"Gust of Wind" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
. Written alongside
Daft Punk
Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...
(who also provided vocals), it was released on October 24, 2014 by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
as the fourth single from Williams's second studio album ''
Girl
A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...
'' (2014).
Williams' fifth collaboration with Daft Punk,
The Neptunes
The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...
completed a remix for ''
Daft Club
''Daft Club'' is the first remix album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 1 December 2003 by Virgin Records. The album features numerous remixes of tracks from their second album, ''Discovery'' (2001), and one from their d ...
'' (2003), Daft Punk had previously co-written and co-produced the song "
Hypnotize U
"Hypnotize U" is a song by American group N.E.R.D., released on October 16, 2010, as the second single off their fourth studio album, ''Nothing''. It was produced by the Neptunes and Daft Punk.
Music video
A music video for "Hypnotize U" was fi ...
" from
N.E.R.D
N.E.R.D. (stylized as N⋆E⋆R⋆D and N.E.R.D, a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley (producer), Ted ...
's fourth studio album ''
Nothing
Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...
'' (2010) and Williams provided vocals on "
Get Lucky" and "
Lose Yourself to Dance
"Lose Yourself to Dance" is a song by French electronic music duo Daft Punk featuring vocals from American musician Pharrell Williams. Like their previous collaboration with fellow American musician Nile Rodgers, " Get Lucky", the song was writte ...
" from Daft Punk's fourth and final studio album ''
Random Access Memories
''Random Access Memories'' is the fourth studio album by the French electronic music, electronic duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 through Columbia Records. The album pays tribute to late Music history of the United States in the 1970s, 197 ...
'' (2013).
Music video
The official music video was directed by
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...
(''
Shaun of the Dead
''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed (Nick Frost). The fi ...
'', ''
Hot Fuzz
''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, and Jim Broadbent, the film centres on two police officers investigating a series of mysteriou ...
'', ''
Baby Driver
''Baby Driver'' is a 2017 action film written and directed by Edgar Wright. It stars Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver seeking freedom from a life of crime with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James). Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Jamie ...
''). It was released on October 7, 2014. The video depicts Williams dancing with women in a forest in autumn, with Daft Punk represented by stone sculptures of their helmets.
Live performances
On October 12, 2014, Williams performed "Gust of Wind" on the first live results show of ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
''.
Charts
Release history
References
{{authority control
2014 songs
2014 singles
Pharrell Williams songs
Song recordings produced by Daft Punk
Song recordings produced by Pharrell Williams
Songs written by Pharrell Williams
Songs written by Thomas Bangalter
Songs written by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
Columbia Records singles
Music videos directed by Edgar Wright
Funk songs