"Happy" is a song written, produced, and performed by American singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams, released as the only single from the soundtrack album for the film Despicable Me 2 (2013).

[1] The song also served as the lead single from Williams's second studio album, Girl (2014).

Williams provided vocals for French duo Daft Punk's 2013 album Random Access Memories, on the songs "Lose Yourself to Dance" and "Get Lucky".

They also made Williams an offer to record his own album, to which he agreed quickly, "overwhelmed that someone wanted to know what's in my heart".

[10] On December 17, 2013, it was announced that Williams had signed to Columbia Records and would release his second studio album in 2014.

[12][13][14][15] "Happy" was written and produced by Williams, with backing vocals by Rhea Dummett, Trevon Henderson, Ashley L. Lee, Shamika Hightower, Jasmine Murray and Terrence Rolle.

[16] The track was digitally edited and arranged by Andrew Coleman and Mike Larson, who also recorded it with assistance from Matthew Desrameaux at Circle House Studios in Miami, Florida.

[20][21] According to music journalist Paul Tingen, "Happy" is "a mid-tempo ... song in a faux-Motown style, with an arrangement that is, by modern standards, very sparse: programmed drums, one bass and one keyboard part, and handclaps both programmed and played, all topped off by Williams's lead vocals and a whole posse of backing vocals".

Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone gave it 3.5 stars and deemed it "an instant contender for 2013's Song of the Summer".

"[23] Holly Williams of Contactmusic.com gave it four stars, praising it for being "unbelievably catchy" and "the kind of song that makes you want to dance and sing along".

1 on the Dutch Top 40 chart in the Netherlands, partially as a result of radio station 3FM airplay and subsequent online downloads, as well as featuring in a Transavia commercial.

1 for the third time, it sold its millionth copy in the UK, Williams' third in under a year, having previously done so with Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" in June 2013, and Thicke's "Blurred Lines" in July 2013.

[38] Additionally, "Happy" and Idina Menzel's "Let It Go" became the first singles ever to spend an entire calendar year on the official UK top 75 chart.

On June 12, it was announced that "Happy" had overtaken "Evergreen" by Will Young as the UK's best-selling single of the 21st century, with sales of 1.81 million.

[40][42] "Happy" reached the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending March 8, 2014, giving Williams his fourth No.

[44] The song also holds the record for the second-highest audience peak for a week on the Hot 100 Airplay, with 225.9 million impressions while Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", a song in which Pharrell was featured as well as produced and co-wrote, holds the all-time record.

[50] The song also topped the charts of 22 other countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Spain.

1, the longest reign at the top of the Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique, beating Lou Bega's "Mambo No.

[54] It consists of the four-minute song repeated multiple times, with various people dancing around Los Angeles and miming along.

[55] The video featured appearances by Jimmy Kimmel, Tyler, the Creator, Jamie Foxx, Magic Johnson, Issa Rae, Earl Sweatshirt, Kelly Osbourne, JoJo, Sérgio Mendes, Ryan Heffington, Whit Hertford, Leah LaBelle, Jasper Dolphin, and Despicable Me 2 stars Steve Carell and Miranda Cosgrove.

It held the Guinness world record for the longest music video from 2013 to 2020, when it was surpassed by Twenty One Pilots’ 178 day long live stream of fan clips for their single "Level of Concern".

[7][8] The 24-hour music video for "Happy" was also projected at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema in April 2014.

[60] In April 2014, the Embassy of the United States, Yerevan, Armenia released a video titled "Happy Yerevan", directed by Artyom Abovyan featuring US ambassador John A. Heffern and several Armenian celebrities, such as singers André, Emmy and Aram Mp3.

[61][62] The same month artsmedia Albania produced a music video for the track featuring inhabitants of Tirana.

The video soon became popular in Albania and caused controversy over the usage of images of Albanian First Secretary Enver Hoxha.

[71] In 2014, American musician "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied "Happy" as "Tacky" on his fourteenth studio album Mandatory Fun.

Yankovic recorded the song as one of the last on Mandatory Fun, and received Williams' approval directly, through email.

It features cameo appearances by Aisha Tyler, Margaret Cho, Eric Stonestreet, Kristen Schaal, and Jack Black, and was produced by Nerdist Industries.