The Black Eyed Peas’ highly-anticipated headline set was halted as the band during the Brighton and Hove Pride event.
The group – comprising of will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo –led the major line-up of acts at this year’s Pride this weekend at Preston Park.
Brighton Pride is renowned for having stunning crowds, including the likes of Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue and Christina Aguilera in previous years.
However, during the group’s performance, they were soon left on stage without sound.
Crowds carried on singing the top hit I Gotta Feeling as the singers tried toresolve the issue, before holding up a UK flag, with a Pride flag displayed on screen to end the American group’s set.
Despite the interruption, the band were able to dedicate their penultimate song Where Is The Love? to everyone suffering injustices around the world as they revealed the inspiration for the major 2003 hit came from the UK.
Band member Will.i.am, 48, praised the UK as a ‘special place”’ which was the group’s ‘first place to find success.’
Earlier during the day, the festival saw Jax Jones, Confidence Man, Dylan and more take to the main stage.
Black Eyed Peas rang in 2023 facing backlash from politicians in Poland as they supported the LGBTQ+ community by wearing rainbow armbands during their New Year’s Eve performance.
While homosexuality is legal in Poland, and has been since 1932, the community continue to face challenges. According to ILGA-Europe’s 2022 report, the status of LGBTQ+ rights in Poland is the worst among countries.
Standing in solidarity with queer fans, Black Eyed Pease donned rainbow armbands while on stage as the headlining act at the New Year’s Eve of Dreams show, sparking outrage among the ruling PiS party politicians.
Will took no notice, and later said in a video that Where Is the Love? was dedicated ‘to unity’ as he specifically named marginalised communities.
‘We are the Black Eyed Peas, or you can say Black Eyed Peace, because we are for peace, equality, harmony. We are not the Black Eyed PiS,’ he said, directly calling out the ruling party. ‘We stand for unity, love, tolerance, oneness.’
