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Pharrell Williams
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Pharrell Williams is an American singer, songwriter, producer and fashion designer, born in Virginia Beach in 1973. At a summer camp for school orchestras he met Chad Hugo. Williams played drums, Hugo tenor saxophone. In 1992 they started the production duo The Neptunes together. In 1999 they formed the band N.E.R.D. with Shay Haley, in which Williams sang. Together they also founded the label Star Trak Entertainment in 2001.
Music and breakthrough
As a producer, Williams delivered many hits in hip hop and R&B in the years around 2000. As a solo artist he broke through with Frontin' in 2003, followed by the album In My Mind in 2006. In 2013 he was behind two worldwide hits: Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke and Get Lucky by Daft Punk, on which Nile Rodgers also plays. That same year Happy appeared, written for the film Despicable Me 2. It was the run-up to his album Girl in 2014. He has won thirteen Grammys, including three times as producer of the year, and has been nominated twice for an Oscar.
Influence
Williams is regarded as one of the most influential producers of modern pop music. His sound is stripped-down and rhythmic, with a sharp ear for a striking drum pattern and a groove you recognise immediately. Since 2023 he has also been creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 2006In My Mind
- 2010Despicable Me: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2013Despicable Me 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2014G I R L
- 2014The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (soundtrack)
- 2016Hidden Figures (soundtrack)
- 2017Despicable Me 3: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2025OPHANIM