dancing queen - Brooke Hauser

She’s a singer, a dancer, an actress, and a designer—Fergie gives
new meaning to the term “mover and shaker.” By Brooke Hauser
134
photographed by michael thompson
gutter credit
Dancing Queen
gutter credit
“Something inside of me said, ‘I need an
evolution.’” Makeup colors: Color Design
Eye Shadow in Fashion Forward and Color
Fever Lasting Radiance Lipcolor in Rose
Defile by Lancôme. Nylon Lycra swimsuit
by OMO Norma Kamali. Brass earrings
by Van der Straeten. Metal cuff by Krizia.
Patent-leather shoes by Christian
Louboutin. These pages: Hair, Kevin Ryan;
makeup, Brigitte Reiss-Andersen;
manicure, April Foreman. Fashion editor:
Paul Cavaco. Details, see Credits page.
135
i
t’s after dark at the Record Plant,
a legendary recording compound in
Hollywood, and inside the studio,
Fergie is dancing to her own beat.
Her new album with the Black
Eyed Peas, entitled The E.N.D.,
features a mash-up of sounds—
electro, rock, dub reggae—and
with each new track that she plays
for me, Fergie morphs into a different character. There is the funky robot,
which she simulates with jerky movements of her arms at 90-degree angles.
There is the low-riding chola, harking
back to her high-school days, when she
was a suburban California girl seeking to
emulate the tough style of the MexicanAmericans who lived nearby. Over time,
she has perfected the art of the lean-back,
a slow grind with one hand driving an
invisible steering wheel, which she demonstrates tonight. Finally, there is Stacy
Ferguson herself—barely recognizable as
a brunette, surprisingly petite, and completely in the moment, jumping up and
down and ripping air-guitar chords on
the thighs of her skinny black jeans.
As for Ferguson’s flirtatious alter ego,
she is nowhere in sight. The Dutchess
isn’t dead; she’s just been reincarnated. Gone are the messy blonde locks.
Ferguson recently unveiled her new
do—a sheet of sleek, almost-black hair
that’s more Queen of the Nile. Gone are
the teeny-weeny kilts, knee-high socks,
and tiaras, which have been traded in for
a look that’s more futuristic than fetishistic. Or, as Ferguson describes it: “I’m
kind of on this Judy Jetson vibe, but it’s
more like Judy Jetson after she’s traveled the world and become a gypsy.”
This evening, Fergie is outfitted in a
punk-rock ensemble, complete with a
leather-and-chain harness that fits snugly
over her thin blue T-shirt just below the
breasts, and black Doc Martens that, to
her embarrassment, look brand-new.
The image makeover is just one part of
Ferguson’s new persona, which has been
as expertly engineered as the album
itself; indeed, the two go hand in hand.
As a reminder of their vision, on top
of the studio soundboard, the Peas keep
a glass helix of neon light that is similar
to a lava lamp and bears a masking-tape
label that reads “Energy Never Dies.”
In addition to being the full name of
the new album—a reference to the first
136
law of thermodynamics, which says that
neither energy nor matter can be created
or destroyed—it could be Ferguson’s
personal motto. She has survived drug
addiction, heartbreak, and haters. (Her
father said “London Bridge” was “the
worst song that he’d ever heard in his
life,” Ferguson recalls with a smirk. “I
said, ‘Dad, I respect that, but I hope
you’re wrong, because it’s my first
single.’”) Nevertheless, she has proven
herself to be a constant in the business, a
kinetic presence who never fails to channel her energy into new directions.
At 34, she is married to the ridiculously handsome actor Josh Duhamel,
tion on Nine, director Rob Marshall’s
big-screen adaptation of the musical
based on Fellini’s film 8½.
As part of an ensemble that includes
Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, and
Penélope Cruz, to name a few, Ferguson
plays Saraghina, an old-world prostitute
who introduces young boys to the joys
of sex. “She’s almost animalistic. She’s
not the sharpest tool in the shed, but
she’s very physical, just very intense,”
the singer says, purring for effect.
“Saraghina is all woman.”
At the request of the director, Ferguson
put on weight for the role—17 pounds,
to be exact. Gaining the weight was the
“I’m not afraid to
show my flaws, and
I’m not going to
try to be perfect.”
whom she met in 2004 while shooting
an episode of his last TV show, Las
Vegas, and she’s thinking about starting
a family someday. But just because
Fergie-Ferg is settled down doesn’t
mean that she’s not still shaking things
up. “Change is just exciting for me,” she
says. “When I do something for too long,
I burn out. I need something to light my
fire. I sound like Jim Morrison: ‘Come
on baby, light my fire,’” she sings.
With her biggest tour ever with the
Black Eyed Peas kicking off this spring,
Ferguson decided to listen to the voice
in her head. “Something inside of me
said, ‘I need an evolution.’ I’m in a new
phase of life. I’m married; I have a new
album. It felt time.” Arching her right
eyebrow, which is conspicuously devoid
of a piercing, she adds, “I’m not just
going to be the booty-shake girl.”
Ferguson isn’t about to retire the
booty shake completely—she works too
hard on those glutes. She’d just rather be
remembered by other names. Grammy
winner, perhaps: She has won three.
Trendsetter: This spring, she debuted
her new stiletto and sneaker collections
with Brown Shoe Co. And now, movie
star: Ferguson recently finished produc-
fun part. While on location in London,
Ferguson and Cruz, who also needed to
be curvier for the film, ordered “everything fried and full of fat and salty,” the
singer says. “We were eating our brains
out.” But living with the extra poundage
proved to be a difficult adjustment for
Ferguson, an exercise fanatic whose body
is a recurring theme in her lyrics, whether
she’s singing about her “lady lumps” in
“My Humps” or about her workout routine in “Fergalicious.” (Sample lyric: “My
body stay vicious/ I be up in the gym just
working on my fitness.”)
Back in Los Angeles, where she and
Duhamel live in the ritzy neighborhood
of Brentwood (which she calls “Brent
Hood”), Ferguson was frustrated that
she couldn’t squeeze her various new
lumps into her skinny jeans. The pregnancy rumors started when the paparazzi
took pictures of her belly where once
there were abs of steel. “If I don’t do
sit-ups, my stomach sticks out,” says
Ferguson, adding that her arms are also
a difficult area for her. “Legs are easy
for me. That’s my lucky spot.”
Instead of galvanizing her to exercise,
her weight gain at first had the opposite effect. “It was a very gradual thing,
gutter credit
Ferguson in an homage
to the iconic 1964 William
Claxton photograph of
model Peggy Moffit
wearing a topless bathing
suit by designer Rudi
Gernreich. Nylon Lycra
swimsuit by Yigal Azrouël.
137
her green eyes flickering like a traffic light
stuck between “go” and “slow down.”
It’s a go: “The spelling is different
because I didn’t want people who didn’t
know how to say it to call it ‘the Doucheess,’” Ferguson explains. “I thought, ‘Let
me dumb-ify it a little bit.’ Sometimes you
smarten things up and get more clever with
words. It’s fun to go the other way, and
it’s always nice for people to not expect
as much from me.” She smiles coyly. “I’ve
always enjoyed being the underdog.”
I point out that she’s not really an
underdog anymore, but that seems to be
one reputation she’s not ready to give up.
For all her royal posturing, Ferguson is
no prima donna, a claim that she makes
in her hit song “Glamorous.” “I’m not
clean, I’m not pristine/ I’m no queen, I’m
no machine,” Fergie raps. “I still go to
Taco Bell/ Drive-through, raw as hell.”
So what about that time she compared herself to the People’s Princess
in an interview, crowning herself the
People’s Artist? Ferguson visibly cringes.
“I wasn’t trying to put myself up there
with Princess Di!” she squeaks. “I meant
that there’s a realness about my personality that I’m not afraid to show. I’m not
2001
1994
With actor David
Faustino On
Married With
Children “Oooh,
this is so funny. I
was just one of the
girls who gueststarred and had a
little flirt session
with Bud Bundy.”
2008
With Renee Sandstrom
and Stefanie Ridel of
Wild Orchid in West
Hollywood “I’ve always
been into costumey
looks. The tan is a bit
much with the hair, but I
understand what I was
going for. We didn’t have
stylists, obviously.”
With Josh
Duhamel at
the Grammy
Awards, Los
Angeles [In
baby voice]
“There’s my
husband and
me! Josh and I
didn’t know
we were being
photographed.
But that’s a
cute moment
of how we are
when we’re
together.”
2003
At the
Billboard
Music
Awards, Las
Vegas “This
dress has the
curvy pinup-girl
vibe. I’m doing
the whole
attitude, as you
can see. Little
ponytail, little
rockabilly. This
was one of the
first award
shows that I
went to with the
Black Eyed
Peas, and I
think we won.”
2008
Performing with Ann and Nancy
Wilson on American Idol’ s “Idol
Gives Back,” Hollywood “This was
a dream for me. I’m so excited that I
could throw up the devil horns—the rock
and roll sign—with Heart at my side.”
afraid to show my flaws, and I’m not
going to try to be perfect.”
i
f anything, Ferguson goes out of
her way to point out her flaws, as if
to beat everyone else to the punch.
Compliment her new hair, and she’ll
toss it to one side to show you the
extensions. Ask about her disappeared eyebrow ring, and she’ll close
her eyes and lean her head back, saying, “I have a hole in my face—you
can see it.” (The hole doesn’t bother her;
she’s just happy that the hair is growing
in again after a long period of “psycho
plucking” that began when she was 18.)
Those silver-and-black-striped fingernails? Stickers. “It’s a new thing that’s
going on,” she says. And while we’re here,
let’s discuss those fingers: “I’m a little bit
rough, and I’m always grabbing things or
mosh-pitting onstage. My hands aren’t
really dainty,” Ferguson sighs, splaying
her left hand and gazing admiringly at the
four-carat diamond that rests in a chunky,
cufflike H. Stern ring. “It’s fine. I’ve come
to terms with that.”
But that’s just the physical inventory.
It’s not every pop star who will own up
Performing with
James Brown at the
Avalon, Hollywood
“I went to Seattle, and
a lot of girls were
wearing little French
braids, and I thought,
What if I could do
French braids, and
make them really long
so onstage they’d move
around like snakes?”
2005
Performing on
Today, New
York City “I’m
doing a front
walkover. Those
are very stretchy
pants, so it’s easy.
I’m performing
‘Barracuda’; I’m
not going to
perform that song
half-assed. I don’t
care if it’s seven
in the morning.”
At the MTV
European
Music Awards
in Lisbon,
Portugal “This
was the bang
era, or “fringe”
in Europe. The
clip-on bangs
were a huge deal,
and there was
always drama
about the bangs
being lost. They
would travel with
us, and one of
the bags would
get lost, and
it’d have the
bangs in there.”
2008
2005
2009
2008
With Kiefer Sutherland
at the ESPY Awards, Los
Angeles “I’m a huge fan
of 24. On show days, I’ll watch
downloaded TV shows: Lost,
Gossip Girl. I won’t be that
social, because I’m saving my
charisma for the stage.”
for photographers’ credits, see credits page.
getting back into it and finally letting
a trainer train me,” she says. “I didn’t
want to be told what to do, and I wasn’t
mentally ready to crack the whip.” She
eventually hired Duhamel’s trainer to
work with her several times a week at
home. Each session lasts two hours, but
for the first half-hour, the trainer is there
simply to knock on her door and help get
her out of bed. “I’m a procrastinator,”
says Ferguson, who mixes up the routine
with weight lifting, outdoor hikes, and
jumping rope, an activity that, she jokes,
requires three sports bras. “I’ll be happy
with whatever body that brings me.”
A slammin’ one, in fact, and just in
time for the big tour, which she knows
will require every last drop of her energy and stamina. Back in the studio, the
Peas’ hoodie-wearing sound mixer teases
Ferguson, “You better start jogging and
rapping at the same time.”
Ever since the singer’s first solo
album, The Dutchess, debuted in 2006,
one question has been bugging me: Why
misspell “duchess” with a t? As she eats
string cheese while sitting on a couch in
one of the studio’s guest lounges, I finally
ask the Dutchess herself, and she smirks,
to urinating on herself onstage during
a concert, or to collecting unemployment while she was living with Mom, or
to talking to a laundry hamper during
a bad crystal-meth jag. (The drug can
cause paranoia and hallucinations.)
Thanks to years of soul-searching
and the hypnotherapy sessions that she
still continues today, Ferguson knows
her needs and limits better than most.
She works out in hotel gyms when
she’s on tour, but show dates are generally reserved for chilling out and
watching her favorite TV shows, such
as The Office. Other needs are of the
spiritual variety. Ferguson might be
described as a holistic hip-hop star: A
fan of The Secret who talks about vibes
and visualization, she has been known
to incorporate a little chant into preshow powwows with her dancers and
backup band. “I make everyone get
out anything that’s frustrating them,
so that it’s not brought onstage to
mess up the whole flow of the show,”
Ferguson explains. “It’s taking all that
negative energy and pushing it out
there into positive energy. At the end,
I say, ‘One, two, three—all your shit,’
“I’m not just going to be
the booty-shake girl.”
for photographers’ credits, see credits page.
2006
2008
Unveiling her
footwear
collection in
Las Vegas “I’m
putting myself
out there with
shoes that we’ve
designed, and
now buyers from
different stores
are seeing them.
I’m really proud
of them. It feels
good right now
to have a line
that’s recessionfriendly.”
In Poseidon “That was a diva
dress. I was a singer on the Poseidon.
I died in that film, too. Nine was
actually the first film that I didn’t
die in, because I did die in
Grindhouse and Poseidon, and I did
a movie when I was younger called
Monster in the Closet, and I died.”
2008
With Mariah
Carey at Fashion
Rocks, New York
City “They brought
out these T-shirts,
and some girls looked
disappointed. Such
a dream, to perform
with Mariah.”
sister named Dana, grew up with flowery
pink wallpaper and a pool in the backyard. Long before she started touring the
world with one of the most successful
hip-hop groups of all time, she brought
her act to neighborhood malls: At age
five, Ferguson got her first gig singing
show tunes from Annie and Cabaret with
a local ensemble called Karen’s Kids.
From a young age, Ferguson landed several television (continued on page 000)
“I need structure. I need to get enough
sleep. I need to make sure that I’m having
regular workouts, and that they put in time
for hair and makeup and nails, because I
do have to get my nails done,” Ferguson
says, affecting a don’t-get-it-twisted look.
“I have to get my roots touched up and
get facials, because when you’re traveling,
the skin doesn’t look as nice.”
High-maintenance? Perhaps. But
it’s all part of the job description, as
2006
before singing the
national anthem
at the NASCAR
Nextel Cup,
Daytona, Florida
“That was for
NASCAR, so I got into
the mood of things.
I like jumpers—you
can stick out your
stomach.”
Ferguson sees it, and her mission is
clear: “Basically, to be at my best in this
business, which is show business.”
Ferguson’s early years aren’t exactly
the stuff of hip-hop legend. She’s not
straight outta Compton, but rather
Hacienda Heights, an ethnically mixed
suburb about 35 miles away. The daughter of schoolteachers Terri and Pat
Ferguson, who divorced when she was a
teenager, Ferguson, who has a younger
and then everyone joins in, and we say,
‘Take it to the stage!’”
She may not fit the mold of the
typical diva, but experience has taught
Ferguson to be more vocal about her personal needs. “I’m not talking about green
M&Ms in the dressing room,” says the
singer, who, over the course of our interview, picks from a selection of steamed
vegetables, chicken with garlic sauce, fortune cookies, and Skinny Water.
With Jennifer Lopez and
Kate Hudson at Movies
Rock, Los Angeles “Kate
and I had a great time
filming Nine. We would hang
out and gossip and listen
to music. She’s similar to me
in that she works hard but
plays hard, too. Every time I
see Jennifer, we talk more
and more. She’s amazing.”
2007
2008
With Quentin
Tarantino in Las
Vegas “We have the
same birthday and
just had a blast. There
was definitely decadence
and debauchery.”
2008
2007
Performing in
Atlantic City “This
is the Dutchess persona.
It was a little tonguein-cheek with the tiara
and my version of the
Scottish kilt, modeled
after the tartan based
on my family’s
last name, Ferguson.”
At Project
Angel Food,
Los Angeles
“This is for
M.A.C. Viva Glam.
I’m their
spokesperson.
We go to different
programs around
the world. I
see so many
superficial things
that I love to get
to the real stuff,
real people
and what they’ve
been through.”
2009
With Alicia Keys
and Whitney
Houston at Clive
Davis’s preGrammy party,
Beverly Hills
“I remember
listening to Whitney
as a girl. I wanted
that power in my
voice. Alicia is really
such a beautiful
songbird.”
2008
At the March
of Dimes
Beauty Ball,
New York
City “It was
fun to come to
New York and
be a brunette.”
ALLURE:
“Did people
recognize you?”
FERGIE: “No!
Even my mother
will say, ‘I
didn’t put it
together that
that was you!’ ”
2009
139
bed time
(Continued from page 115)
to six months, so it’s hard to believe
copper delivered so passively would
affect the skin faster.”
WHAT IT IS: Natura World Aloe Dream
Mate Pillow, $70, and Aloe Mattress
Topper, $190
THE CLAIMS: Aloe’s “natural healing
properties promote cell repair” and
“cell regeneration.”
FEIN’S OPINION: “Aloe helps heal burns
and ulcers, so the pillow and mattress
topper could have a purpose after peels
or laser treatments that caused temporary irritation—but again, it’s not the
best delivery system.”
WHAT IT IS: Magniflex SeaCell Pillow,
$159
THE CLAIMS: Aloe vera “strengthens
the outer layers of skin, resulting in a
more youthful appearance.” Soy proteins strengthen hair with cystine.
FEIN’S OPINION: “It’s debatable whether aloe strengthens healthy skin; it’s
certainly not a wrinkle fighter. Cystine
produced in your hair makes it strong,
but even taking a cystine supplement
might not strengthen hair—it would
only benefit people who have an amino
acid deficiency, which is rare. And soy
has actually been shown to reduce hair
growth, making it a popular ingredient
in hair-minimizing body moisturizers.”
WHAT IT IS: Park Place Aloe Therapy
mattress, $1,399 to $2,299
THE CLAIMS: Aloe helps moisturize dry
skin. It also “stimulates the growth of
new skin cells.”
FEIN’S OPINION: “Why have a topical
delivery device that doesn’t even touch
your skin? The mattress is under sheets,
you’re wearing pajamas—how much
can your skin really benefit?”
WHAT IT IS: Magniflex Gold Collection
Pillow, $1,000
THE CLAIMS: Its 22-karat-gold fibers
are antibacterial, and historians believe
“that Cleopatra used pure gold as a tool
to maintain youthful skin.”
FEIN’S OPINION: “If gold is antibacterial—and I would like to see more
data—antibacterial pillows and bedding would be a great idea for hospitals,
but you still wouldn’t need them in your
beauty regimen. If gold caused a magical anti-aging effect, why couldn’t that
be duplicated by wearing gold jewelry?
Elemental gold—the kind used in jewelry and this pillow—is poorly absorbed
into the skin, which is good; otherwise,
exposure to metals is harmful.”
142
big in japan
dancing queen
(Continued from page 80)
shampoo and soap. I almost expected
the bathhouse attendant to ask me why,
after all this time, I had dared to return.
But she just took my money, handed
over a dish towel, and went back to
reading her book. The neighbors nodded and smiled and then ignored me
as I undressed, and it felt good to be
ignored. As I showered alongside
grandmothers giving each other shoulder rubs and mothers scrubbing their
children, I felt lucky to be allowed to
participate in this local cooperative
ritual, treated just like anyone else.
Could it be that I finally fit in?
“Ookii,” said an old woman as I got
in the crowded tub. My face flushed
with embarrassment as everyone stared.
Was this possibly the same old woman
who had called me huge before? I’d
been so focused on myself that I hadn’t
really looked at her, or anyone else, the
last time I came here. This lady was
probably in her 70s, her spine hunched
like a parody of mine when I slouched.
Her skin was crepey where it had come
in contact with the sun but smooth
everywhere else, her legs and arms
almost girlish. I felt humiliated as my
breasts floated to the surface, bobbing
in the water.
“Ookii,” she repeated, grinning.
“You’re right,” I said in Japanese,
my defensiveness ebbing as I realized
that her comment was merely an observation, a neutral fact that I had colored
with my own shame, a relic of the days
when I felt like a little girl trapped in
a grown woman’s body. Naked in that
tub, there was nothing to hide behind,
but there was also nothing to hide.
“Sekushii,” a teenage girl said.
“Sexy?” I echoed, doubting my own
translation.
“Beautiful,” the old woman said in
tentative English, now beaming at the
girl. I couldn’t tell who she was talking
to, but it didn’t matter. The old woman
could have been talking to any or all of
us, the grandmothers and mothers and
little girls sharing the communal water.
We were all beautiful in our nakedness,
lumpy and perfect, young and old, big
and small, more alike than different. I
leaned back, feeling a weight lift that
had nothing to do with size. u
(Continued from page 139)
spots that ranged from a recurring role
on the variety show Kids Incorporated
to the voice of Sally in Peanuts cartoons
and a girl flirting with Bud Bundy on
Married…With Children. In 1994, she
formed the girl group Wild Orchid, with
whom she later hosted a lip-synch TV
program called Great Pretenders.
Around the same time, Ferguson
developed a couple of hard-to-kick habits, both of which situated her squarely
in the realm of make-believe. One was
her obsession with costumes, which
began when she started creating theme
outfits to wear on her lip-synch show.
The other was her addiction to meth,
which spiraled out of control when
Wild Orchid broke up in 2001. After
cleaning up and joining the Peas in 2002—
a friend recommended her to sing backup
vocals on the track “Shut Up” on their
third album, Elephunk—Ferguson didn’t
want to wear anything other than her uniform of a white tank top and Dickies.
“By the time that whole period had
eaten me up and spit me out, I didn’t feel
frilly or girlie,” she says. “I’d been
through a hard time, and I just felt harder.
It took me a while to come full circle.”
Not that it’s a problem anymore.
Ferguson loves her costumes, and if you’re
wondering, yes, that goes for offstage as
well. “Oh, girl, I’ve got a big chest of fun
little numbers, ones that I would never
wear in public,” she teases. Such as? She
won’t elaborate, only saying that, when
it comes to sex after marriage, “nothing’s changed in that department. I like to
have fun with my costume onstage; why
wouldn’t I in the bedroom?”
That’s Fergie, all right: giving it up,
but not all of it. Her life is a peep show,
with the emphasis on “peep”—and every
show must end. After this interview, she
is heading home to be with her husband
and mother-in-law, Bonnie, whom she
affectionately calls Bon-Bon. Ferguson is
already planning to wake up early tomorrow morning to work out with her sister.
But first, here in the studio, she’s
cueing up another track. “Looky, looky,
looky what I got right here,” Fergie sings
along to “Take It Off,” knees knocking
and shoulders popping. “Nibble on my
cookie if you want to, dear....”
And the Dutchess lives. u
Allure/July 2009