Zephyring 20 years ago, Fergie unleashed “Fergalicious” ft. Will.i.am as the 2nd single from her legendary ‘The Dutchess’ album.
Released for airplay on October 23, 2006 as Fergie being sassy, confident, and showing off from a strong female perspective, while also paying homage to Salt-N-Pepa.
The song took its time climbing entering the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 79, cracked the top 10 a few weeks later, and eventually peaked at a stellar No. 2 after selling 294,000 downloads in a single week. Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” kept it from No. 1, but that download total was still the biggest one-week digital sales figure ever at the time.
It was also a solid international hit, reaching No. 4 in Australia and No. 5 in New Zealand while charting across Europe. The Fatima Robinson-directed video leaned all the way into the song’s sugary attitude, inside a candy-factory world with Willy Wonka inspiration.
