Farrell is a singer. Pharrell Williams (Pharrell Williams): interesting facts, best songs, biography, listen

Pharrell Williams, better known as Pharrell, was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia on April 5, 1973. In the seventh grade, while relaxing at a summer camp, he met Chad Hugo. Later they studied together in the same high school Princess Anna, where they organized a school group. And in the mid-1990s, Farrell and his friends Chad Hugo, Shai Haley, and Mike Etheridge formed an R&B group called The Neptunes. Soon they decided to show their work to Tedd Riley, who appreciated creative potential guys and signed a contract with them.

Farrell's career took off when he wrote the hit "Rump Shaker" for the rap duo Wreckx-N-Effect. Then he was only 19 years old. In 1994, Hugo and Farrell create a duet, for which they use the old name "The Neptunes". Continuous musical activity soon gave results. Together with Puff Deddy, they work on the discs of "Ol' Dirty Bastard, Mystikal'a" and other rappers, which significantly increased the rating of "The Neptunes". They have worked with stars such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, and this was not just an application for the title of the most sought-after production team, but the actual reign in the market for the best arrangements and beats for famous artists.

In 2000 appears new project called N.E.R.D. ("No One Ever Really Dies"), which, in addition to Farrell and Chad, also included their friend Shai. The mixture of R&B, funk, rock and rap turned out to be exactly what the music world lacked. On this moment at N.E.R.D. only two albums, released in 2001 "In Search of ..." and "Fly or Die" in 2004. In the spring of 2005, Farrell announced the breakup of the band, as there were problems with the release label.

Continuing to make music, Farrell, along with Chad Hugo, create a production company "Star Trak", which they use mainly to promote new rappers. Farrell soon began working with Snoop Dogg. The first joint brainchild was the hit "Beautiful", later the single "Drop It's Like It's Hot". The latter significantly boosted sales of Snoop Dogg's new R&G Rhythm & Gangsta Masterpiece album. In 2003, Farrell and Chad won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year.

September 9, 2005 Farrell releases the single "Can I Have It Like That" from his debut solo album "In My Nind", dedicated to Gwen Stefani. The second album "Hell Hath No Fury" was released in 2006. Farrell later collaborated with Madonna, Beyonce Knowles and Shakira. Now a queue of performers is lining up for him, and he has a dream to work with Eminem.

In addition to income from the musical field, Farrell launched his own clothing line, and also participated in the development sunglasses along with one famous designer. In addition, he receives considerable dividends for using musical themes"The Neptunes" in advertising by Nike. Farrell is the co-founder of the Billionaire Boys Club clothing brand and the Ice Cream Clothing shoe line.

Celebrity biographies

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05.04.17 10:06

At the 2017 Oscars, Pharrell Williams was one of the nominees - he produced the biopic Hidden Figures. This is his second "bid" for the statuette - in 2014, Williams could receive an award for best song("Happy" from Despicable Me 2). It is curious that then the award also went to the hit from the cartoon - "Frozen".

Biography of Pharrell Williams

Fateful meeting at summer camp

The biography of Pharrell Williams began on April 5, 1973 in the city of Virginia Beach (Virginia), in the family of the handyman Faroy Williams and his wife, teacher Carolyn. The couple have four sons, Farrell being the first. The family's roots are in Liberia, from where one of the Williams' ancestors emigrated to America (in the 1830s).

When Pharrell Williams was in the seventh grade, he went to summer camp It was there that he met Chad Hugo. Together they were part of the local orchestra: Farrell played keyboards, and Chad played tenor saxophone.

Both were members of the marching party. Williams was brisk on the snare drum, and Hugo was the drum major. IN school years Farrell, by his own admission as a musician, was considered a "nerd" and often did things that made him stand out from the crowd of his peers.

Both Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo attended Princess Anne's School, and later founded the hip-hop quartet The Neptunes, inviting buddies Hayley and Mike Etheridge to join. They successfully performed at the school talent competition, which later led to the signing of the first contract - with Teddy Riley.

Become successful producers

Later, The Neptunes became a production syndicate with only Farrell and Chad remaining. Williams wrote poetry and music and collaborated with many artists. So, in 2000, Pharrell Williams released a joint single with Jay Z. Main composition Britney Spears' 2001 album Britney was also written by The Neptunes. In the same year a new musical group Pharrell Williams "N. E.R.D (composed of himself, Hugo and Hailey) released their first album, which was not successful. But the production activity flourished: Pharrell Williams worked with Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, recording singles with them.

Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Gwen Stefani

In September 2004, Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dogg presented the song "Drop It Like It's Hot", which took first place on the Billboard Hot 100, and two months later was in the lead in US chart. In 2009, this song was named "Rap of the Decade".

At the end of 2004, Pharrell Williams helped Gwen Stefani with her debut studio album, and a few years later recorded her 11th disc Hard Candy with Madonna, which included tracks from The Neptunes, including the single "Give It 2 Me" (Pharrell Williams starred in the music video of the same name).

Collaboration with Zimmer

In July 2010, in the biography of Pharrell Williams, new stage: he collaborated with Hans Zimmer and recorded the soundtrack for animated film"Despicable Me" (with Hollywood symphony orchestra) and music for the 84th Oscar ceremony. During the same period, work with Miley Cyrus (on her disc "Bangerz") also falls.

Lifebuoy "Happy"

As Pharrell Williams recalls, at that time he felt a powerful creative crisis, from which the music for the sequel to the cartoon "Despicable Me" helped to get out. He wrote several songs, among which was "Happy". The cheerful composition was a wild success: in July 2013, more than 1 million copies of the single were sold, in November a video was released, in which Steve Carell, Magic Johnson, Jimmy Kimmel, Jamie Foxx, Miranda Kostrov, Janelle Monae and many other stars took part . By Christmas, the video received 5.5 million views, by April 2017 their number exceeded 938 million. Music video was a candidate for two MTV awards.

Multiple Grammy winner and great mentor

In December 2013, it became known that Pharrell Williams was nominated for seven Grammy awards (he won four awards, becoming "Producer of the Year"). He soon signed with Columbia Records to release his own album, G I R L, with the single "Happy". The song was nominated for an Oscar, but, as we have already said, the statuette went to other authors.

On March 31, 2014, Pharrell Williams became the new coach for the 7th season of the American show The Voice. A year later, the future winner of the 8th season, Sawyer Fredericks, turned out to be in Farrell's team. She chose Williams as her mentor and became the best.

Philanthropist, designer, film producer and star holder

There are also non-musical achievements in the biography of Pharrell Williams. He is an active philanthropist, produces lines of sportswear, shoes, sunglasses, starred in commercials with Cara Delevingne. And in December 2014, another star “lit up” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the star of Pharrell Williams.

Williams, whose film production debut (Hidden Figures) was received very favorably, plans to direct his own film-musical. By the way, for the soundtrack to " Hidden figures» Pharrell Williams claimed the Golden Globe.

Pharrell Williams personal life

Married to a girlfriend of youth

There were various rumors about Pharrell Williams, his personal life, his height and age: he looks like a teenager. In fact, the producer is a family man. Pharrell Williams' wife, Helen Lasichan, is his childhood friend, model and designer. They met for a long time, then lived together, and got married relatively recently - on October 12, 2013. By the time of the wedding, the couple already had a son, Rocket (born in 2008). It was to him that his father dedicated the composition "Rocket Theme" in the cartoon "Despicable Me". In 2015, Farrell bought a house in Laurel Canyon (Los Angeles), where he lives with his family.

Made happy ... triplets

In September 2016, the media reported that changes were coming in the personal life of Pharrell Williams: Helen was pregnant again. Imagine the surprise of the fans of the musician and producer when they found out: in January 2017, Pharrell Williams' wife gave birth to triplets.

Pharrell Williams childhood

After finishing the seventh grade, the future musician and singer went to the camp. There he met Chad Hugo, who was also fond of music. This acquaintance became significant, as later they studied at the same school and even organized a school musical group.

Some time later, Farrell and Hugo, along with their friends, created an R&B group, giving it the name "The Neptunes". When the guys showed the creativity of their team to Tedd Riley, they were highly appreciated for their potential. Riley signed a contract with aspiring musicians.

Career Takeoff, Pharrell Williams Greatest Hits

At the age of twenty-one, Williams decided to create a duet with Hugo. At the same time, they left the old name - "The Neptunes". Young people devoted all their time to music lessons, so the result was not long in coming. The rating of this group has risen significantly after the musicians began to collaborate with other rappers. known about them joint work with Puff Daddy.

Soon, the duo began producing stars. They have worked with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and more famous performers, which was a good bid for the title of one of the best production teams.

N.E.R.D. - the name of the new team in which Williams worked. The full name sounds like "No One Ever Really Dies". Music world gladly accepted the work of the group, working in the style of funk, rap, R&B and rock. The result of the new project was the appearance of two albums. One of them is called "In Search of ...", the name of the second is "Fly or Die". The group disbanded after five years. The reason was the problems that the musicians had with the release label.

Pharrell Williams Production Company

Farrell soon began working with Snoop Dogg. Their first joint brainchild is the hit "Beautiful". They later recorded a single called "Drop It's Like It's Hot". Williams and Hugo were so successful in their work as producers that in 2003 their work was awarded the Grammy Award.

Farrell is also known as solo artist. His debut album was released in the autumn of 2005, its name is "In My Mind". A year later, fans of Williams' talent were able to appreciate his second album, Hell Hath No Fury. In 2013, the third studio album with the sonorous name "GIRL".

Thanks to talented musician and the performer collaborated with such worldwide famous stars like Madonna, Shakira and Beyoncé, queues of performers who want to work together literally line up for him. Williams himself dreams of performing a hit with his idol - Eminem.

Pharrell Williams personal life

The musician earns not only in the musical field. He also launched his own clothing line - these are caps, t-shirts and tracksuits. The brand was developed in collaboration with Reebok, its name is Billionaire Boys Club. There is also a shoe line, namely, a line of sneakers called "Ice cream". The footwear of this line is decorated with patterns of pagers, radios, diamonds, dice and dollars. Ice cream sneakers are sold in a package made in the form of an ice cream box. Together with the famous designer, Williams developed the design of sunglasses. The series was called "Millionaires" and was presented by Louis Vuitton.

Farrell has a tattoo on right leg is a lute-playing cherub. Under the picture is written "Thank You Master". It is known that one of the musician's hobbies is astronomy, and his favorite TV series is Star Trek. Williams often skateboards.

And 36-year-old Helena Lisichan is a happy baby boom. The wife of an American musician gave birth to triplets. Replenishment in the family of Williams and Lisichan happened back in January, but the couple's representative confirmed the news only now: the names and gender of the newborns Farrell and Helena preferred to be kept secret. Welcoming the little ones and congratulating the happy parents, the site has collected six facts about the wife of one of the most successful musicians and remembered the couple's photo archive from gossip columns.

Helen Lisichan and Pharrell Williams at the 17th Annual Latin Grammys Awards November 2016

1. Helen Lisichan is known as a model and designer. Lisichan is also a columnist for the Huffington Post and regularly ranks the most stylish for the publication.

Helen Lisichan and Pharrell Williams at the Chanel show during Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2016/2017

2. C the style of Helen Lisichan herself is clearly underestimated. She looks elegant and confident in both animal print and sequined dresses. She has also mastered the art of wearing masculine style and, like her husband, knows it's all about the hat.Lisichan is not afraid to take risks and, it seems, there is no taboo for her: sports overalls with stripes on the Grammy red carpet are proof of this.

3. While Pharrell Williams is considered one of the most stylish men in the music business, 36-year-old Lisichan also deserves the title of a style icon and is even ahead of her husband in some ways. For example, for the wedding, Lisichan made an avant-garde fashion choice - blue dress in a cell. Voluminous puff sleeves, a spacious hem with a small train and a sparkling tiara on her head turned her into a princess, despite her unconventional style. wedding dress. Williams himself was in a red tartan suit. By the way, Helen Lisichan long years was for Pharrell Williams best friend before they got married in 2013, and has remained so ever since.

4. Helena Lisichan and Pharrell Williams already have an 8-year-old son, Rocket Man. By the way, the couple chose a truly “musical” name for their son: Rocket Man is an homage to Elton John's song of the same name.

Helen Lisichan and Pharrell Williams with son Rocket Man

5. For the past two years, Helen Lisichan, along with her husband, has been participating in charity project Los Angeles - Los Angeles Mission Christmas Celebration: On Christmas Eve, the couple contributes to the city's volunteer movement and feeds the residents of the Skid Row area - there are many homeless people, and half of the families live below the poverty line.

Helen Lisichan and Pharrell Williams at the Los Angeles Mission Christmas Celebration, December 2016

6. Pharrell Williams chose the perfect life partner for himself. At all kinds of ceremonies and fashion shows Lisichan and Williams look surprisingly good, well-coordinated and perfectly complement each other's style to the smallest detail.