The Black Eyed Peas is an American
hip hop group, consisting of rappers
will.i.am,
apl.de.ap,
Taboo, and singer
Fergie. Originally an
alternative hip hop group, they subsequently added
R&B and
EDM influences. 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. Since that time, the group has sold an estimated 76 million records (35 million albums and 41 million singles), making them one of the
world's best-selling groups of all time. According to
Nielsen SoundScan, the Black Eyed Peas were the second-best-selling artist/group of all time for
downloaded tracks, with over 42 million sales as of the end of 2011.