# Pharrell Williams: Happy

> A soundtrack song passed 1 million UK sales amid a global dance-video wave.

- Owner: Pharrell Williams
- Kind: Music
- Sector: Entertainment
- Seed date: 2013-05-21
- Milestone date: 2014-02-27
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 43 (Notable, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Response chain, Challenge, Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

Happy moved from a soundtrack premiere to a dance-video release and international chart success. Fans made local tribute videos; Pharrell and the UN Foundation then invited and showcased more submissions.

## Timeline

- 2013-05-21 — Pharrell Williams (Audio) — The finished song streamed publicly; The FADER credited Rolling Stone with its premiere.
- 2013-11-21 — Pharrell Williams / iamOTHER (YouTube) — Pharrell released a 24-hour dance video and a shorter YouTube edit.
- 2013-12-17 — Columbia Records (Open web) — Columbia announced Pharrell’s signing and plans to include Happy on his next album.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/pharrell-happy

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Pharrell Williams: Happy.” Case HIS-01016. Spread Score v1.2: 43/100. Updated 2026-10-17. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01016