2013 In Review: It’s all about Pharrell

Pharrell Williams may have been making music for 20 years, but 2013 was his time to Get Lucky – he appears on two of the biggest selling singles of the year.

Sometimes the best things are right under your nose all along without you even realising. We’ve always known Pharrell Williams had the Midas touch – he’s been responsible for oodles of hits on the Official Singles Chart, either behind the scenes producing with the Neptunes, as part of his group N*E*R*D or as a featured artist.

They say life begins at 40, and while Pharrell’s had a pretty impressive career already, 2013 was the year when he went stratospheric. After reaching that milestone birthday in April 2013, Pharrell finally came out of the shadows and took centre-stage on two of the biggest hits of the year.

It all started with the return of French disco-loving duo Daft Punk. Anticpation had been building for Daft Punk’s first proper studio album release in nine years, with rumours of some big-name collaborations. For the album’s lead single, the infectious Get Lucky, the line-up couldn’t get much bigger. With legendary disco producer Nile Rodgers on guitar duties and Pharrell’s silky vocals, Get Lucky was an instant smash, entering the Official Singles Chart at Number 3 before zooming to the top spot and staying there and refusing to budge for a month. It was a big moment for Daft Punk and Pharrell: it was the first time either of them had reached the summit of the Official Singles Chart. 

It was the first monster hit of 2013 and by its 69th day on sale had already sold a million copies, becoming only the 136th single in UK chart history to join the exclusive million sellers’ club.

Watch the video for Get Lucky before we take a look at Pharrell’s other big one from 2013:

Now, some popstars would be happy with one global hit, especially one that sold a million copies in just over a couple of months. Not Pharrell. He also co-wrote, produced and appeared on another huge seller at pretty much the same time. Yes, it’s the single that got everybody talking – not to mention downloading – Robin Thicke’s big breakthrough hit Blurred Lines.

The very definition of a boys’ night out, Blurred Lines caught everybody’s attention pretty quickly thanks to its saucy video, not to mention its insanely catchy – and controversial – lyrics. Pharrell teamed up with Robin and T.I. and accidentally found himself on the business end of another smash hit. Just a week after Naughty Boy’s La La La knocked him and Daft Punk off the Number 1 spot, he was back there again, shifting almost 200,000 copies in Blurred Lines’ first week on sale.

And the stellar sales didn’t stop there – Blurred Lines passed the one million mark itself after five weeks on sale, giving Pharrell his second seat in the million sellers club in just a month. All that and he managed to slot in some production wizardry on Miley Cyrus's latest album Bangerz, too. What a guy.

Watch the (clean) video for Blurred Lines before we wonder what’s coming up in 2014 for Pharrell:

Is there any stopping Pharrell? Blurred Lines has shifted over 1.4 million copies and, at the last count, was on track to be 2013’s best selling single. And what's looking like it'll be the second biggest seller of 2013? Why, it’s Get Lucky, of course. Double gold star for Pharrell.

So what’s next for the man who took almost 20 years to hit Number 1, only to dominate the top spot for eight weeks? Pharrell is showing no signs of slowing down. His latest single Happy, from the movie Despicable Me 2, gave Christmas Number 1 Sam Bailey a good run for her money, finishing in second place on the Official Christmas Chart. He finally overtook her the following week to become the final Number 1 of 2013.

2014 looks set to be another major year for Pharrell. He’s been nominated for seven Grammys, has signed a new record contract and is finally going to release a second solo album, nine years after his debut, In My Mind.

So if 2013 was the year of Pharrell as a featured artist, will 2014 be the year Mr Williams finally owns it as a solo artist? We’ll see you right back here in a year for a full report.