The Black Eyed Peas’ Taboo learned early on that the show must go on. Unfortunately, the show had to go on without him after he injured his knee while dancing with Justin Timberlake at a late-2003 performance.

“We were doing ‘Where is the Love?’ with Justin and my knee went one way, I went the other way and that’s the end of the story,” said Taboo, who was forced to miss a series of December radio-station-sponsored holiday events with the Black Eyed Peas.

“Throughout becoming a performer, you learn how to manipulate any situation, whether you’re hurt or not. That’s your job and that’s how you present yourself. For me, it’s like, as soon as I felt the pain, I had to walk off stage and, luckily, it was toward the end of the song so nobody really noticed.”

His new bandmate, Fergie, noticed and served as his savior during his rehabilitation.

“When I got hurt, she really, really looked after me. She helped me out.”

During his downtime, Taboo talked to liveDaily about the band’s latest album, “Elephunk,” which topped the British charts, as well as songwriting and Fergie.

liveDaily: Are you surprised at how successful “Elephunk” has been? Did you see it as a hit while you were writing the material for it?

I’m very surprised. When we make these records, we don’t expect them to be No. 1. We don’t expect the success of it because we go in thinking, “This could be our last record so let’s go out with a bang. Let’s show the world we went out and we went out great.” Luckily, it’s not going to be our last record. That’s a great thing. I’m very excited, very blessed to have the opportunity to have the third album and for it to be as successful as it is, and the first single (“Where is the Love?”) to reach as many people as it has all over the world. It’s a great thing. We’re very excited about everything that has occurred for us.

Did you record the album any differently?

We just went in with this record with a much more personal approach. A lot of our personal issues have gone into this record such as relationship break-ups, 9/11 really affected us, to anxiety to frustrations that we felt within our families. It was very personal to us, this record. We’re able to project a much more intimate album. That’s the approach we took with this record.

Was it difficult to share those emotions?

It was difficult because it’s hard to talk about your life, especially when you’re going through breakups with your girlfriend. When I listen to “Shut Up,” that song is about my relationship, right? When I think about it, I think, “Wow. I created a song which was my actual life, and every time I listen to that song it always takes me back to that era of when I was in a relationship.” So, yeah it is kind of hard to listen to sometimes. When I hear “Words of Love,” I always think of 9/11 and how I felt that day when that happened. It works for us [to] bring out that emotion at the moment, to be able to present such a great emotional performance so that it’s not just a fake performance. It actually has some validity and some form of reality behind it.

What is the next single going to be?

“Hey Momma” from the iPod commercial. The video was filmed in December.

Fergie recently joined you, will.i.am and apl.de.ap in the Black Eyed Peas. What has she brought to the band?

A lot of bags. A lot of bags. [Laughs] Man, she has like 50 bags on the tour bus. [Laughs] She brought a lot of bags and a lot of makeup and a lot of hair products. A lot of girlie things. More than we expected. Nah, actually, [pauses to laugh] Fergie has brought a resurgence to the band–as far as having a new member, having a voice that people can relate to when they hear the voice and see the persona, and they see the performance. We’ve always had women in our songs, but now there’s a face behind it. She also brings a very exciting energy on the tour bus. She’s kind of–she’s like a little sister of us, but by the same token, she’s also like the mother. She takes care of everybody. If you’re hurt, she’ll nurture you. But we look after her like a sister.

Source: Christina Fuoco, LiveDaily