Good news! I Joined the Black Eyed Peas

True story

For years, people have been asking me, “Pat, when are you finally going to join the Black Eyed Peas?” It’s a weird question because I never expressed any interest in joining the group, and to my knowledge, they never talked about needing more members. I’d respond the way I responded to pretty much all questions back then: with a shrug. 

And so you can imagine my surprise when, out of the blue about a week ago, I got a call from Fergie. She introduced herself to me and told me how much she enjoys my saxophone playing. She was warm and inviting; I immediately felt at ease. “Thank you for your kind words,” I said. I couldn’t bear to tell her that I haven’t played the saxophone since high school. That was in 2005. “You’re too modest,” she said. “You remind me of Sonny Rollins!” 

I had no idea what Fergie was talking about, but I agreed to audition for the band that weekend. She assured me it was a formality, that I only really had to convince Will, i.e., will.i.am, the 7-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter/producer of the Black Eyed Peas. “He can be stubborn,” said Fergie, “but he’s got a heart of gold.”

When I arrived at the Black Eyed Peas practice space, the whole crew was there: Fergie, Will, the other members of the band... I had my old saxophone in one hand and a gray fedora in the other. I wasn’t sure if the fedora would help or hurt my chances. 

“What kind of rig you got there?” asked Will, pointing to my sax. 

“Standard Yamaha student model,” I said.

“Mouthpiece?” 

“Whatever came with it?”

He grabbed the case out of my hands and looked inside. “Rico Royals,” he said, so quietly I almost couldn’t hear him. “That’s a nice reed.”

“Thank you.” 

“How’s your embouchure?” 

Fergie stepped in. “No time for chit-chat, boys, let’s get it started. One-two-three...”

Let’s get it started
Let’s get it started in here

I could not believe it. The band went from hanging out to performing a tightly choreographed “Let’s Get It Started” in the span of a second. I quickly assembled my saxophone. I was nervous. Will came over.

“Don’t fuck this up,” he whispered in my ear. Then he turned to the group and said, “Blow a solo, sax boy.”

I had no time to think. I raised the sax to my lips and blew. To my relief, sweet music came pouring out of me. A tone so luscious, it made Will stop what he was doing (eating cereal, for some reason) and listen in amazement. When the song was over, everybody cheered. 

“You’re in The Peas!” said Will.

“I knew you could do it,” said Fergie.

And that’s how I joined the Black Eyed Peas. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our world tour because of Coronavirus.