Pharrell global

IT'S A G I R L'S WORLD: As you may recall from yesterday’s chart story, Columbia’s Pharrell Williams scored a solid 110k, #2 bow for his G I R L. Now it’s time to get global with the story. The set earned #1 bows in the U.K., France, Belgium and Switzerland and adds #2 debuts in Canada, Germany and Australia to its tally. Along with those strong sales, the album has also been earning stellar reviews. “[Pharrell has] made one of the most likable pop albums in recent memory,” declared Stereogum, which called G I R L a “tight, welcoming LP of sun-blasted disco-funk mood music.” The L.A. Times, meanwhile, hailed it as “a jukebox to future club jams”; The Wall Street Journal praised its “feel-good funk and disco”; The New York Times deemed it “an overwhelmingly positive album, cheery in mood and instrumentation.” Added Ebony, “Pharrell is back like he never left.” He’s not leaving anytime soon, either, given the mad momentum of his smash single “Happy,” which moved a staggering 490k singles this week, outselling its nearest downloadable competitor by a 2-to-1 margin. The track continues to dominate at iTunes and Shazam and is currently #3 at Pop radio. (3/12p)