Pharrell Williams released his debut solo album, In My Mind, in 2006.
63 Facts About Pharrell Williams
2.
Pharrell Williams has won 13 Grammy Awards, including three for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.
3.
Pharrell Williams is a two-time Academy Award nominee: in 2014 for Best Original Song, for "Happy" ; and in 2017 for Best Picture, as a producer of Hidden Figures.
4.
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams was born on April 5,1973, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the eldest of the three sons of teacher Carolyn and handyman Pharoah Williams.
5.
Pharrell Williams's ancestry goes back many generations in Virginia and North Carolina.
6.
Pharrell Williams met Chad Hugo in a seventh-grade summer band camp, where Pharrell Williams played drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone.
7.
Pharrell Williams graduated from high school in 1991 and he attended Northwestern University for two years before dropping out.
8.
Pharrell Williams wrote Riley's verse on Wreckx-n-Effect's 1992 hit "Rump Shaker".
9.
In 2006, Pharrell Williams released his debut solo album, In My Mind.
10.
In December 2006, Pharrell Williams was announced as a performer at Concert for Diana in Wembley Stadium, London on July 1,2007.
11.
Pharrell Williams worked with Madonna for her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy.
12.
In June 2008, an article in NME revealed that Pharrell Williams was interested in producing the next album of American rock band the Strokes.
13.
Later that year, Pharrell Williams worked on a remix album for Maroon 5, titled Call and Response: The Remix Album.
14.
In 2010, Pharrell Williams worked on the music score for the animated film Despicable Me with composers Hans Zimmer and Heitor Pereira.
15.
In late 2011, Pharrell Williams worked on three tracks for Mike Posner's second album, Sky High.
16.
In 2012, Pharrell Williams composed and produced the music for the 84th Academy Awards alongside Hans Zimmer.
17.
In 2013, Pharrell Williams collaborated with French electronic duo Daft Punk on the songs "Get Lucky" and "Lose Yourself to Dance", both included on Daft Punk's fourth studio album, Random Access Memories.
18.
In 2013, Pharrell Williams collaborated with Azealia Banks with the song "ATM Jam".
19.
Pharrell Williams penned three new original songs, included alongside composer Heitor Pereira's score, for the film Despicable Me 2.
20.
Pharrell Williams participated in the drummer sessions of the soundtrack of Man of Steel by Hans Zimmer.
21.
In mid-2013, Pharrell Williams was involved in two songs that sold a million copies in the UK: "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines".
22.
In November 2013, Pharrell Williams released the first 24-hour music video for "Happy"; guest appearances included Magic Johnson, Steve Carell, Jimmy Kimmel, Odd Future, among others.
23.
On November 1,2013, Pharrell Williams performed with a gospel choir at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine black parishioners were shot and killed on June 17,2015.
24.
For "Happy", Pharrell Williams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
25.
The first single off the EP, which features Pharrell Williams, is titled "Aerosol Can".
26.
Pharrell Williams contributed a verse to Future's February 2014 single "Move That Dope", which featured Pusha T and Casino over production from Mike Will Made It.
27.
On February 18,2014, Pharrell Williams announced via Twitter that his second album, Girl, would be released on March 3,2014.
28.
In May 2014, Pharrell Williams received an Innovator Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
29.
In March 2014, it was announced that Comme des Garcons would be releasing a unisex fragrance with Pharrell Williams, named after his album Girl.
30.
On March 31,2014, Pharrell Williams was announced as a new coach for the seventh season of The Voice, replacing CeeLo Green.
31.
In June 2014, it was announced that Pharrell Williams would make a guest appearance on the docu-series Sisterhood of Hip Hop.
32.
In May 2014, Pharrell Williams curated an art show named after his album, Girl, at the Galerie Perrotin in Paris, France.
33.
Pharrell Williams collaborated with Gwen Stefani with the song "Shine" for the animated film Paddington.
34.
In January 2015, Pharrell Williams was announced as the musical director for a 7-continent Live Earth concert on June 18,2015, to raise awareness about and pressure governments to act on climate change.
35.
Pharrell Williams recorded three songs for the soundtrack to the 2015 animated film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
36.
On May 18,2015, Team Pharrell Williams had 16-year-old Sawyer Fredericks win the eighth season of The Voice.
37.
At the 2015 Grammy Awards, Pharrell Williams performed an orchestral rendition of "Happy" with Hans Zimmer and pianist Lang Lang that included a tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement, inspired by Eric Garner's death and the Ferguson unrest.
38.
In 2015, a unanimous jury determined that "Blurred Lines", which Pharrell Williams co-wrote and produced, was an infringement of the 1977 Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give It Up".
39.
Pharrell Williams gave the 2017 commencement address at the university and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree on May 17,2017.
40.
In 2018, Pharrell Williams worked with Ariana Grande for her fourth studio album, Sweetener.
41.
Pharrell Williams produced several songs on the album, and is featured on the song "Blazed".
42.
Pharrell Williams produced five songs for Walt Disney Pictures' The Lion King, marking his third collaboration with composer Hans Zimmer.
43.
Pharrell Williams explained that A Tribe Called Quest's debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, caused a "turning point" in his life, which "made him see that music was art".
44.
In 2005, Pharrell Williams partnered with Japanese fashion icon Nigo to create the streetwear brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream footwear.
45.
In 2008, Pharrell Williams co-designed a series of eyewear and jewelry for Louis Vuitton.
46.
In 2008, Pharrell Williams founded a non-profit organization called "From One Hand To AnOTHER".
47.
In 2009, Pharrell Williams unveiled a collaborative sculpture with Takashi Murakami at Art Basel, which spoke to the metaphor of value.
48.
In May 2011, it was announced that Pharrell Williams would serve as creative director of KarmaloopTV alongside founder and CEO Greg Selkoe and former AMC president Katie McEnroe.
49.
In May 2012, Pharrell Williams launched the social media venture I Am Other.
50.
In February 2014, Pharrell Williams announced a collaboration between G-Star Raw and his textile company Bionic Yarn called "RAW for the Oceans," a collection of denim made from recycled plastic that is found in the ocean.
51.
In 2014, Pharrell Williams appeared on a cover designed by French artist Gregoire Guillemin of New York-based men fashion magazine Adon, covering the collaboration.
52.
Pharrell Williams released a collection for retail giant Uniqlo in April 2014 entitled "i am OTHER".
53.
Pharrell Williams was the executive producer of the 2015 crime comedy-drama film Dope.
54.
In November 2020, Pharrell Williams launched Humanrace, a skin care brand.
55.
On February 14,2023, Louis Vuitton announced that Pharrell Williams had been appointed the fashion house's new men's creative director, a position left vacant by the death of Virgil Abloh in 2021.
56.
Pharrell Williams married his longtime partner, model and fashion designer Helen Lasichanh, on October 12,2013.
57.
In 2005, Pharrell Williams was voted "Best Dressed Man in the World" by Esquire.
58.
Pharrell Williams is a fan of the science fiction series Star Trek, as indicated by his consistent use of the Vulcan salute to signify his label name, Star Trak.
59.
Pharrell Williams is a skateboarder and has a half-pipe inside his home.
60.
In 2011, Pharrell Williams announced that he is building a $35 million after-school center in his home town, Virginia Beach.
61.
In 2015, Pharrell Williams bought a house in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles.
62.
In 2019, Pharrell Williams offered internships to 144 students at Promise Academy in Harlem, New York City.
63.
Pharrell Williams has called for a federal investigation into the incident.