Pharrell Was Fired From McDonald’s Three Times: ‘I Was Eating the Chicken Nuggets’

The “Happy” singer, 51, recently sat down for a candid interview with BBC Radio 2, where he shared a priceless story about his first job. He said, “McDonald’s was my first and only job.”

Pharrell went on to share the relatable reason why his career in the food industry didn’t work out. “I got fired three times,” he admitted. “I was eating the chicken nuggets.”

The musician explained that the first two instances were due to his work ethic (or lack thereof). His third strike sealed the deal when he was caught with a nugget in his hand. “The first two times it was just because I was lazy,” Pharrell added. “The third was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re just sitting there eating nuggets?’”

Thankfully, Pharrell discovered that his calling is music, and the rest (as you know) is history. “When I was 40 and I had three No. 1 records in a year, all of them were commissions,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “With ‘Get Lucky,’... I’m thinking I’m writing a song for somebody else to sing, and if I would’ve written it for me, it probably wouldn’t have been as big, because I would’ve written for my ego. When that s*** blew up, I was like, ‘Whoa! OK, hold on.’ And that humbled me.”

This story will never get old. 

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