Fergie hit #1 with “Big Girls Don’t Cry”

Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) Fergie

Writer(s): Stacy Ferguson, Toby Gad (see lyrics here) Released: May 22, 2007 First Charted: May 5, 2007 Peak: 11 US, 17 BA, 18 RR, 16 AC, 17 A40, 2 UK, 13 CN, 19 AU, 24 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.6 UK, 6.39 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.8 radio, 596.7 video, 496.67 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Fergie was with the band Wild Orchid for ten years before joining the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas in 2002. The group took off with her as a member – the albums Elephunk (2003) and Monkey Business (2005) moved 8 and 10 million copies worldwide respectively. In 2006, Fergie decided to release her first solo album – The Dutchess. With 9 million in sales worldwide, it matched her group efforts and the album’s five top-five singles gave her even more chart success as a solo act than what the Peas had previously achieved. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was the fourth single from the album and the third to top the Billboard Hot 100. It made her the first female artist since Christina Aguilera in 2000 to have three #1 songs from an album. BB Instead of relying on the hip hop and urban elements of the previous singles, this one was an acoustic-based ballad featuring credits from about thirty instrumentalists, including eighteen violinists and players on viola, celli, bass, drums, and keyboards. WK The song is about breaking up with someone, but reminiscing about what that person was like. Fergie told AOL the song, which she wrote before she joined the Black Eyed Peas, was about independence. SF About.com’s Bill Lamb noted that it represented artistic growth for Fergie and UKMix.org’s Alex MacGregor praised the song as timeless. WK “Big Girls” also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. WK and was Fergie's first No. 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Top 40, Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 charts. BB It was iTunes most-downloaded song in 2007. SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fergie BB Billboard (9/08). “All-Time Hot 100” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 8/6/2023.