Fergie and Josh Duhamel are dedicated co-parents.
The former couple welcomed their son, Axl Jack, in August 2013 — just four years before announcing their decision to split. Fergie and Duhamel finalized their divorce in November 2019 and have settled into a co-parenting groove as working parents.
The “Big Girls Don’t Cry” singer opened up to reporters in January 2018 about her experience managing a healthy balance between motherhood and her career.
“As any hard-working mom knows, it is a delicate balancing act that I have to be juggling all of the time with the different schedules, the family schedules, the work schedules,” she explained. “I’m constantly having to have boundaries. I’ve got so much on my plate that sometimes I’m just a tired mom!”
Today, Axl, who his mom describes as “funny [and] outgoing,” is exploring his interests. He’s taken acting classes, appeared in one of Fergie’s music videos and played a variety of sports.
Read on to learn more about Fergie and Josh Duhamel’s son, Axl.
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He’s a Virgo
Fergie and Duhamel welcomed Axl on Aug. 29, 2013, weighing in at 7 lbs, 10 oz.
Fergie told PEOPLE in April 2013 that her pregnancy had her feeling a range of emotions, sharing that it had “been easy, hard — it’s been everything.” Ultimately, the singer described her pregnancy as “very happy.”
At the time, Fergie praised Duhamel for his tendencies as a father-to-be, telling PEOPLE that he was “going to be an amazing father” and had “natural parenting instincts.” During her pregnancy, Fergie said Duhamel was “amazing,” adding, “He’s so nice and wonderful, and he sings and talks to my belly all of the time … I’m very lucky that he is really good to me.”
He’s named after Axl Rose
Fergie and Duhamel drew inspiration from the Guns N’ Roses frontman for their son’s first name. When Axl was 3 months old, she told Ellen DeGeneres the story of how his name came to be on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
“I had this dream I was in the audience at this festival,” she told DeGeneres. “On stage singing was Jim Morrison, and then came Bob Marley, and then Axl Rose. I was in heaven in this dream. I’m dancing and just getting into the music and all of a sudden BOOM! BOOM! And I wake up and it’s the first time my son kicked me in the stomach and it was like he was feeling the music with me. I started crying.”
Fergie said that she had woken up Duhamel from his sleep to tell him the details of her dream. At the time, Fergie and Duhamel had already decided on his middle name, Jack, after Fergie’s late uncle, who had died the year prior. Duhamel cycled through various versions of names based on the artists in Fergie’s dream. When it came to “Axl Jack,” Duhamel told her that was the name for their son.
“It just had this ring to it,” she added.
Fergie also has a special nickname for her son – Punky Pie — “because he loves pumpkin pie!”
Fergie and Duhamel kept their son’s name private until his birth
Before Axl was born, Fergie and Duhamel kept Axl’s name under wraps from everyone, including Fergie’s family.
“Some people may not like it, some people may think it’s really cool, but we don’t really care — that’s why we’re not telling anybody,” the actor told PEOPLE in July 2013. “We’re not even telling [Fergie’s] mom because we don’t want to hear anything about it. That way you don’t feel like you’re second-guessing yourself. It’s between us — it’s a sacred thing.”
