FERGIE

''I'm finally breaking through at age 32 — I love it!'' Fergie (a.k.a. Stacy Ferguson) is in a celebratory mood, and why shouldn't she be? While still touring and recording with hitmakers the Black Eyed Peas, she made her first solo album, aptly titled The Dutchess — and it turned her into chart royalty. At the end of 2007, the album's fourth top 10 single of the year was still rising on the charts, a rarity in today's short-attention-span industry. ''At some point, the business decided that artists can just be ringtones, these quick hits,'' Fergie says. ''But each song is so important to me.'' With a packed tour schedule, this busy Pea just may rule 2008 as well. —Leah Greenblatt

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