Pharrell Pays Tribute to ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ in Grammy Performance

Pharrell Pays Tribute to ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ in Grammy Performance (Mediaite)

Pharrell‘s performance of “Happy” at Sunday evening’s 57th Annual Grammy Awards included a tribute to the “Hands up, don’t shoot” mantra that emerged late last year following the shooting death of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

The star producer and songwriter led off the ear-worm of a track with a Wagnerian re-write (thanks to Hans Zimmer, apparently), before launching into a more peppy version of the song everyone recognizes whether they want to.

Midway through the song, his dancers donning black hoodies and jeans threw their hands up in an obvious nod to the demonstrators who turned out following the deaths of Brown (and Eric Garner).