By Amanda Wicks
There’s no bad blood between the Black Eyed Peas and their leading lady Fergie, but the singer has been focused on releasing her upcoming sophomore album of late, so it makes sense that perhaps the group explores other options in the meantime.
Related: Fergie on Her Next Solo Album and Her Future with the Black Eyed Peas
Fergie told Radio.com she understood BEP’s desire to keep making music, even if it meant doing so without her. “I know they’re in the studio making music, and you know what? I am so happy for anybody who needs to make music in their life, they need to do that, and we just need to be happy for each other,” she said.
Here are five possible singers to fill her shoes in the meantime.
Gwen Stefani
A complete wild card, Stefani’s got the punk, rock and pop background to add something very different. Plus, her group No Doubt appears to have moved on and replaced her with AFI’s Davey Havok. That’s not to say she’s looking for a new group to join, but in a musical world where—more and more—everything goes, it would be interesting to see her pick up and shift gears by working with BEP.
Kehlani
Still a newbie to the scene, the Oakland R&B singer has a strong following thanks to her sultry vocals. And she’s just 20 years old. If BEP wants to add a youthful twist to their style and swagger then Kehlani would be a strong choice. Last year saw the singer experience intense personal turmoil when she allegedly tried to commit suicide, but she’s since returned and is preparing to release her debut studio album on January 27th.
Fifth Harmony’s Normani Kordei
Fifth Harmony has plans to continue on as a quartet without Camila Cabello, who split off recently to go solo, but that doesn’t mean Normani Kordei couldn’t be a contender for a side project. She’s been releasing more and more covers, including Tory Lanez’s “Say It” and Drake’s “Fake Love” and “Sneakin” and while she may not want to split off from an already splintered group, it seems like her vocals would be a strong addition to BEP.
Demi Lovato
At the outset, it doesn’t make sense for a successful solo artist like Lovato to join a group. In some ways that’s like moving backwards, at least by pop standards, but that’s not to say she couldn’t release one album and conduct a North American tour with BEP. Her Janis Joplin-esque pipes would be a compelling contrast to the slick pop-R&B fusion will.i.am continues to dream up.
Nicole Scherzinger
Former Pussycat Doll turned solo artist, Scherzinger makes the most sense considering she’s worked with largely the same genres as BEP. Her own projects haven’t done as well as she liked and rather than continuing to pursue a solo career, she’d fit in extremely well with BEP thanks to her smooth vocals. Plus, thanks to all that Pussycat Doll training, Scherzinger has killer dance moves to add to their music videos, tour and more.
