Allan Pineda Lindo

Allan Pineda Lindo aka apl.de.ap is a Filipino-American rapper popularly known as the member of multi-Grammy award winning band 'The Black Eyed Peas.' He was born on 28 November 1974, at Angeles City located in Pampanga in the Philippines. His mother Cristina who was a Filipino and his father, who was an African-American Airman stationed at the Clark Air Base left his family shortly after his birth. His mother single-handedly fed him and his other six younger siblings. In order to help his mother, Allan at a very young age started working. He started farming sweet potatoes, corn, sugarcane and rice to survive his family. Later a foundation named Pearl Buck which was an organisation made for the welfare of young abandoned and orphaned children matched him with foster parents who could raise him properly and could impart his proper education.

His American parents brought him to Los Angeles, USA and he started living there. He went on to study at John Marshall High School where he struck a chord with will.i.am ( William Adams ) and together they started rapping and performing around Los Angeles. Soon both of them were signed to Ruthless Records which was headed by Eazy-E in the year 1992. Along with another friend they made a band which was named "Atban Klann (ATBAN: A Tribe Beyond a Nation)". In 1995, their debut album Grass Roots which failed to release as Ruthless founder Eazy-E had died. Post this incident they changed their name first to Black Eyed Pods and later changed it to The Black Eyed Peas. The group went on to become globally popular and their songs topped many charts.

The group went on to win multiple Grammy's for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007, which made him the first Filipino native to receive the award. He is fluent in two Philippine languages: Tagalog and Kapampangan. He went on to make two songs named “Bebot” and "Tagalog" which had verses in the Filipino language. In 2011, he was diagnosed legally blind in both of his eyes as he was suffering from a very rare condition called “nystagmus” which only a handful of people were aware of. He had two younger brothers named Joven Pineda Deala and Arnel. Joven was murdered in February 2009 at the age of 22 and the other brother committed suicide. He also played a coach as well as a judge for the Philippine version of The Voice. He also made a guest appearance on the third season of The Voice Australia. He was also honored in the USA by the 'This Time Foundation' for his charity deeds. On November 18, 2008, he founded the Apl Foundation which is aimed at helping various communities and children in the Philippines and all over Asia.