Will.i.am. Photo / Supplied
It was the Black Eyed Peas' Big Day Out shows in Auckland and Australia during 2001 - when they performed alongside Coldplay and Limp Bizkit - where rapper Will.i.am found out what it takes to rule the stage.
"Those festivals taught me how to hold my own in front of
rock fans," he says. The mega-selling musician, producer and entrepreneur is back Downunder this week, having appeared on The Voice Australia and to play the Hallenstein Brothers' Ultimate After Party bash in Auckland tonight.
Since the Big Day Out, he has watched the Black Eyed Peas become one of the most successful pop groups of the decade, winning six Grammys and selling tens of millions of albums and downloads. They rank alongside Madonna and Beyonce as acts to be given a lucrative Super Bowl half-time slot, while I Gotta Feeling is the most downloaded song on iTunes.
Eyebrows were raised when Will.i.am put the group on hiatus two years ago, a move he says was important to test his creative powers.
His first solo album, #willpower, features collaborations with Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, and yet the 38-year-old singer admits to nerves over its release.
