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Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” has become the most downloaded track ever in the U.K.
British music sales tracker The Official Charts Company said the song has overtaken Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines,” which Williams also produced and was featured on and which was the best-selling single of 2013 in the U.K.
Overall, Williams has three entries in the top 10. “Get Lucky,” his collaboration with Daft Punk, is now the sixth-most downloaded track ever, the music sales tracker said in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Official Download Chart.
All three Williams tracks sold more than 1 million copies within a year, a feat only The Beatles had reached in Britain before, according to the firm.
“Happy” has sold 1.62 million times in the U.K. since it was released in June 2013 as part of the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack and then the star’s second solo album G I R L. “Blurred Lines” has sold 1.59 million times in Britain. The third biggest-selling single download of all time in the U.K. is “Someone Like You” from Adele, who has set chart records herself, with 1.53 million copies. “Get Lucky” has been downloaded 1.4 million times.
Pharrell said on OfficialCharts.com: “I would just like to say thank you, first and foremost, to the people, because the charts are determined by them. I have a lot to be thankful for because they’ve chosen these things and it’s resulted in “Happy” being what it’s become.”
Said Martin Talbot, CEO of the Official Charts Company: “Few artists have ever dominated an era as he has done over the past 18 months — he is a true phenomenon of our times.”
The company said that since it started tracking downloads in the U.K. 10 years ago, it has recorded 1.24 billion single track downloads and 166 million album downloads, including a recent record-setting album charts presence by Kate Bush.
Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
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