Pharrell Williams (born 05.04.73) is an American music producer, singer-songwriter and rapper. He is one half of the production duo The Neptunes and is also the lead singer and drummer of the funk-rock band, N*E*R*D.
Net Worth: According to Celebrity Net Worth in 2014, Pharrell Williams has a net worth of 80 million USD.
Childhood: Pharrell Williams was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to handyman Pharaoh and teacher Carolyn Williams. While in the seventh grade, Williams met Chad Hugo during a summer band camp. The two also were both part of a marching band. Williams studied at Princess Anne High School where he was part of the school band.
Williams and Hugo formed The Neptunes as a four-piece band with two of their friends. The group performed at Princess Anne High School for a talent contest and, as producer Teddy Riley had a studio next door, were offered a contract.
Career: Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo began making a name for themselves as a production duo using the name of their old band, The Neptunes. The Neptunes produced a series of successful songs, yet their breakthrough came in 2001, when they produced the Britney Spears song 'I'm a Slave 4 U', which became the production duo's first worldwide chart-topper. In that same year, Williams and Hugo's band N*E*R*D (which also contained one of the other two members from their band The Neptunes) released the album 'In Search of...' on 28th September 2001, to rave reviews.
This was followed by 'The Neptunes Present...Clones' the following year, which featured a series of remixes and shot to the top of the Billboard Album chart. On 23rd March 2004, N*E*R*D released 'Fly or Die', which received exceedingly positive reviews all round. At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Williams receieved the awards for both 'Producer of the Year, Non-Classical', and 'Best Pop Vocal Album', the latter of which was for an appearance on Justin Timberlake's album 'Justified'. In 2004, Williams made an appearance on Snoop Dog's 'Drop It Like It's Hot', which became his first US chart-topping single.
The Neptunes continued to produce music and remixes for a variety of artists. In July, 2010, Pharell Williams composed the musical score for the movie 'Despicable Me'. In October of the same year, N*E*R*D supported Gorillaz on their world tour before releasing 'Nothing' on 2nd November 2010. Unlike other N*E*R*D releases, 'Nothing' only received moderate critical praise and failed to rise above number 21 on Billboard's 200 list.
In 2012, Williams worked with Hans Zimmer once again (after 'Despicable Me') on the music for the 84th Academy Awards that year. The following year, Williams contributed his vocals to the Daft Punk hit single 'Get Lucky', before writing and producing Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' - both of which became chart-topping singles. In December 2013, Williams was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for 'Happy' from the 'Despicable Me 2' soundtrack.
The song lost, however, to 'Frozen''s 'Let It Go'.
Personal Life: Pharrell Williams and his long-term girlfriend, Helen Lasichanh, had a son, Rocket, in November 2008. On 12th October, 2013, Williams and Lasichanh were married. In the 'Despicable Me' soundtrack, the song 'Rocket's Theme' was dedicated to Williams' son.
Biography by Contactmusic.com
Robin Thicke has said he was drunk and high during his 2013 interviews.
