He shares his moniker with John Coltrane, the jazz saxophonist. In 1971 fellow Saxophonist and fan of Coltrane Franzo King founded the Church of Saint John Will-i-am Coltrane which still worships to this day. The possible connection with the Black Eyed Peas' vocalist is through the Peas' producer Sergio Mendes, a jazz aficionado who saw Coltrane play in the early 60s

In September 2007, will.i.am's record label Universal Music Group decided on a pilot scheme to reward certain file sharing with cash incentives, including will.i.am tracks from his latest solo album Songs About Girls.

Before joining the Black Eyed Peas, Will.i.am attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. In 2001, he began designing his own signature clothing line, i.am, which made its official debut in 2005 at the Magic apparel trade show in Las Vegas [2]. In 2007, Will.i.am teamed up with Blue Holdings to design a premium denim collection, i.am Antik, that is scheduled to debut in August of 2007 at the Project Show in Las Vegas. He has also designed clothing for the Black Eyed Peas.

Will.i.am recently wrote a song, "Yes We Can", in support of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama, which in turn became a music video directed by Jesse Dylan. The song features appearances from numerous celebrities and first appeared on the website for Dipdive.

--Wikipedia