The love is in Manchester right now…
Ariana Grande joined the Black Eyed Peas, who are currently without Fergie while she works on her solo project, onstage to perform their classic 2003 tune “Where is the Love?” at the star-studded One Love Manchester benefit concert Sunday. Fans were treated to the A-list pairing for the star-studded evening.
“We love every single love of you,” will.i.am told the crowd.
“Manchester, I love you so, so much,” Grande said. “Thank you so much.”
On Thursday, entertainment news magazine Ahlan! reported that he, Taboo and apl.de.ap had confirmed to the outlet that Fergie had left the band. But all is not what it seemed…
will.i.am said, “Since the beginning of Black Eyed Peas, we’ve always had amazing vocalists that appeared on the mic with us. People like Macy Gray, Esthero, Debi Nova, Fergie. On Elephunk, there were several females that appeared on that album. Obviously Fergie was the featured female, but on songs like ‘Let’s Get it Started,’ it’s Noelle [Scaggs], and then Fergie, songs like ‘Latin Girls,’ it’s Debi Nova, and ‘Request Line,’ it’s Macy Gray. We’ll always work with good females.”
But on Friday, will.i.am clarified what he meant in a tweet: “Lies…@Fergie is focusing on #DoubleDutchess & @BEP is doing #MastersOfTheSun…That doesn’t mean @fergie is out of the group #BEP4ever.”
Fergie has not recorded new music with the BEP in five years and the last performance she did with them was at Coachella in 2015.
The attack, which happened after Grande’s concert in the English city, killed 22 people and injured dozens more.
After the bombing, the singer penned a powerful essay announcing that she would be coming back to the city to put together the “One Love Manchester” concert. In addition to the Black Eyed Peas, the “Dangerous Woman” singer enlisted the help of Coldplay, Pharrell Williams, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Niall Horan, Little Mix, and Robbie Williams.
“I don’t want to go the rest of the year without being able to see and hold and uplift my fans, the same way they continue to uplift me,” Grande wrote via social media on May 26. “Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before.”
She wrote, “I’ll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honor of and to raise money for the victims and their families.”