On February 18, 2014, Williams unveiled a trailer for the album. On December 17, 2013, it was announced that Williams had signed to Columbia Records and would release his second studio album in 2014. They also made Williams an offer to record his own album, to which he quickly agreed.
After returning from the Paris recording sessions, he attended a meeting with record label managers, who said that the results were "spectacular" and that " Get Lucky" would be Daft Punk's next single. Williams provided vocals for French electronic duo Daft Punk's 2013 album Random Access Memories. "Happy" also won Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Music Video. At the 57th Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Urban Contemporary Album. Follow-up singles " Marilyn Monroe", " Come Get It Bae", and " Gust of Wind" have achieved moderate success. Its lead single was the Oscar-nominated " Happy" (from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack), which was a huge worldwide success, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time. The album has sold 591,000 copies in the United States as of February 2015. It peaked at number one in 12 countries worldwide, also peaking in the top 10 of the charts of 17 other countries.
Girl received generally positive reviews from critics. It contains appearances by Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Daft Punk, JoJo, and Alicia Keys.
Girl was Williams' first studio album since his 2006 debut, In My Mind. The album was released on March 3, 2014, by Williams' label I Am Other and Columbia Records. Girl (stylized as G I R L) is the second studio album by American singer and record producer Pharrell Williams.