Who was bigger: Gwen vs Fergie vs Nelly Furtado

[degen]

Let’s go back to 2005-2007 and examine all 3 of these ladies careers.

Fergie only had 1 album but it spawned 3 #1 hits, and she was also everywhere prior with Black Eyed Peas, taking front and center on songs like “My Humps.”

We have Nelly Furtado, who after spending years under the radar, had a huge era with her “Loose” album. Especially worldwide. She had 3 #1s off the album and a hit feature on Timbaland’s single.

Then there’s Gwen, whose debut album was a slow burner but eventually mounted with the mega smash “Hollaback Girl.” She returned in 2006 with a follow up album that spawned the hit “Sweet Escape” (although to lesser success).

Who would you say was more prominent.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Overall it's Gwen for sure. But in that period, I'd say Nelly. Loose is just that album and era.

[Private Dancer]

In my opinion and the way it felt to me Fergie was the biggest. She had multiple songs that were all over the radio and Big Girls Don't Cry literally dominated radio in the summer of '07.


Nelly Furtado Promiscous was so huge and could not escape it the summer of 06. Then she released Say It Right, and Give It To Me then the very next year everyone forgot about her.

Gwen was huge with Hollaback Girl and after that Sweet Escape and that was it. Just like that she disappeared a little bit afterwards.

In America Fergie was the biggest, internationally Nelly

[back2blk]

Gwen has the longevity and the most cultural impact. The work she did with No Doubt will be her legacy.

[Private Dancer]

Okay, are we talking about who huger now or who was huge in 2005-2007?

[degen]

Mar 30, 2021 19:05:01 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

Okay, are we talking about who huger now or who was huge in 2005-2007?

2005-2007. Obviously Gwen is the bigger star overall I would say. Even with no more solo career hits, she’s still very high profile with “The Voice” and her relationship with Blake.

[Deleted]

This is hard to answer. They each had something that one or both of the others didn't.

If we solely focus on 2005-2007, Gwen is the only one who had two album cycles within that time frame - L.A.M.B. was released November '04 and its promo stretched across 2005 - and her success was fairly consistent from one to the next. Gwen also had the most celebrity factor. She just felt like the biggest star among the three even if the sales and chart positions on paper indicated otherwise. That was probably in large part due to her coming from a rock band, which gave her a cooler edge than Fergie coming out of BEP and Nelly's folk pop status before Loose. But Nelly's Loose was by far the biggest album WW (her sales doubled that of L.A.M.B., The Sweet Escape, and The Dutchess), while The Dutchess was the most successful album in the states (tied with L.A.M.B. for highest selling here, but The Dutchess had the best Hot 100 run).

Overall careers and impact, Gwen wins handily in the US but Nelly might win out WW (not entirely sure about this).

[leonagwen]

This is a hard question to answer but because Gwen had 2 albums in that time frame I'll give her the slight edge.

[Koochie]

Leona Lewis outsold

[irice22]

Mar 30, 2021 22:30:56 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

This is a hard question to answer but because Gwen had 2 albums in that time frame I'll give her the slight edge.

But remember the Black Eyes Peas were also huge at the time and Fergie was the most notable member.

[trustypepper]

Fergie was definitely the most prominent at the time. Not only did she have one of the biggest album eras of the decade, the BEP success was huge during that time, as others have stated.

She doesn’t win overall but for this era it was her, imo.

[leoapp]

2005-2007
Most famous/biggest peak: Nelly

Longevity/back to back hits (Either combined with The BEP's Elephunk era or solo): Fergie

Impact/album quality/music video/visual, etc: Gwen

[degen]

Mar 31, 2021 5:47:25 GMT -5 leoapp said:

2005-2007
Most famous/biggest peak: Nelly

Longevity/back to back hits (Either combined with The BEP's Elephunk era or solo): Fergie

Impact/album quality/music video/visual, etc: Gwen

Hmmm, I would say Gwen was the most “famous.” Even though Nelly Furtado’s “Loose” era was huge, she still kind of remained faceless but had a big radio presence. She was not a celebrity in the line of a Gwen or even Fergie.

[SPRΞΞ]

at the time, I would say it was Fergie. Her multiple huge hits were inescapable.

[Positive Tension]

Gosh, this is a tough one, but I'm leaning toward Gwen.

Gwen was pretty prominent for most of 2005 and late 2006-spring 2007, so she had the most longevity during these years. Gwen/Mariah/Kelly were the females at the front of the pack during 2005, imo. In addition to the longevity, she also had notable peaks in 2005 with "Hollaback Girl," which was a massive hit, and in early 2007 with "The Sweet Escape," which was yet another massive hit that I'd hear a few times each day on my drives to and from school. She's also the biggest celebrity of the three.

Fergie was a case where her hits kept getting bigger and bigger from late 2006-summer 2007. She was a bit of a slow burn, but her 2007 was probably better than Gwen and Nelly's due to multiple big hits.

Nelly was pretty much at the front of the music scene in the summer of 2006 with "Promiscious," and "Say It Right" was a stealth hit through the first half of 2007. She had the fewest hits of the three, but "Promiscious" and "Say It Right" were so impactful in their own way that I wouldn't necessarily argue anyone who says she had the highest peak.

[Private Dancer]

Mar 31, 2021 20:21:01 GMT -5 SPRΞΞ said:

at the time, I would say it was Fergie. Her multiple huge hits were inescapable.

Yep. Couldn't escape Glamorous, BGDC, and Clumsy

[#brayden]

The Pussycat Dolls.

It's actually hard to say. The Duchess, Loose and L.A.M.B were all big, iconic eras and I remember enjoying so much of the output from each one. My guess is the "answer" is somewhat regional and therefore there isn't really a wrong choice here.

From my perspective... Nelly and Fergie had the most big hits during this time. I'll give it to Nelly, though.

[Choco]

Mmmm this is hard. Loose was the biggest album, Fergie was probably the biggest single hitmaker between The Dutchess and The Black Eyed Peas, and Gwen is probably the one with the biggest impact and career.

My favorite of the three is probably Nelly, but that's not the question asked... I really don't know.

[irice22]

I don't know where to ask this but the timeless classic "Promiscuous" is the Spotify 200 US right now. Anyone know why?

[kimberly]

Apr 19, 2021 15:19:25 GMT -5 irice22 said:

I don't know where to ask this but the timeless classic "Promiscuous" is the Spotify 200 US right now. Anyone know why?

a mashup of "Promiscuous" x "motive" (by Ariana Grande & Doja Cat) went viral on TikTok a while back. it has 22 million views on YouTube.

[Envoirment]

I would say Gwen was the biggest celebrity, Nelly had the most solo success and Fergie had the most overall success (by far) if you include her stuff with the BEP around that time ("My Humps"/"Don't Phunk With My Heart" in particular).