Ne-Yo Biography

Shaffer Chimere Smith, known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Ne-Yo first gained appreciation for his writing skills, due to Mario’s single, Let Me Love You. In 2006 he made his musical debut, with the chart-topping album In My Own Words. In 2008 he won his first Grammy for the album Because of You. 

Early Career & Breakthrough
Ne-Yo was born in Arkansas, into a family of musicians. After his parents divorced, he moved with his mother to Las Vegas. During his school years, the artist was part of an R&B group called Envy, which activated until 2000. Ne-Yo’s stage name was created by a producer who thought that “Ne-Yo sees music as Neo sees the matrix”. As a songwriter, he gained recognition after Marques Houston heard Ne-Yo’s song That Girl and re-recorded it for his album. He continued to write for major artists such as Mary J. Blige, B2K and Faith Evans.

In 2006, Ne-Yo released his debut album, In my Own Words. It went straight to the top of the Billboard and generated the popular single, So Sick. The song as well topped the Billboard Hot 100. Furthermore, When You’re Mad and Sexy Love also had commercial success.

Further Success

Following up on that success, Nelly released his second album, Because of You, in 2007. It also topped the Billboard 200 and gained a platinum certification. The title track reached number 2 in the US. However, the rest of the singles turned out to be mildly popular. Additionally, Ne-Yo performed at a fund-raising event, hosted by the former president Obama.

In 2008, Ne-Yo third album, Year of the Gentleman, came out to very positive reviews. The album represented a statement from the singer, who believed chivalry was dead. “Everybody’s kinda rude and full of themselves. Whereas a gentleman is calm, courteous, kind, charming.” It spawned to international hits, Closer and Miss Independent. Moreover, in 2009 Billboard ranked him as the 57th artist of the 2000s. One year later, he topped the UK singles chart with Beautiful Monster.

Ne-Yo released his latest album in the summer of 2015, Non-Fiction. The record was preceded by two singles, Money Can’t Buy featuring Jeezy and She Knows featuring Juicy J. Furthermore, he announced a seventh album, which was also promoted by two singles, Goodbye and She Leaving With Me, with Busta Rhymes.

Photo source: Discogs