One of Pharrell’s biggest collaborations caught him by surprise.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary and reissue of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, the duo released a video series titled “Memory Tapes” about the making of the record.
In Wednesday’s episode, Pharrell appeared to discuss how their collaboration “Get Lucky” came to be and revealed he had no idea his vocals would be used on the final song.
via People:
The hitmaker explained that he was tapped to write something for the Grammy-winning track, but didn’t know the electronic stars intended to keep his vocals on it.
“When they brought me in to write on the album, I thought I was just writing for someone else,” the record producer said. “So, in my mind, I go, ‘Oh, okay, I’m writing this for someone. Okay, I think this is Michael-esque.’ Like, ‘Let me go down this lane. This is what this feels like to me.’ It’s all feeling.”
He also revealed that he was surprised by how much the duo featuring Thomas Bangalter, 48, and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, 49, asked him to re-record the track in the studio. “I never went in there to perfect it and [Daft Punk] continued to push me,” the “Happy” artist said.
He continued, “By the time the song was done, I didn’t know who was gon’ end up singing it. I left the studio thinking, ‘Okay, I can’t wait to see who sings it and what it sounds like.’”
The hip-hop star explained that he ended up forgetting what both “Get Lucky” and his other collaboration, “Lose Yourself to Dance,” sounded like because he didn’t hear them for a year, and because was so engrossed in the recording process. “When monumental things happen, sometimes it’s lost on me because I’m just so in it and being so present in the moment,” he shared. “You would think that would give you all the detail in the world, but it doesn’t. It does the opposite for me: I get lost in it.”
As revealed by “Memory Tapes,” when the R&B star revisited the Grammy winners in the studio a year later, he was stunned to hear his voice on the final version. In archival footage, he’s captured saying, “Wow, that’s my only word.”
“I’m always overly critical of my own vocals and that felt great to me. Thank you,” Williams said at the time, adding that he was “humbled to be a part of” their process.
The music industry veteran also recalled, “It was weird to write something in this crazy hour and then not have access to it — talk about Random Access Memories. I don’t remember writing anything because it was just in the zone … So when I heard it, I was like, ‘Oh, s—, this is fire.’”
The collaborative group — who the N.E.R.D. member described as being like “a meeting of the spirits” and “seeing music in the same way” — ended up winning record of the year and best pop duo/group performance for the song at the 56th Grammy Awards. Random Access Memories itself took home the prizes for album of the year and best dance/electronica album.
“Get Lucky” also spent 29 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart where it peaked at No. 2 and held the spot for five consecutive weeks.
The “One More Time” duo disbanded after 30 years in February 2021. They shared an eight-minute-long video at the time titled “Epilogue” to announce the news.
When the French recording artists broke up, Williams honored them by posting, “Forever legends. ?? #DaftPunk,” on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Watch Pharrell speak on it below.
