Fergie is perky.

If you don’t like that adjective, choose another one: cheerful, upbeat, bubbly, sunny, gleeful.

The woman born Stacy Ann Ferguson might be a pop superstar and a trendy glamour puss, but her celebrity status doesn’t make her sound haughty or bored.

During a recent phone conversation, the singer is bursting with goodwill, eager to chat about her Saturday appearance at the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil.

She asks questions about the festival, a tradition in Birmingham since 1986. Fergie also says she can’t wait to dig into a plate of mudbugs.

“I’d like to taste some of those,” she says. “I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty.”

Seems that the svelte solo artist and member of the Black Eyed Peas is something of a foodie. Southern shellfish doesn’t daunt her, and neither do tongue-burning seasonings.

“I’m a spice girl,” says Fergie, 33. “I carry spices around with me on tour.”

Fans will tell you, however, that her artistic reputation beats anything manufactured by those gals nicknamed Sporty, Posh, Ginger, Baby and Scary.

Put Fergie out front and she can really sing, as she has proved countless times on hits such as “London Bridge,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Glamorous,” “Clumsy” and “Fergalicious.”

Fergie has a few gymnastic tricks in her repertoire, as well, and has been known to perform one-handed walkovers on stage. These aren’t cartwheels, Fergie explains, although she’s not about to complain if people mislabel them.

Acrobatics came into play, Fergie says, while she was performing with her bandmate in the Black Eyes Peas, William James Adams Jr. (stage name: will.i.am).

“We were doing a battle during a song, and he started break dancing,” she says. “I had to step up and do something. I took gymnastics when I was younger, so I tried a walk-over and found I could still do it.”

When paparazzi snap shots of Fergie at glitzy events in Hollywood, she’s usually wearing figure-baring fashions and dangerously high stilettos. That wouldn’t work on stage, she says, laughing.

“Oh, no, I don’t usually perform in a lot of heels,” she says. “I only wear those at awards shows, when it’s like the prom.”

Instead, Fergie says, she’s all about comfort, individuality and girl power. Moms tend to bring their daughters to her solo shows — Fergie has lots of preteen admirers who know her songs by heart — and if she could teach them anything, she says, it would be to find happiness in their own skins.

“People made fun of me when I was in school,” she recalls. “I was different, and they always made fun of my clothes. But now I embrace being me. I’m not afraid to take chances.”

Developing a stage show and touring with her own group of backing musicians was a challenge at first, Fergie admits.

“But I’ve pretty much gotten my sea legs now,” she says. “I’ve always been in bands with other people, so it made me nervous. But I’ve gotten more experience and pushed through it.”

Fergie’s past hasn’t always been rosy — the former child star and girl-group singer struggled with drug addiction before she found her niche with the Black Eyed Peas — but Fergie says adversity has made her stronger.

“I was a people pleaser in my younger years,” she says. “I got into drugs and went to a lot of therapy. I learned healthy ways to have creative outlets.”

Now, in addition to her music career, Fergie designs a line of handbags for the Kipling company. She models, acts and is the spokeswoman for line of M.A.C. cosmetics, Viva Glam, that donates all its proceeds to an AIDS charity.

Her 2006 debut, “The Dutchess,” continues to draw listeners, and she’s still highly involved with the Black Eyed Peas. But Fergie says it’s about time she started working on another solo disc with her friend and producer, will.i.am.

“We’re planning on going into the studio this year and nurture some songs,” she says. “But ‘The Dutchess’ is still doing well. It’s got more legs than I have.”
Source: AL.com