Before Pharrell Williams was “Happy” … he wasn’t — three times.
The 51-year-old Grammy Award-winning producer and musician, born on April 5, 1973, in Virginia Beach, Va., reveals that repeatedly he got pink-slipped by McDonald’s during his “first and only job” when he worked at the fast food chain.
“I got fired three times,” Williams told BBC Radio 2 host Jo Whiley. “I was eating the chicken nuggets.”
Williams, whose song “Happy” became the best-selling track of 2014, admitted on all three occasions, the restaurant was probably justified in firing him.
“The first two times it was just because I was lazy,” he said. “The third was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re just sitting there eating nuggets?'”
He isn’t the only celeb to be fired before becoming famous.
Here are some surprising celebrity firings before they hit it big:
- Madonna — fired from Dunkin’ Donuts for squirting jelly filling at customers
- Walt Disney — fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination”
- Lady Gaga — fired from her first record deal with Def Jam after just 3 months
- Steve Jobs — famously fired from Apple, the company he co-founded
- Elvis Presley — fired as a truck driver for being “too talkative” to customers
- Oprah Winfrey — fired as a TV reporter for being “too emotionally invested” in stories
Williams recently confessed explained how he didn’t realize that he had the necessary “drive” to go with his creative talents because he has worked in the music industry from a young age. This drive would later lead him to win 13 Grammy Awards and receive two Academy Award nominations throughout his illustrious career.
“Everybody is born with creativity, but some are born with a pronounced connection to it,” he told Britain’s HELLO! magazine. “Some are born with drive. Some are creative but don’t feel the drive. Some don’t necessarily have the best creativity, but they want it so bad. I didn’t know I had this kind of drive. I considered myself lazy for years, but I just wasn’t inspired.”
This connection to creativity has led to numerous successful ventures beyond music. As a fashion entrepreneur, he launched the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream, and in 2023, he was appointed as Creative Director for Louis Vuitton’s menswear. His business acumen also extends to beauty, with his skincare line Humanrace launched in 2020.
The musician — whose life story is being told in LEGO form in new movie Piece By Piece — only committed to the project after being convinced by the concept.
“I do things that I am curious and enthusiastic about and a documentary about me is not interesting, so I said no at first,” Williams said during an appearance on “The Graham Norton Show.”
His agent helped change his mind.
“My very persistent agent said I could do it what any way I wanted,” Williams said. “When I said I wanted to do it with the best documentary-maker Morgan Neville and for him to tell it anyway he wanted, but in LEGO, my agent said, ‘No, no, no.’ But then everyone said yes. This project is the sum of lots of yeses and is what impossible looks like. Whether you are eight or 80, it’s not too late to build your dream piece by piece.”
His impact on the music industry extends far beyond his own performances. As half of the production duo The Neptunes with Chad Hugo, he has shaped the sound of contemporary music, earning them a place in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The duo has produced hits for major artists including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani. His collaboration with Daft Punk on “Get Lucky” became a global sensation.
Williams’ influence has also reached television, where he served as a coach on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2014 and later judged on the Netflix competition show “Voices of Fire.” His music production company i am OTHER has expanded into film and television production, demonstrating his versatility in entertainment.
Known for his youthful appearance, which has become a popular internet meme, Williams’ achievements in education were recognized when he received an honorary doctorate from New York University in 2017, proving that his influence extends well beyond the entertainment industry.
