Happy (Pharrell Williams song)
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 (Pharrell Williams song)
"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.
Background
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".