eyed Peas' first major hit was the 2003 single "Where Is the Love?" from Elephunk, which topped the charts in 13 countries, including the United Kingdom, where it spent seven weeks at number one and went on to become Britain's biggest-selling single of 2003. Their fourth album, Monkey Business, was an even bigger worldwide success, and became certified 3× Platinum in the United States. In 2009, the group became one of only 11 artists to have simultaneously held the number-one and number-two 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.
The album The E.N.D. 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 peaked in the top 10 of the Hot 100. "I Gotta Feeling" became the first single to sell more than one million downloads in the United Kingdom. At the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony, held in January 2010, they won three awards out of six nominations. In November 2010, they released the album The Beginning. In February 2011, the group performed in the Super Bowl XLV halftime show.
Black Eyed Peas have sold an estimated 80 million records, making them one of the best-selling groups of all time. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the group were the second-best-selling artist/group of all time for downloaded tracks, behind Rihanna, with over 42 million sales. They were ranked 12th on Billboard's 2000s Decade-End Artist of the Decade Chart, and 7th on the Hot 100 Artists of the Decade.