Pharrell’s Happy knocks Sam Bailey’s Skyscraper off Number 1

Blurred Lines and Get Lucky collaborator Pharrell Williams claims his third chart topping single of 2013 and the final Number 1 of the year.

Pharrell Williams has knocked Sam Bailey off the top of the Official Singles Chart after just one week at Number 1.

The US singer/songwriter and producer’s latest single Happy, which is taken from the soundtrack to Despicable Me 2, was an unexpected entrant into last week’s Official Christmas Number 1 race. It finished in second place behind the 2013 X Factor winner’s cover of Demi Lovato’s Skyscraper.

Today Happy claims the Official Singles Chart top spot after selling nearly 107,000 copies over the last seven days to give Pharrell his third UK Number 1 single of the year.

As one half of production duo The Neptunes, he’s worked with everyone from Beyonce to Britney Spears, Jay Z to Justin Timberlake, and Mary J. Blige to Madonna, but 2013 is officially the year Pharrell went stratospheric! 

After turning 40 at the beginning of April, he topped the Official Singles Chart later that month guesting onDaft Punk’s Get Lucky along with Chic’s Nile Rodgers. A month later, he returned to the chart summit appearing alongside Robin Thicke and TI on Blurred Lines. By July, both tracks had broken though the million copies sales barrier.

In related news, Pharrell is set to release his second solo album early next year after inking new a deal with Columbia Records. The as-yet-untitled album is the follow-up to 2006's In My Mind, which peaked at number seven in the Official Albums Chart.

Sam Bailey slides one place to Number 2 today with Skyscraper, while Avicii’s Hey Brother climbs two places to Number 3. This week’s Official Singles Chart Top 5 is completed by Jason Derulo’s Trumpets (Number 4) and The Monster by Eminem and Rihanna (5), which have both climbed four places.

New Entries and High Climbers

Beyonce claims this week’s sole new entry in the Top 40. The US star’s latest track, Drunk In Love, which features her husband Jay Z, climbs 28 places to make its Official Singles Chart Top 40 debut at Number 29.

Rizzle Kicks are up 48 places to 31 with Skip To The Good Bit, Ylvis’ The Fox climbs 25 to Number 33, One Direction’s Best Song Ever is up 34 to Number 34, and The Vamps’ Can We Dance climbs 39 positions to Number 35.

Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines (39) Jessie J’s It’s My Party (40) also return to the Top 40 today, climbing 21 and 69 places, respectively, as the nation puts the finishing touches to their New Year’s Eve playlists.

The Official Singles Chart Top 10 is as follows. Click here to see the Official Singles Chart Top 100 in full after 7pm.

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