Will.i.am Is the Man Taking Music And Entertainment To New Heights

The former Black Eyed Peas frontman is a man of many, many talents.

He has a lengthy CV that includes a musician, producer, songwriter, actor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist and also appears on the Voice UK as a judge where he made a pretty spectacular stuff up recently.

He accidentally pressed his buzzer during Lawrence Hill's number...

Credit: ITV

Will had been seen doodling on his buzzer with a black marker pen and as he went to wipe it off with his sleeve, it was activated.

Fessing up to the mistake, he eventually conceded: "You've got a pretty dope voice though!

"I believe in destiny and destiny is the destination."

Laurence replied, saying he'd "never felt so insulted yet so happy."

Will turns 42 today but he's always appeared to be way more futuristic than his age suggests.

He famously appeared as a hologram in CNN's newsroom in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected as US President for the first time.

Credit: CNN

He wrote in a Huffington Post article in 2011: "Technology is recession proof and most kids are not dreaming of being programmers, scientists or engineers."

"The ones that are do not get the spotlight or attention. Instead, they are looked at as geeks or uncool, when in actuality technology is the only thing that is cool today."

Credit: PA

And of course he was an integral part of Black Eyed Peas. The group included Fergie, Taboo and apl.de.ap and they were absolutely massive in the early 2000s.

They are responsible for bangers such as 'Where Is The Love', 'My Humps', 'Shut Up' and 'I Gotta Feeling'.

But the group's hiatus didn't stop Will.i.am. Instead he released a slew of singles and produced a bunch of others for up and coming musicians.

He's also helped out Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Kesha, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, David Guetta, U2, Rihanna, Cheryl, Lady Gaga, Usher and Justin Timberlake.

Not a bad rap sheet.

But he wasn't ready to retire with his millions of dollars and spend his days sailing on a super yacht.

In 2011, Intel made him director of creative innovation where he's helped them develop smartphones, tablets and laptops.

He has a very keen interest in wearable technology and wants to see how everyday objects like clothing can have in-built sensors to help improve the product.

Will.i.am presenting his very own smartwatch Credit: PA

But in 2012 he did what no musician has done in history and probably won't do for another few years. Will became the first artist to stream a song from the surface of Mars with his single 'Reach For The Stars'. Yep.

You can watch the staff at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California bop along to the track as it premieres here:

Credit: YouTube/collecSPACE

Will set up the i.am.angel Foundation in 2009, which helps educate and inspire people in Boyle Heights in LA where he was raised.

He's also heavily into the future of technology and how to immerse fans. He told the Royal Television Society's Digital World Conference he has an incredible idea of how to get someone involved in entertainment:

"As a viewer watches his or her favourite drama, a victim running from a killer could reach a house where, after entering, they make a phone call. At that exact moment, the viewer's mobile phone would ring. When the viewer answers the phone, the character would be talking directly to them."

While that would scare the shit out of me it would be a pretty epic way to watch Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead.

Credit: PA

It's not his first foray into the film and TV industry - he was in Madagascar, X-Men, Date Night and the two Rio movies.

Surprisingly he's also filming his next music video on the set of Coronation Street.

A source from the ITV soap has told the Sun: "He fell in love with Corrie when he visited the set filming The Voice's auditions in Salford."

"After much persuading of producers, and the seal of approval from Corrie veteran Bev Callard, he wangled his way on to the set."

"It's going to be chaos - loads of special effects on the cobbles and in the pub. Will wants as much fire and explosion as the set can handle."

So happy birthday to the ever-so-talented and quirky Will.i.am!

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Music, Coronation Street, Technology

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie