will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas performing on the Main Stage at the 2011 Oxegen music festival in Co Kildare.RollingNews.ie

Will.i.am, frontman for the Black Eyed Peas, has apologized after saying at a recent concert in Salthill, Co Galway that “Irish girls are the prettiest girls in the UK.”

The Black Eyed Peas kicked off their summer 2022 tour at Pearse Stadium in Salthill, Co Galway on June 4, but the concert wasn't without a pretty big blunder.

One concertgoer shared a video on Twitter of frontman will.i.am telling the crowd: “I miss coming to Ireland - the Irish girls are the prettiest girls in the UK!"

The comment was first met by cheers that quickly turned over to boos.

Plenty of other people chimed in on Twitter calling will.i.am out for the gaffe.

Irish comedian Steve Timothy said how the crowd booed whenever will.i.am mentioned the UK, but then joked that "it's an easy mistake for any Canadian." (will.i.am is from the US.)

Another concertgoer said that someone should tell the band that Galway isn't in the UK.

One attendee said that "it's quite surprising how many musicians / celebrities make the mistake."

This fan said that the group "made three comments about Ireland being in the UK" in a short amount of time:

Frontman will.i.am has since replied to one of the tweets saying: "I’m so sorry for that mistake…Please forgive my ignorance & accept my apology

In another apologetic tweet, he wrote: "You’re 1000% correct…It’s not confusion…I spend lots of time in this part of the world to know the difference…todays mess up was honest airhead embarrassing mistake…& I’m sorry…the republic of Ireland fought for their independence…and that’s inspiring…”

Despite the criticism, it appears the Black Eyed Peas were able to enjoy a bit of craic while in Ireland as they posed for pictures at Tigh Cóilí in Galway City:

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