FERGIE TO RECEIVE BILLBOARD'S "WOMAN OF THE YEAR" AWARD

Black Eyed Peas vocalist and six-time Grammy-winning artist Fergie will receive the Woman of the Year Award at the 2010 Billboard Women in Music Event on Dec. 2 in New York.

"I am humbled and excited to accept the Billboard Woman of the Year Award," Fergie says. "Being honored by Billboard is a great career achievement."

Fergie spent 2010 touring the world alongside her Black Eyed Peas bandmates on the Blackberry Presents: The E.N.D. World Tour, performing hits from the group's hugely successful 2009 album, "The E.N.D."

The Black Eyed Peas own the longest streak of consecutive weeks spent at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart by any artist in the chart's 52-year history, with 2009 singles "Boom Boom Pow" reigning for 12 weeks and "I Gotta Feeling" for 14. Additionally, "I Gotta Feeling" is the best-selling digital song in Nielsen SoundScan history.

"The E.N.D." is first album in two decades by a group to yield five top 10 songs on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. The album has sold 2.8 million copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.

On. Nov. 30, the Black Eyed Peas will release "The Beginning," their sixth album and an aptly-titled follow-up to "The E.N.D." The album's first single is "The Time (The Dirty Bit)," which will be released Nov. 9.

As a solo artist, Fergie released 2006's "The Dutchess," an album that spawned three No. 1 songs on the Hot 100. "The Dutchess" became the first debut collection by a female artist since 1990 to generate five top 10 singles.

In addition to her thriving music career and extensive charity work related to breast cancer awareness, Fergie has seen success with her fragrance line Outspoken, her multiple fashion lines under Fergalicious and her acting career.

"Fergie took the music industry by storm the moment she came onto the scene, and we're thrilled to celebrate her career achievements and incredible successes over the past year by honoring her with the Billboard Woman of the Year Award," says Bill Werde, Billboard's editorial director. "Fergie is a unique artist with great business savvy, style and an unbelievable dedication to philanthropic efforts, making her an inspiration to aspiring female artists everywhere."

Billboard's annual Women in Music Event celebrates the most powerful and talented women in the music business, coinciding with the publication of Billboard's Women in Music Power Players list.

Source: Billboard.com | by Jillian Mapes, N.Y. | October 28, 2010 11:40 EDT

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