“Everyone knows their songs”: people of all ages are eagerly awaiting the Black Eyed Peas

Headlining the ^29th Garorock, California's Black Eyed Peas are eagerly awaited this Sunday, July 6, to close the festival. While waiting for the show, the fans have their say.

Black Eyed Peas. Three words and dozens of hits that are stuck in everyone's head. The American group will be the highlight of the ^29th edition of Garorock. "It's intergenerational," says 20-year-old Nina. Active since 1995, the trio now formed by will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, formerly fronted by singer Fergie, has left its mark on the first quarter of the ^21st century with its hits. From "Where is the Love," their first song to flood the charts in 2003, to "Ritmo" with Colombian J Balvin, the band resonates with audiences of all ages.

It must be said that in thirty years of career, the group has had a string of popular hits, like "I Gotta feeling"... "Wouhouuu" fans systematically sing when they mention the featuring with the French DJ David Guetta. A hit that has been setting dance floors alight in France and Navarre since its release sixteen years ago.

Lucie was only 7 years old at the time. But this song is a must-have for her. The 23-year-old is "a real fan," her group of friends confirms. "I especially like their old-school sounds." She doesn't necessarily evoke the early 2000s classics cited by older aficionados, such as "Where is the love" or the catchy "Pump it," which uses the iconic Californian rock riff from the soundtrack of "Pulp Fiction" (Quentin Tarantino, 1994).

“There isn’t a night that goes by without one of their hits playing.”

Lison, Pauline, and Fanny are in Garo for the fourth time, but this is their first as shower volunteers. They are 22-year-old students in Toulouse and remember their time with Fergie. "We were in elementary school. The album 'The End' with the title 'Boom Boom Pow', with the green cover, was a part of our childhood," says the trio. "And there's the famous 'Scream and Shout', with Britney Spears too. In fact, there isn't a night out without one of their hits playing! And when it's played, everyone knows it and gets up to dance," says Fanny. "It's true, even my mother, who is 55, is considering coming on Sunday," smiles Lison.

"I remember doing a flash mob to their music. It's weird to think that you've been listening to them for fifteen years and that you're going to see them in real life!" says Pauline. Mila shares the same memory, recalling doing a lip dub (playback video) in her second grade, in 2012. The group of friends from the Landes region postponed their departure, originally planned for Saturday evening, to attend the concert by will.i.am and his bandmates. It was a shame to miss this opportunity. "It was our parents who introduced us to them, but they're still very trendy," they say.

And while Fergie left the group in 2018 to focus on her personal life, Filipina J. Rey Soul has been accompanying the Black Eyed Peas on tour since that year, providing the female vocals. The band made a beautiful statement to France on Wednesday: they ended their performance with a "Marseillaise" at the Beauregard Festival, near Caen, and may well repeat this Sunday evening for their "Peabodies," as the group calls its fans.