To his family Apl. De. Ap as his screen name is the real Allan Pineda Lindo, born on November 28, 1974 in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines. He had a Filipino mother and an African-American father, who was an Airman assigned at the Clark Air Base and left eventually after his birth. Cristina, his mother was the only one who raised him and his other six younger siblings. At an early age, Apl. De.Ap learned how to value family and learned to work to help feed the family. He farmed sweet potatoes, corn, sugar cane and rice to help his mother augment the meager her meager income. By then, a foundation for young abandoned or orphaned children, Pearl Buck Foundation helped him find foster parents who can raise him decently and give him the proper education. He was eventually adopted by an American family at age 14 and they brought him to Los Angeles, United States of America. After quite some time, he had developed a friendship with 13 year old William Adams, popularly known today as will.i.am, and they both explored music that later became an instant hit in the hip-hop group called the “Black-eyed peas.”
In 2011, Apl. de. ap was diagnosed legally blind in both his eyes because he was suffering a certain kind of disease called the nystagmus, that only few people knew that he had this condition all throughout his career. Two of his younger brothers, Joven Pineda Deala were killed in February 2009 at the age of 22 and Arnel committed suicide. He said he wished he had done something to help but that’s the way life is.
“The Black Eyed Peas” became popular all over the world and even won a Grammy in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007, which made Apl.de.ap the first Filipino to receive the award. Proud of his Filipino heritage, he composed and produced a song entitled “Bebot” which was rapped completely in Filipino language, Tagalog. The chorus of the song: “The Apl. Song,” was also rapped entirely in Tagalog.
Currently, Apl.de.ap is in the Philippines, and plays a coach and judge in the Philippine version, “The Voice of the Philippines” which is aired over ABS-CBN Network. He worked together with Lea Salonga, Bamboo Manalac and Sarah Geronimo as co-coaches.
Although Apl.de.ap is busy with his schedules here in the Philippines, In July 2011, the group had decided to take a much needed break, this is in denial to rumors that the group had already disbanded. Will.i.am had stated in one of the interviews that 2013 will be a new chapter in the band “The Black-eyed Peas.”
Some of the songs of the band that were blockbusters are “I Gotta Feeling,” “Where is the Love,” “Just Can’t Get Enough,”’Pump It,” “BoomBoom Pow,” “Let’s Get Started,””the Time,””Meet Me Halfway,” “Shut Up,”“Don’t Phunk With My Heart”, “Rock the Party,” “Don’t Stop the Party,” “Imma Be,” “Hey Mama,” “Mas Que Nada,” “Don’t Lie,””Dum Diddly,” “Bebot,”’Do It like This,””Missing,””Alive,” “Party All the Time,” and “Light Up the Night.”
