This may come as a total shock, but Pharrell Williams almost didn’t sing his hit single Happy.
The hat-loving singer, producer and soon to be coach on The Voice USA, has revealed that the track – which he himself admits has helped catapult his career onto another level – was originally intended for Cee Lo Green.
During an interview with US radio presenter, Howard Stern, Williams said: ‘[Cee Lo Green] wanted to do it… and he did do it.’
He went on to explain that Green ultimately had to pass on the song, adding: ‘He sounded amazing on it, he burns my version! But… how do I say this diplomatically? The powers that be, at the time, did not see it fit for him.
‘Some folks on his team just felt that the priority should be on [his] album at the time, so they elected not to do that song.’
He revealed that Green had handled the success of the hit song well, saying: ‘There was a much bigger agenda for [him], he had an album to put out.
‘It’s not his fault – he was totally down with it… He was one of the most gracious people about it when [‘Happy’] came out.’
Oscar-nominated Happy has made Pharrell Williams only the third act in history, and the first in 57 years, to hit number one in the UK charts on three separate occasions with the same song.
The accompanying music video for has currently clocked up well over 211 million views.
Go Pharrell!
