Pharrell Williams won three Grammys last month. At the awards ceremony, he performed alongside Stevie Wonder, Daft Punk, and Nile Rodgers; his hat invaded online discussion about the State of the Union. And the Neptunes half, who seemed to appear on just about every other song on Top 40 radio last year, will be taking the stage at the 86th annual Academy Awards next month too.
The Academy has announced Pharrell will perform his song “Happy” from Despicable Me 2. The ecstatic clap-along, which Pharrell wrote and produced in addition to singing, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Pharrell has competition in that category from U2’s Golden Globe-winning Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom anthem “Ordinary Love,” along with Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O’s Her serenade “The Moon Song.” Frozen‘s “Let It Go,” which has been recorded by both Demi Lovato and Idina Menzel, is also in the running.
No other Best Original Song nominees have been announced as performers yet, but we wouldn’t bet against it. Last year’s winner in this category, Adele, performed at the 2013 ceremony alongside fellow nominees including Norah Jones and the cast of Les Misérables. Then again, in 2012, only two songs got nominated and neither was performed on TV.
One song definitely won’t be sung during the March 2 telecast: The theme from little-known film Alone Yet Not Alone, which raised eyebrows when it first got the nod, had its nomination revoked for what the Academy called “the appearance of an unfair advantage.”
Pharrell — and his hat — will also be on TV on February 9 as part of CBS’ The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles. Major Lazer recently shared their Pharrell collaboration “Aerosol Can.” And the singer-songwriter-producer has been cleared of ripping off any Franz Ferdinand riffs.
