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Pharrell Williams

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19 May, 2015

Wins The Voice

Sawyer FredericksThe VoiceOther Awards0 Comments

Fredericks wins season eight of The Voice. He is coached by Williams.

I just thought, ‘This is going to be a good learning experience.’ I’d never done any kind of audition thing before. So that’s kind of how I went into it, just seeing where it takes me…It was definitely a really big culture shock for me, moving from a farm to the city. Since I’m quite a bit of an introvert, it’s really hard for me to do interviews and that kind of stuff. The performing was really easy for me, just because I’ve always been performing; I do a lot of farmers’ markets and gigs like that. So that was the part where I was the least nervous, when I was up onstage singing. I was more nervous in the interviews, although I’m not as nervous now. I’m definitely getting more comfortable with all this stuff. I’ve come out of my shell through this whole entire experience.

On his plans for the future:

I would not move to L.A.; I love my home back on the farm. I would visit L.A., but it would never be my home. I can take trips and stay in hotels for a while, but I always want to have a farm to come back to.

20 Mar, 2015

Comments on verdict

0 Comments

Williams comments on the jury’s decision:

It was shocking. I think, when you look back at it, I think the jury voted on emotion. This is my opinion – I feel like the verdict was based on emotion and not the real true issue, which was copyright infringement.

Blurred Lines comments

Marvin Gaye (Singer)Nile RodgersRobin ThickeInterview0 Comments

Rodgers comments on Williams and Thicke’s copyright infringement in the Blurred Lines court case, saying he believes the song’s composition is not at all like Gaye’s Got to Give it Up.

Compositionally, purely compositionally, I don’t think they should have lost that case. Got to Give it Up is clearly a blues structure, Blurred Lines isn’t at all. If we lose our freedom to be inspired, we’re going to look up one day and the entertainment industry as we know it will be frozen in litigation.

10 Mar, 2015

Copied Blurred Lines: $7.3m damages

Marvin Gaye (Singer)Robin ThickeJudgement0 Comments

The jury awards $7.3 million to Gaye’s family after deciding Williams and Thicke copied Blurred Lines from Gaye’s 1977 hit Got to Give It Up. Nona Gaye wept as the verdict was being read and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch, who had said Williams and Thicke were liars who went beyond trying to emulate the sound of Gaye’s late-1970s music and copied the song outright. The song has earned more than $5 million apiece for Thicke and Williams.

26 Nov, 2014

Calls Brown’s behavior ‘bullyish’

Michael Brown0 Comments

Williams tells Ebony magazine that although he doesn’t agree with the Grand Jury’s decision in Ferguson, he thinks Michael Brown’s behavior leading up to his death was ‘bully-ish’.

It looked very bully-ish; that in itself I had a problem with. Not with the kid, but with whatever happened in his life for him to arrive at a place where that behavior is OK. Why aren’t we talking about that? The boy was walking in the middle of the street when the police supposedly told him to “get the f*** on the sidewalk.” If you don’t listen to that, after just having pushed a storeowner, you’re asking for trouble.

Spark the Fire

Gwen StefaniSingle Release0 Comments

The artist releases Spark The Fire, from her yet to be titled album. This is one of several tracks that is produced by collaborator Pharrell for her third solo album. Stefani:

He’s like, ‘I’ve got to play you this. I have to play you this. And so he plays me this song, and it’s like magic. All it was was a beat and he was singing this melody on top and I just knew, that’s it. That night, after shooting all day, we went in the studio all night long, stayed up till four in the morning, came back, got on set and then didn’t finish.

Gwen Stefani - Spark The Fire

16 Sep, 2014

High when recording Blurred Lines

Robin Thicke0 Comments

Thicke says he was high on Vicodin and alcohol when recording Blurred Lines featuring Williams. The claim came to light in court documents as part of a case taken by the estate of Marvin Gaye due to the songs likeness to Gaye’s song Got to Give it Up.  Thicke claims Williams wrote most of the song.

To be honest, that’s the only part where — I was high on Vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio. So my recollection is when we made the song, I thought I wanted — I — I wanted to be more involved than I actually was by the time, nine months later, it became a huge hit and I wanted credit. So I started kind of convincing myself that I was a little more part of it than I was and I — because I didn’t want him — I wanted some credit for this big hit. But the reality is, is that Pharrell had the beat and he wrote almost every single part of the song.

23 Jul, 2014

Come Get It Bae

Miley CyrusSingle Release0 Comments

Williams releases Come Get It Bae from his album G I R L. The song features vocals from Miley Cyrus. Williams on Cyrus:

I wanted her on that song as I love her tone. It just felt good and that’s it and I wanted to make music with people who feel.

Pharrell Williams - Come Get It Bae (Video)