French President Emmanuel Macron presented Pharrell Williams with the Légion d'Honneur at the Élysée Palace on Friday, awarding him with the country's highest national honor. Future, Bernard Arnault, and more celebrities attended the ceremony. In a speech translated by Vanity Fair, Macron labeled Pharrell an artist with a “rare ability to turn the wildest ideas into reality.”
Macron began by highlighting Pharrell's music career. “At an early age, you discovered music, which set the rhythm of your days and brought color to your everyday life. Your grandmother spotted it and gave you your very first instrument: a snare drum. A simple object, but one that taught you how a beat can set the pace and make people dance," he said.
From there, he brought up his hit song “Happy." “The irresistible lyrics of this soundtrack, composed for Despicable Me, a movie made from a French studio, travelled far beyond cinema screens," Macron said. "Its rhythm spread and you became the man who made the world dance in unison."
Pharrell's Work With Louis Vuitton
Macron also noted Pharrell's work with Louis Vuitton, for whom he's been serving as the Men's Creative Director. "And from the very first year, you delivered with a spectacular debut collection, unveiled during a landmark show on the Pont Neuf, transformed for the occasion into a golden stage," Macron said. “The world discovered the silhouettes you had imagined: the Louis Vuitton Damier reinterpreted as bold pixelated camouflage, boldly paired with denim, tailoring, or with unexpected hats and accessories.”
He concluded: “Moving from musician to exhibition curator might have made others hesitate. But not you. You didn’t shy away from experimenting—not even when it meant being cast in a mold, remaining immobile for hours, breathing through a straw, so that Daniel Arsham could create a sculpture in your likeness. After all, you always sought to learn from the very best, and to create alongside them.”
The Légion d'Honneur recognition comes after Pharrell's former Neptunes collaborator, Chad Hugo, filed a lawsuit against him over alleged unpaid royalties on Friday.
