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Cee Lo Green recorded Pharrell's 'Happy,' but his team passed on it

Pharrell Williams says Cee Lo Green recorded a better version of "Happy."

By Kate Stanton
UPI/Jim Ruymen
UPI/Jim Ruymen | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, May 1 (UPI) -- Cee Lo Green's handlers made a huge mistake.

They forced the former Voice coach and "F**k You" singer to pass on his recording of Pharrell Williams "Happy" -- the song that got Meryl Streep to shimmy -- to focus on his own album.

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That's according to Williams himself, who was asked on Howard Stern's radio show if he would have "given this [song] to a Robin Thicke or someone?"

"I actually did, [to] Cee Lo," Williams said. "He sounded amazing on it. I mean, he burns my version!

"But the ... how do I say this diplomatically? Um ... he ... um ... The powers that be, at the time, did not see it fit for him. Some folks on his team just felt that the priority should be on [Cee Lo's] album at the time, so they elected not to do that song," he added.

Williams assured Stern that Green wasn't too upset about the "Happy's" eventual success.

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"It's not his fault -- he was totally down with it … [and] he was one of the most gracious people about it when [the song] came out."

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