purpose , and once this is accomplished , the universe will conspire to make one ’ s dreams a reality . Prior to reading the book and long before he was a household name , Pharrell often felt as though the universe was conspiring against him . He toiled for years behind the scenes , writing and producing songs for some of the biggest stars in the music industry , including Britney Spears , Gwen Stefani , Nelly , Adam Lambert , Jay-Z , Ludacris and Justin Timberlake . While he collected a slew of Grammys and loaned his distinctive falsetto voice to other artists ’ videos , he dreamed of breaking away and having a solo career . For reasons he couldn ’ t fathom , success and fame continually eluded him .
“ Time after time , people kept raining on me and putting my fire out ,” he said . “ I was at the point where I said I was going to give up and accept that I should just be content being a writer and producer .”
For more than a decade , Pharrell said he was frustrated by all of the trappings of success enjoyed by his peers , such as recording artists Sean “ P Diddy ” Combs and Jay-Z . They had all the beautiful women , luxurious homes , private jets and flashy cars that money could buy , and he believed that if he kept on working hard enough that all of these things would eventually be within his grasp .
“ I misinterpreted what my friends were doing and thought the same thing was for me ,” he said . “ I was doing a watered-down version of what they were meant to do , and didn ’ t realize I wasn ’ t following my purpose .”
Disenchanted that his goals never materialized , his perspective changed when his manager suggested that he read The Alchemist . Suddenly , it was clear to him that he was meant for a much different path . He was also humbled by the realization that many people had believed in him since he was a child and had contributed to his career , including his teachers , band instructors , his family , and especially his beloved grandmother .
“ My grandmother told me she had a vision that I was going to be way up high ,” he said . “ She said I was going to be up in the clouds .”
When Pharrell made a decision to stop chasing other people ’ s dreams and started focusing on his own , that ’ s when things finally started to click . After several years of dating , he married model Helen Lasichanh in 2013 . He also accepted a project to write a song about happiness for Universal Picture ’ s animated film Despicable Me 2 , but for some reason he encountered a serious case of writer ’ s block . Completely out of ideas , he realized he was “ over thinking ” the concept of being happy and needed to relax and let his mind flow . For the song “ Happy ,” he chose gospel chords and said the lyrics finally came to him while taking a shower . He submitted nine songs to the film ’ s producers and “ Happy ” was finally selected for the movie ’ s soundtrack and video .
Pharrell recalled that when “ Happy ” was first released to radio stations , it did not get any attention or airplay . However , soon after the song was released on video in November 2013 , millions of people took notice and embraced the catchy lyrics and adorable dancing minions . The song rose to the top of Billboard ’ s
The Hot 100 chart and remained there for 10 consecutive weeks , peaking at number one in 103 markets worldwide and spawning videos on YouTube of people all over the world dancing and singing along to “ Happy .” It had not happened overnight , but Pharrell had finally achieved his dream of being a solo artist and a superstar . He acknowledged that it was “ overwhelming ” that the song , which sold 6.5 million copies in the U . S . and 1.5 million in the UK alone , resonated with so many people .