Things You Didn't Know About Pharrell's Wife

They say behind every great man; there is a great woman. And for Pharrell Williams, the who brought you "Blurred Lines" and "Happy," that woman is his wife, Helen Lasichanh Williams. The couple married in 2013 after dating for years, but even after all that time, there's not much information on the intensely mysterious former model. According to the New York Post, "even her ethnicity is the subject of speculation," and Pharrell has never confirmed "how her last name is pronounced." That's private, kids.

One thing we know for sure, however, is that Pharrell found his soulmate. "I love her because of everything that she is, good, bad and indifferent," Pharrell told People in 2018 before his Art Basel concert in Miami. "We share a space in love that is, I don't possess her. You know when I was young I used to say things like, 'Oh, she's mine.' But she's not mine, but she sure makes me feel like it."

Due to Helen's desire to remain low key, we didn't get lucky (see what we did there?) with juicy tidbits about her life, but here are a few things you didn't know about Pharrell's wife, Helen Lasichanh Williams.

What's in a name?

Three years after her marriage to Pharrell, Helen Lasichanh Williams decided to change her maiden name, according to TMZ. The fashionista asked a Los Angeles judge to grant her permission to legally drop the second "h" from her name, taking it from Lasichanh to Lasichan. We're not sure whether the judge granted the request —but honestly, why would it be denied? — or why Helen decided to changer her maiden name after she was already married. That's a question only she can answer, and at the time of this writing, she has yet to do so. But, hey, whatever works.

She's a 'quiet warrior'

While we might not know how to pronounce Helen's last name even with the dropped "h," her former college coach gave us something to call her. The New York Post reported that while attending St. Thomas University in Miami, Helen emerged as a star volleyball player, eventually earning 2001's Florida Sun Conference Player of the Year award. Her coach during the time, Hector Martinez, called his former star player "a quiet warrior." He continued, "She's very intense, but she would not necessarily express it verbally." 

What if "Lasichanh" means "quiet warrior?" Mind blown.

She played hard to get

When Helen and Pharrell met in the mid 2000s, she was taken and was flat-out uninterested in the music producer's advances. As Pharrell told Oprah Winfrey during a 2014 sit-down interview, he had to work for her love.

"She didn't answer half of my text messages," Pharrell recalled (via Express). "Egotistically, no (that didn't intrigue me). I was like, 'Oh yeah?' because I had that kind of money and because I had that kind of reach, I thought I was entitled and I had learned that no, she has a boyfriend and she's not interested." Helen kept Pharrell waiting two and a half years before they began dating. But it wasn't easy getting their love going. In fact, Pharrell's immaturity nearly cost him the entire relationship.

"I hurt her a lot in the very beginning once she was free and was available, because I had given her all this attention but I wasn't ready to like, let go," he recalled of his bachelor life. "I looked at my life and was like, 'Man, I could keep doing this for another 10 years, is that what I want to do?' And so I made a decision. And then we made a decision and just started dating." The pair got engaged in 2012 and tied the knot in 2013.

She's a fierce fashionista

Anybody who pays close attention to Pharrell's attire knows he is a fan of details; from the layered Chanel necklaces he's often spotted wearing to his now-trademark Canadian mountain-ranger hat, he knows how to bait the pages of GQ. As such. any woman on his arm is pretty much required to keep up with his style game.

When he and Helen walk red carpets together, she always steals the show. At times towering in four-inch heels, Helen is confident in her height, statuesque body, and smile. She's not afraid to go toe-to-toe with Pharrell when it comes stand-out fashions.

A good example of her forward fashion sense was her wedding dress. The Daily Mail obtained photos of Pharrell and Helen on a yacht hours before they tied the knot. The couple wore similar tartan ensembles — Pharrell a red and green tartan suit with a bow tie and Helen in a jaw-dropping navy blue and green tartan dress with embellished shoulders and A-line skirt. From the looks of paparazzi photos, the couple also asked guests to participate in their plaid theme.

Mum was the word on babies 2,3, and 4

To everyone's surprise, Pharrell and Helen shocked everyone with their second pregnancy announcement in September 2016. Rather than issuing a statement, the famously private couple simply let the photographs do the talking. Pharrell and Helen attended a Chanel dinner at which the former model showed off her growing baby bump in an equally stunning striped dress. While the baby's sex and due date weren't known, what was known was their new bundle of joy would likely get a unique name.

Pharrell and Helen, who constantly strive to standout amongst a crowd of regulars, named their first child Rocket Ayer. In 2014, Pharrell explained to Oprah Winfrey (via People ) the name for their son saying, "In the same way the Indians named their children after a force or animal or element, we named him after a man-made machine that was meant to go up, meant to ascend." You can bet your bottom dollar, their new baby's name will have a significant meaning. And by "baby," we mean "babies," because they actually had three. Yep... 

The triplets are here

In Jan. 2017, Vanity Fair confirmed that Helen Lasichanh Williams gave birth to triplets, whose names — you guessed it — have been kept a secret, as of this writing. While taking care of triplets seems like a daunting task, Pharrell told Michael Strahan on GMA Day that the couple are "not alone" when it comes to receiving help. That was definitely one way to say it.

"Our parents are involved and we also have a staff; in terms of nurses, we have like, 12 people, he continued. "Twelve ladies are in constant rotation: three in the morning, two at night." Pro tip if you ever have triplets: just simply hire twelve nurses. It's very simple!

Helen has yet to comment publicly on the trio of kids, but the proud parents might already have a singing group living under their roof. "It's an assembly line... they harmonize (when they cry), Pharrell told Today. "It's 'Waah! Waah! Waah!' all at the same time. ... One cries, the next one cries, the next one cries. They're hungry, they're hungry, they're hungry."