Pharrell Williams

Who is Pharrell Williams?

Pharrell Williams is an American singer and songwriter who gained recognition for his Oscar-nominated hit song ‘Happy.’ Also a record producer and film producer, he produced the 2016 biographical drama film ‘Hidden Figures.’ The film, which was based on a book of the same name, turned out to be a huge hit and won several awards, such as ‘Hollywood Film Award.’ It also received three ‘Oscar’ nominations. Also a successful businessman, Williams has been involved with several corporations, such as ‘Adidas’ and ‘Moncler.’ He has been a music enthusiast since childhood. Along with his friend Chad Hugo, he started performing from an early age. He then formed a record production duo named ‘The Neptunes’ with his friend. ‘The Neptunes’ became popular when they started producing the works of rap artists, such as Ol' Dirty Bastard and Jay-Z. They also became known for their work in ‘Justified,’ which is the debut studio album of popular American singer Justin Timberlake. Williams’ solo debut studio album ‘In My Mind’ was released in 2006. Debuting at number three on the ‘US Billboard 200,’ it is amongst his most successful works. In 2014, he released his second album ‘Girl’ which also turned out to be a huge hit.

Career

In the 1990s, Pharrell Williams performed with Chad Hugo and the duo formed the record production team ‘The Neptunes.’ They successfully contributed to the works of several artists in the late-1990s as well as in the 2000s. They became known for producing hit songs, such as ‘I Just Wanna Love U’ by Jay Z and ‘I’m a Slave 4 U’ by Britney Spears.

After a few other successful works, they released an album titled ‘The Neptunes Present… Clones’ in 2003. The album peaked at the first position on the ‘US Billboard 200.’ It also received mostly positive reviews. The album included ‘Frontin,’ Pharrell’s debut solo single, which peaked at the fifth position on the ‘US Billboard Hot 100.’ It also became the 34th best-selling song in the country for 2003.

Williams’ debut studio album ‘In My Mind’ was released in July 2006. It turned out to be quite successful. It debuted at third position on the ‘US Billboard 200.’ Even though several songs from the album had been leaked on the internet before its release, the album successfully sold over 142k copies within the first week of its release.

For the next few years, he collaborated with several well-known singers, such as Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. He was credited as a co-writer and producer for Lopez’s hit song ‘Fresh Out the Oven.’

In 2010, he composed the soundtrack for the popular animated comedy movie ‘Despicable Me.’ The following year, he collaborated with American singer Adam Lambert with whom he co-wrote two tracks for Lambert’s second studio album ‘Trespassing.’ He also composed as well as produced the music for the 84th ‘Academy Awards.’

In the year 2013, Pharrell Williams composed the soundtrack for the animated film ‘Despicable Me 2,’ which served as the sequel to ‘Despicable Me.’ His song ‘Happy,’ which was written for the film, became a huge hit. Not only did it peak at the first position on the ‘US Billboard Hot 100,’ but the song also won an ‘Oscar’ nomination. It also served as the lead single of his second album ‘Girl.’

His second studio album ‘Girl’ released in March 2014. Peaking at number one in 12 different countries, the album became a huge success. It sold 591k copies in the US within a year. It received mostly positive reviews from critics.

The same year, Williams was also announced as the new coach in the popular TV singing competition ‘The Voice.’ In 2014, Williams also served as a co-composer for the soundtrack of the hit superhero movie ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2.’

In 2016, he was a producer as well as composer for the popular biographical drama film ‘Hidden Figures.’ The film was a huge success, and received an ‘Oscar’ nomination.

The following year, he served as the composer of the third installment of the ‘Despicable Me’ series, ‘Despicable Me 3.’ The film turned out to be a blockbuster. The same year, he also designed 1000 pairs of sneakers in collaboration with ‘Chanel’ and ‘Adidas.’

In 2018, he narrated the 3D computer animated movie ‘The Grinch.’

In early 2019, Williams launched a three-day music festival called ‘Something in the Water,’ with many renowned artists performing on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

In his third collaboration with German composer Hans Zimmer, Pharrell produced five songs for the 2019 epic hit musical film ‘The Lion King.’