Maggie Rogers and Pharrell Discuss Their Unforgettable First Meeting

You may remember Maggie Rogers as the young singer-songwriter who broke Pharrell’s brain during a master class session at NYU. Rogers brought the Grammy-winning artist to tears with her ethereal song “Alaska,” and the video quickly went viral. Since then, Rogers’ flourishing music career has exploded to include a full EP, a mesmerizing performance on Fallon and a sold-out first tour. Now, on Beats 1 Radio’s OTHERtone, Rogers and Pharrell reunited to look back and discuss that first fateful day—watch above.

Rogers revealed that leading up to the master class, she only had one song to showcase. She had no idea who was going to be leading the class, didn’t know it would be recorded and certainly didn’t know the video would go viral. If she had known, she said she would have prepared more, aesthetically. “I would have maybe worn, like, clean clothes. They were definitely from my floor the night before,” Rogers laughed. Pharrell said that when he rewatched the video, his favorite part was watching Rogers’ reaction. He said he was “honored” by her genuine shock after realizing he liked the song.

We’ve seen the video, and we’d just like to say we think Rogers looked great—definitely couldn’t tell those were floor clothes. Revisit the powerful moment below, and watch Rogers’ “Alaska” video here.