Pharrell Williams Concerts Setlist

Pharrell Lanscilo Williams is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and music producer. He was born on April 5, 1973 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Williams met Chad Hugo during a summer band camp in 7th grade. The two later became long-time collaborators in the music industry. After graduating from high school, Williams attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois for two years before dropping out to pursue a career in music.

He first founded the hip hop collective “Surrounded by Idiots” with his childhood friend Hugo and rappers Timbaland and Magoo, then went on to form the R&B duo “The Neptunes” with Hugo. The two were discovered by record producer Teddy Riley at a school talent show.

This led to them getting well-paying gigs, working for such artists as Jay-Z, Nelly, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears. The biggest hit they wrote for another artist was “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani, which topped the charts in the United States upon its 2005 release. In the meantime, Williams and Hugo, along with Shay Haley, formed the hip-hop/rock band N.E.R.D., with which he’s put out 5 studio albums to date. The band is still active, with Williams still on board.

However, Williams has also built up an outstanding career as a solo artist. His debut solo album came out in July 2006, with the title “In My Mind”. It became a success, peaking at the #3 spot on the Billboard 200 list. His second record as a solo artist, “Girl” released in March 2014, managed to outperform even that. It reached the #2 spot on Billboard 200, and ended up selling 1.62 million copies worldwide.

Pharrell Williams’ biggest hits to date are “Happy” (2013) from the soundtrack of the animated movie “Despicable Me 2”, “Come Get It Bae” (2014), and “Freedom” (2015). He was also featured on the 2013 hit single by the EDM duo Daft Punk “Get Lucky”, and on the 2013 hit song by Robin Thicke “Blurred Lines”. On top of all that, Williams has made a mark in the film industry as well, having a producer credit in the Academy Award nominated movie “Hidden Figures” from 2016.