Pass the Dutchess

You might think you know Fergie, but you have no idea.

I'm backstage at the concert arena at the Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. It's exactly one hour before showtime, and a VIP all-access pass (complete with a smiling, Black Eyed Peas-ish monkey face) allows me to navigate through the cinder-block corridors. There are security checkpoints, electronic consoles that look like they could launch a missile, and the smell of some very kind bud wafting through the air. Tucked away at the end of the long hallway, in a totally empty dressing room, sits a young woman, petite and serene. The face is familiar, but the aura is not. Suddenly, I realize: All hell, naw. It's Fergie Ferg, the Dutchess, sitting as cool as a cucumber and sipping on a Red Bull. She's dressed in a soft black sweatsuit and loaded down with big gold trunk jewelry. This is Stacy Ann Ferguson, 31. "I love that you are seeing me with a full face of makeup right now before I go onstage, but trust me, it comes off at night," she says, purring like a kitten. "It's the calm before the storm. I like to keep it real relaxed, and then this will kick in [motioning to the Red Bull]. If I use too much energy before a show, I'll use it all up. I'm so bad, I don't warm up. The first two songs are my warm up."

But where's the loud-mouthed, in-your-face broad? The one who flips around onstage doing one-handed cartwheels and gyrates the hoochie-coochie with her fellow Black Eyed Peas? Apparently there's more to Fergie than the sassy, sexy, stomach-baring vixen we know from chart-topping hip-pop anthems like "My Humps," "Pump It" and "Let's Get It Started." With the release of her debut solo album, The Dutchess, Fergie is ready to show off her soft and sensitive side. "It's an important thing for people to see more of the little-girl side because that's a part they don't get to see with the Black Eyed Peas," she explains. "They're both who I am. I'm a strong woman. I'm also romantic. I'm very intimate. There's the left-brain side of me as well as the right-brain."

Fergie wears cosmetics by M.A.C.: Lustreglass in Venetian on lips, Shadestick in Sea Me and eye shadow in Chrome Yellow on eyes. Fragrance: Betsey Johnson.

If you were expecting The Dutchess to be a collection of jive talkin' and attitude slinging -- like on the album's first single, "London Bridge" -- you're in for a surprise. Think more Taylor Dayne, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera or Pink. Fergie is a white girl who can sing, for real. "She's girly, but she has a tomboy edge," says her friend and fashion co-conspirator Richie Rich of Heatherette. "There's so much more to her. She's a pop girl, a nasty girl and a flirtatious girl. She represents the new girl empowerment." When Fergie was a child, her mom used to take her to community theater productions in Southern California, where she saw plays like Oklahoma!, West Side Story and Peter Pan. She even used to sing along at home to the soundtrack of Annie. She has a powerful, theatrical voice. She says her vocal inspirations are Robert Plant, Sting, Lauryn Hill, the Pointer Sisters and Tina Turner. On this album, her solo debut, Fergie shows off her vocal chops and diversity. The songs run the gamut from the acoustic, jazz-inspired "Velvet" and the reggae-influenced "Voodoo Doll" to the Prince-like, melodic "Glamorous," which comes complete with an interlude by Ludacris. "On this album, I didn't want to over-sing everything. I wanted to let it out in special places. I wanted to have peaks and valleys," Fergie says. "This is my opportunity to really show people who I am. Definitely."

Not only does The Dutchess offer listeners a chance to experience Fergie's vocal charisma and learn about some of her other personalities, it also presents the eclectic, luscious sounds of will.i.am, the Black Eyed Peas' mastermind. This album is the first release from his label under Interscope Records. The collaboration is electric. He describes it as a six-month process spread over a three-year period of time. Songs were recorded in Australia and China, all across the U.S. on the state-of-the-art John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, in a studio home in Malibu for two months, and then were all retooled in London.

"For me this album is special because it symbolizes our travels, our growth, our dreams and teamwork," explains will. "After 'My Humps,' people forgot that Fergie could sing. So it was important to stress to people that she can sing. Not sang! We wanted her to sing haunting melodies and be inspiring so that you want to sing along. She's the most vocal gymnastic that I know. I'm shocked from an MC perspective. She's got flow. To me that's fresh."

The Dutchess (a wordplay on the Weight-Watching Duchess of York, with whom Fergie shares a nickname) is like a journal of Stacy Ferguson's colorful and often challenging life. It's a portrait of a child star (Fergie appeared on Kids Incorporated and did voiceovers for cartoons) turned girl-group glamazon as a member of pop trio Wild Orchid, and a real-life girl who got caught in the trappings of fame, drugs and bling. "I had to move back to my mom's at age 26, had collection agents after me, had to take out my trust fund and pay off my credit card debt, and lived on unemployment because I spent all my child-star money," Fergie says. While in Wild Orchid, she became depressed and began to take Ecstasy. That led to crystal meth. "I was unhappy and I didn't know how to deal with that," Fergie explains. "So I searched for other creative outlets. It was great for a while -- you look good for a while -- but if you continue, you're going to notice things in your life start to disintegrate. That happened to me, but luckily, by the grace of God, I came out of that. I really took inventory of my life. I wrote pages about my life. Two of the songs are about that: 'Voodoo Doll,' which is about good versus evil, and 'Losing My Ground,' which is about spiraling downward. Since a lot of people don't know me, it's important that these words mean something and really represent me. It's kind of a getting-to-know-me record. You see different phases of my life over a seven-year period," she explains. "I was pretty blatant in the words I used. I am letting people get to know me, they might as well know that. I want people to know how hard I've worked before they make a judgment."

Later in the month, will.i.am hosted an album release party for The Dutchess at Tenjune, one of the many new posh nightclubs in New York's trendy Meat Packing District. Fergie arrived in a white Rolls-Royce. She did the red carpet. With multiple handlers, a bodyguard, and a camera crew in tow, she descended the staircase wearing a long black low-cut gown and a tiara. The club was packed. Vodka flowed and champagne bottles popped. As the glitterati mixed and mingled, many fans itched to get a view of the Dutchess. One of her new songs, "Fergalicious," says it best: "It's so delicious/ They want to get a taste of what I got/ I'm Fergalicious/ T-T-T-T-T-tasty, tasty." "I love to go out and have a good time," she told me that night. "I love to go to clubs and go out dancing. I love to hit Bungalow 8, it's my guilty pleasure. I love Amy Sacco. I love going out with the Heatherettes. I used to go out every night except Sunday." Fergie pauses, and then continues with a wink. "Yes, the day of rest."

Hair by Luke Baker/Judy Casey using Bumble & bumble. * Makeup by Charlie Green/Smashbox Cosmetics * Manicurist: Deborah Lippmann (www.lippmanncollection.com) * Special thanks to Blaire Huntley and Dina Drevenak.