Will.i.am on how his American dream came true thanks to his beloved mum

He owes his success to his beloved mum Debra, who raised him and three siblings alone in Los Angeles [Photo: Getty]

He's got arguably the mightiest hat collection in showbiz... but one item of headgear reveals all you need to know about Will.I.am. Aged just seven, the would-be king of music is proudly wearing a gown and mortarboard in a picture taken at elementary school.

Known back then as plain William Adams Jr, he’s the boy from the Boyle Heights housing projects who would come good. He became an iconic rapper, producer of superstars like Michael Jackson, Rihanna and Lady Gaga – and is a hit as one of the four coaches on TV talent show The Voice. And now he says he owes his success to his beloved mum Debra, who raised him and three siblings alone and gave him the motivation to get out of the Los Angeles ghetto. Will, who found fame with the Black Eyed Peas, recalls being sent by bus to a school well away from deprived Boyle Heights, a Hispanic area on the east side of LA.