The Dutchess

For other uses, see Dutchess (disambiguation).

The Dutchess
Studio album by Fergie
Released	September 19, 2006 (2006-09-19)
Recorded	2006
Genre	Pop, R&B, hip hop
Length	54:58
Label	A&M, will.i.am
Producer	Polow da Don, Printz Board, Rgobb Boldt, Ron Fair, George Pajon Jr, Keith Harris, John Legend, will.i.am
Singles from The Dutchess
"London Bridge" Released: July 18, 2006 "Fergalicious" Released: October 23, 2006 "Glamorous" Released: February 1, 2007 "Big Girls Don't Cry" Released: May 15, 2007 "Clumsy" Released: September 25, 2007 "Finally" Released: March 18, 2008

The Dutchess is the debut and only studio album by American recording artist Fergie, who is a member of The Black Eyed Peas. The album was released on September 19, 2006. As of 2008, the album has sold more than six million copies worldwide. The album produced 5 top five singles in the U.S., including three number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, "London Bridge", "Big Girls Don't Cry", and "Glamorous", as well as the number two single "Fergalicious" and the number five single "Clumsy". All five of the aforementioned singles have sold over two million digital downloads each in the U.S., thus setting a new record in the digital era for the most multi-platinum singles from one album.^[1] The song, "All That I Got (The Make Up Song)" has been remixed slightly and used as one of the two main music themes for Tyra Banks' talk show, Tyra. Edited and Parental Advisory versions of the album were available. In Japan, the United States and Australia, deluxe versions of the album were released.

Background

The title is a derivation and misspelling of the title "The Duchess of York", as Fergie (a derivative of her last name "Ferguson") and Sarah Ferguson, the real Duchess of York, share a surname and nickname. Will.I.Am was an executive producer for the album. Ludacris, B-Real from Cypress Hill and Rita Marley all make guest appearances.^[2] Fergie has made it clear in interviews that she will still be an active member of the Black Eyed Peas.

In Australia, with the success of her first number-one single "Big Girls Don't Cry", the album peaked at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart on July 23, 45 weeks after it was released. The album has shifted over 210,000 copies and is certified triple platinum by ARIA. It has spent an impressive 62 weeks inside the nation's top 50, and 21 weeks inside the top 10.^[3] It spent four consecutive weeks at number one.^[4] Fergie has also had five consecutive top 4 hits from a debut album, the first artist to do so was Delta Goodrem with her 2003 album, Innocent Eyes, which had five consecutive number ones. Due to the re-release of The Dutchess in the U.S, the original album bounced back from #104 to #28, because of the 11,000 copies of the deluxe edition sold in its first week.

On December 21, 2007, Fergie performed "Finally" on the 9th Annual A Home for the Holidays special on CBS and on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2008 on ABC, where Ryan Seacrest announced that it would be a single in 2008. It was released to radio on February 26, 2008.^[5] Fergie's current single is "Finally". The music video for "Finally" was filmed by Marc Webb, but has yet to be released.^[6] Some songs were written with Fergie's old band, Wild Orchid members Renee Sands, and Stefanie Ridel.

Singles

"London Bridge" was released as the lead single from the album on July 18, 2006, and was Fergie's first single as a solo artist. As of January 1, 2008, the single has sold 1,792,912 copies in the U.S. "Fergalicious" is the second single from the album, The Dutchess. It features Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am, who also produced the track. "Fergalicious" was not officially released as the second single in the UK, where "Glamorous" was officially made the second single instead. However, "Fergalicious" still managed to chart at number 26 on the UK Official Download Chart and will be released as the fourth single there, over a year after the song's initial release, as a double A-side with "Clumsy". This is possibly due to the huge success of "Big Girls Don't Cry" in the UK which reached #2, saved the album, and even made it reach a new peak position at #18. As of August 2008, the single has sold over 2,700,000 copies.

"Glamorous" is the third single of The Dutchess; the song features Ludacris. The beat was originally presented to Gwen Stefani as a remix for her single "Luxurious", but the singer ultimately decided not to use it. Ludacris' verse is leftover from that version. In March 2007, the song became Fergie's second number-one single in the United States. The single was released on March 19, 2007 in the UK and was the second single taken from the album. The single was not as successful in Latin America (excluding Mexico, where it proved to be a hit) as "London Bridge" and "Fergalicious". "Glamorous" is the fourth single from the album in Brazil, where "Big Girls Don't Cry" was released as the third single. Fergie sang this song along with "Big Girls Don't Cry" at the Concert for Diana. As of March 2008, the single has sold 2,300,000 copies. "Big Girls Don't Cry", also known as "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)", is a song written by Fergie and Toby Gad for Fergie's debut solo album The Dutchess (2006). The song was released as the album's fourth single in 2007 (see 2007 in music) and topped the charts in several countries, most notably in Australia (for nine consecutive weeks - also becoming the number-one single in the ARIA's Year End Charts for 2007), and in the United States. It was the most played song of 2007 in Brazil (the success of the song there is due to Big Brother Brasil, which chose the song as the theme of the most popular couple of the show) and the most downloaded track in the U.S., with astonishing sales of more than 2,750,000 copies sold. In July 2007, Fergie performed the song at the Concert for Diana and Live Earth. By the end of August 2007, the song became Fergie's third number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was nominated in the 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance' category at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, which was held February 10, 2008.

"Clumsy" was written by Fergie and will.i.am, sampling Little Richard's "The Girl Can't Help It", Deee-Lite's "Who Was That", and a small part of MC Lyte's "Poor Georgie". The song was released as the album's fifth single. The song peaked at number five in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the fifth consecutive top-five single from The Dutchess. Fergie has also had five consecutive top 5 hits from a debut album on the ARIA Charts in Australia making her the first artist to do so since Delta Goodrem in 2003 with Innocent Eyes who had five consecutive number ones. Initially "Clumsy" was Fergie's least successful single, but later it was replaced by "Finally".

Promotional singles

"Here I Come" is a song produced and featured Will.i.am. The track was released in Australia in January 2008. It reached 22 on Australia Singles Chart and 122 on Hot 100. It was used on the commercials that advertised the debut of the new channel CW and in a Motorola Rockr commercial for Brazil and Portugal featuring Fergie. "Finally" is the sixth single from The Dutchess. It is the album's least successful single. It featured John Legend on piano.

"Party People" was released as the first single from Nelly's fifth studio album Brass Knuckles. The song is also a single from the Deluxe Edition of The Dutchess. It reached 40 in the USA and 14 in the UK. "Labels or Love" is the second single from the Deluxe Edition of The Dutchess, and eighth overall. The song did not chart on Hot 100, but in UK it reached 56. This is the last single from the album and a music video was filmed.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[7]
Allmusic	[8]
Robert Christgau	[9]
Entertainment Weekly	(B+)[10]
Now Magazine	(C)[11]
Prefix Magazine	[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Slant Magazine	[14]
Yahoo! Music	(B)[15]

Initial critical response to The Dutchess was mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 58, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "average reviews". Andy Kellman from Allmusic gave to the album a rating of 2/5 stars and claimed that: "The Dutchess has all the characteristics of a release fronted by someone who has been itching to go solo and prove herself, once and for all, as a versatile force all her own". But that "The whole process, produced mostly by fellow Pea will.i.am, is mildly entertaining but tremendously taxing".^[16] A positive review came from Bill Lamb of About.com, who gave to the album a rating of 4/5 stars. He stated that "Fergie proves herself a skilled entertainer that can make you dance, laugh, nearly cry, and just have a really good time." He finished the review, saying that "The Dutchess is one of the top debuts of the year. Similar to Gwen Stefani's experience, this album is good enough to pull into question the wisdom of Fergie sticking with The Black Eyed Peas or considering striking out on her own.^[17] Another favorable review came from Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt' who say that "The Dutchess reaches further than most albums by contemporary divas."^[18] The Uncut review of The Dutchess was also positive, considering the album "One of the most rambunctiously entertaining and high-spirited records of 2006". Dan Gennoe from Dot Music was also favorable to the album, naming The Dutchess as an "exceptionally random R&B mixtape".^[19] Kathryn Perry from The Phoenix described The Dutchess as "An eclectic, danceable collection of hip-hop, R&B, and pop confections".^[20]

Chart performance

The Dutchess debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 in the United States with sales of more than 150,000 in its first week.^[21] 51 weeks after its release, The Dutchess climbed to a new peak of number two in the U.S.^[22] In the UK, it debuted at number 27 with 9,110 copies sold.^{[citation needed]} The song "Losing My Ground" was the upcoming single, though it was replaced for "Glamorous" for unknown reasons. In a matter of weeks it dropped out of the chart altogether until the success of "Glamorous" when the album shot up from 77 to 28. Again, after the success of "Big Girls Don't Cry", the album climbed to 19 and after dropping a few places, went back up to its number 18 peak. To date, the album has produced three Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, including "London Bridge", "Glamorous", and "Big Girls Don't Cry", with "Fergalicious" peaking at number two. Fifth single "Clumsy" peaked at the number five on the chart. A remix of "Big Girls Don't Cry", which features Sean Kingston, became an iTunes-only single and the new song "Pick It Up" (which appears on the Japanese re-released edition of the album) will become a single in Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Fergalicious" (featuring will.i.am)	Will Adams, Stacy Ferguson, Dania Birks, Juana Burns, Juanita Lee, Kim Nazel, Fatima Shaheed, Derrick Rahming	will.i.am	4:52
2.	"Clumsy"	Adams, Ferguson, Bobby Troup	will.i.am	4:01
3.	"All That I Got (The Make Up Song)" (featuring will.i.am)	Adams, Ferguson, Keith Harris, Lionel Richie, Ronald Lapread, Sr.	Keith Harris, will.i.am, Ron Fair*	4:05
4.	"London Bridge"	Ferguson, Jamal Jones, Sean Garrett, Mike Hartnett	Polow da Don	4:01
5.	"Pedestal"	Ferguson, Printz Board	Printz Board	3:22
6.	"Voodoo Doll"	Ferguson, Adams	will.i.am	4:23
7.	"Glamorous" (featuring Ludacris)	Ferguson, Jones, Adams, Elvis Williams, Christopher Bridges	Polow da Don	4:06
8.	"Here I Come" (featuring will.i.am)	Adams, Ferguson, William Robinson, Jr.	will.i.am	3:21
9.	"Velvet"	Ferguson, George Pajon, Jr., Michael Fratantuno	will.i.am, George Pajon, Jr.	4:53
10.	"Big Girls Don't Cry"	Ferguson, Toby Gad	will.i.am, Ron Fair* taboo	4:28
11.	"Mary Jane Shoes" (featuring Rita Marley and the I-Threes)	Ferguson, Vincent Ford, Adams	will.i.am	3:55
12.	"Losing My Ground"	Ferguson, Stefanie Ridel, Renee Sandstrom, Rob Boldt	Rob Boldt, Ron Fair	4:08
13.	"Finally"	John Stephens, Ferguson, Ridel	John Legend, Ron Fair, Stefanie Ridel*	8:26

(*) Denotes vocal producer

American iTunes Store bonus tracks[23]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Close to You"	Ferguson, Boldt	Rob Boldt, Ron Fair	4:26
15.	"Paradise"	Adams, Ferguson, Jay Beckenstein	will.i.am	4:08

Deluxe edition bonus tracks[24]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Barracuda"	Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Roger Fisher, Michael DeRosier	will.i.am	4:39
15.	"Party People" (Nelly featuring Fergie)	Cornell Haynes, Jr., Jones, Garrett, Ferguson	Polow da Don	4:02
16.	"Clumsy" (Collipark Remix) (featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em)	Adams, Ferguson, Troup	will.i.am	3:52
17.	"Labels or Love"	Salaam Remi, Rico Love, Douglas Cuomo	Salaam Remi	3:51

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart Peak position Australian Albums Chart[25] 1 Austrian Albums Chart[26] 17 Belgian Albums Chart[27] 45 Canadian Albums Chart[28] 4 Danish Albums Chart[29] 27 Dutch Albums Chart[30] 6 French Albums Chart[31] 44 German Albums Chart[25] 11 Irish Albums Chart[25] 9 Japanese Albums Chart[32] 3 Mexican Albums Chart[33] 7 New Zealand Albums Chart[25] 2 Norwegian Albums Chart[27] 17 Polish Albums Chart[25] 14 Portuguese Albums Chart[27] 25 Spanish Albums Chart[27] 93 Swedish Albums Chart[27] 35 Swiss Albums Chart[25] 11 UK Albums Chart[25] 19 US Billboard 200[25] 2 The Dutchess EP Chart (2008) Peak position Sales/shipments U.S. Billboard 200[25] 46 14,466 End of year charts Year Country Chart Ranking 2007 Australia ARIA 5[34] 2008 64[35]

Certifications Country Certification (sales thresholds) Argentina Gold[36] Australia 3× Platinum[37] Brazil Platinum[38] Canada 3× Platinum[39] Denmark Gold[40] Germany Gold[41] Japan Platinum[42] New Zealand Platinum[43] Poland Platinum[44] Russia 3× Platinum[45] Switzerland Gold[46] United States 3× Platinum[47]

Preceded by Time on Earth by Crowded House

Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album July 30, 2007 – August 20, 2007

Succeeded by Where We Land by Damien Leith

Awards

MTV Australia Video Music Awards

• Sexiest Video - "Fergalicious" (2007)

MuchMusic Video Awards

• Best International Video - "Fergalicious" (2007)
• Best International Video - Artist (2008)

Juno Awards

• Best International Album - "The Dutchess" (2008)

ASCAP Awards

• Song Of The Year - "Big Girls Don't Cry" (2008)

MTV Japan Video Music Awards

• Best Female Video - "Big Girls Don't Cry" (2008)

Teen Choice Awards

• Best (2008)

References

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2. ^ mtv.com MTV.com. Retrieved August 16, 2006.
3. ^ Steffen Hung. "Fergie - The Dutchess". australian-charts.com. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?key=37340&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
4. ^ Australian ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart. ARIA. Retrieved on August 26, 2007.
5. ^ R&R :: Going For Adds :: CHR/Top 40
6. ^ Video Static: Music Video News: March 9, 2008–March 15, 2008
7. ^ "Review: Fergie's The Dutchess". About.com. http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/fergiedutchess.htm. 
8. ^ "Review: Fergie's The Dutchess". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r854152. 
9. ^ The Dutchess album review by Robert Christgau MSNMusic Retrieved 2010-08-12
10. ^ "Review: Fergie's The Dutchess". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1535137,00.html. 
11. ^ "Review: The Dutchess". Now Magazine. http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/discs.cfm?content=155537&archive=26,3,2006. 
12. ^ "Review: The Dutchess". Prefix Magazine. http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/fergie/the-dutchess/15512/. 
13. ^ The dutchess Review by Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Retrieved 2010-08-12
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16. ^ The Dutchess review Allmusic Retrieved 2010-08-12
17. ^ The Dutchess review About.com Retrieved 2010-08-12
18. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (2006-09-18). "The Dutchess | News". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1535137,00.html. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
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21. ^ Billboard Album Charts - Top 200 Albums - Music Retail Sales
22. ^ 'High School Musical 2' Still Tops On Billboard 200
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27. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Fergie - The Dutchess World Charts". Ultratop 50. Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/en/showitem.asp?interpret=Fergie&titel=The+Dutchess&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-07-23. 
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35. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
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40. ^ "Guld og platin 2009". IFPI Denmark. http://www.ifpi.dk/index.php?pk_menu=262. Retrieved 2010-07-23. 
41. ^ AT LEAST ONE OF artist or title MUST BE PROVIDED for GERMAN CERTIFICATION.
42. ^ "Work list of November 2006 and certified gold". RIAJ. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.riaj.or.jp%2Fdata%2Fothers%2Fgold%2F200611.html. Retrieved 2010-07-23. 
43. ^ "Top 40 Albums". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp. Retrieved 2010-07-22. Note: The reader must select Chart #1576 - Monday 6 August 7 to show the certification. 
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External links

• The Dutchess at Metacritic