Happy (Pharrell Williams song)
Happy (Pharrell Williams song)
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Happy (Pharrell Williams song)

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Happy (Pharrell Williams song)

"Happy" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician Pharrell Williams, released as the only single from the soundtrack album for the film Despicable Me 2 (2013). The song was first released on July 2, 2013 with the soundtrack, and it was released as a single on November 21, 2013, alongside a long-form music video. The song was reissued on December 16, 2013, by Back Lot Music under exclusive license to Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music. The song also served as the lead single from Williams's second studio album, Girl (2014). An official remix features American rapper Sky Blu of LMFAO.

"Happy" is an uptempo soul and neo soul song on which Williams's falsetto voice has been compared to Curtis Mayfield's by critics. The song has been highly successful, peaking at No. 1 in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and 19 other countries. It was the best-selling song of 2014 in the United States with 6.45 million copies sold for the year, as well as in the United Kingdom with 1.5 million copies sold for the year. It reached No. 1 in the UK on a record-setting three occasions and became the most downloaded song of all time in the UK in September 2014; it is the ninth-highest-selling single of all time in the country. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. A live rendition of the song won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.

The music video for "Happy" was nominated for Best Male Video and Video of the Year at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. It also won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. The song was Billboard's number-one single for 2014. "Happy" was the most successful song of 2014, with 13.9 million units (sales plus equivalent streams) worldwide.

In 2024, the song appeared on the LEGO animated biography of Williams' life and on the soundtrack album Piece by Piece.

Williams provided vocals for French duo Daft Punk's 2013 album Random Access Memories on the songs "Lose Yourself to Dance" and "Get Lucky". After returning from the recording sessions in Paris, he attended a meeting with record label managers who said that the results were "spectacular" and that "Get Lucky" would be Daft Punk's next single. They also made Williams an offer to record his own album, to which he agreed quickly, "overwhelmed that someone wanted to know what's in my heart".

On December 17, 2013, it was announced that Williams had signed to Columbia Records and would release his second studio album in 2014.

Williams originally wrote the song for CeeLo Green and felt Green's recording of the song was better, but Elektra Records, Green's record label, decided against it since he was on the verge of releasing his Christmas album, Cee Lo's Magic Moment.

"Happy" was written and produced by Williams, with backing vocals by Rhea Dummett, Trevon Henderson, Ashley L. Lee, Shamika Hightower, Jasmine Murray and Terrence Rolle. The track was digitally edited and arranged by Andrew Coleman and Mike Larson, who also recorded it with assistance from Matthew Desrameaux at Circle House Studios in Miami, Florida. The song was later mixed by Leslie Brathwaite at Music Box Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

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