Fergie Had an 8-Hour Talk With Her Laundry Hamper While Addicted to Crystal Meth
Most people know Fergie from her Black Eyed Pea days. But Fergie wasn’t always a well put together pop star.
Fans may be surprised to know how low Fergie sank before finding success. Just a year before joining the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie was in a bad place. She was broke, homeless, and addicted. Overcoming her addiction was the hardest thing she ever did. But once she was sober, Fergie found fame.
Getting her life together would truly pay off, but at the time it was no easy feat.
Fergie was addicted to Crystal Meth
Fergalicious calls her addiction “the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with.” The real problem was that stopping crystal meth was only the beginning of her journey to sobriety.
Meth is a dangerous drug, and Fergie was deep into it. She weighed only around 90 pounds, and her brain was so altered that she was constantly hallucinating. Even after stopping the drugs, the hallucinations continued for a year or so.
“I was [suffering from] chemically induced psychosis and dementia,” she said. “I was hallucinating on a daily basis. It took a year after getting off that drug for the chemicals in my brain to settle so that I stopped seeing things. I’d just be sitting there, seeing a random bee or bunny.”
According to Fergie, the bees and bunnies were actually some of her tamer hallucinations. She had an 8-hour conversation with a laundry hamper. That’s quite low for a former Disney star.
Fergie was a part of Disney Kids Incorporated in the 1980s, but her fame didn’t stop her from spiraling into addiction as an adult. In fact, she blames fame- or lack thereof- for her drug use.
She was trying to make things work with a band, the Wild Orchids, but she was stymied creatively. Instead of quitting, she got into drugs. But the consequences were dire.
Drugs made Fergie paranoid
The laundry hamper story may seem comical, but many of Fergie’s other hallucinations were downright tragic. Fergie fully believed she was being hunted by the FBI. She blacked out her windows and was constantly on edge. She truly thought that SWAT teams were going to attack her at any moment.
Even though the hallucinations were terrifying, they actually ended up helping Fergie get sober. According to Fergie, she had a revelation inside a church. She believed that SWAT teams were waiting outside, so she made a deal with her Higher Power.
“So, I had a conversation with God,” she said. “I’m very close with my Higher Power. I have a very strong connection with It. And, I said, ‘Alright. If I go out there and the FBI and the Swat team’s not out there, then it’s the drugs and I am stopping.”
Obviously, the FBI was not waiting for Fergie outside the church. That put Fergie on the road to recovery.
Right after kicking her addiction, Fergie joined The Black Eyed Peas
Fergie went from long conversations with inanimate objects to famous pop star incredibly quickly. It’s almost unbelievable how fast she was able to turn her life around. In 2002, she officially quit smoking Meth.
By 2003, she was in the studio with Will I. Am, recording “Let’s Get It Started” for their chart-topping album Elephunk. She would go on to have more than a decade of success with the group, but she wasn’t focusing all her attention on The Black Eyed Peas. She was also working on solo albums at the same time.
Her debut album, The Duchess, topped music charts in 2006, just four years after her “rock bottom.” She continues to thrive in the music business, even though she’s no longer with The Black Eyed Peas.
She also refuses to stay silent about her past, even though it may be bad for her image. Her publicist has asked her not to talk about her Meth addiction, but Fergie doesn’t listen. She feels it’s her duty to speak out and help others.
