Pharrell Williams lands trans-Atlantic double with Happy

Hip-hop star Pharrell Williams has scored a trans-Atlantic double ahead of his big night at the Oscars after topping both the U.S. and U.K. singles charts with Happy. The singer and superproducer climbed to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 this week (ends02Mar14), and he continued his successful run in the U.K. on Sunday (02Mar14) as Happy notched up a third non-consecutive week at the top – hours before he is due to perform the Despicable Me 2 theme tune at the Hollywood prizegiving as a nominee for the Best Original Song category.
His chart victory has been made all the more sweet by the news that U.K. sales for Happy have passed the one million mark.
He tells OfficialCharts.com, “I am beyond grateful for the amount of love and support I’ve received in response to Happy – it is overwhelming.
“I’ve always respected the great taste of the U.K., and I’m honoured to have my music embraced in such a positive way. I am so thankful.”
Elsewhere in the U.K. singles chart, Sam Smith’s Money On My Mind fell to two, while Clean Bandit was at three with Rather Be.
Rockers Bastille have continued to rule the U.K. albums chart after Bad Blood narrowly beat the Arctic Monkeys’ AM.
Ellie Goulding’s Halcyon took third place and Beck scored his highest U.K. chart entry as Morning Phase debuted at four.