Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo Vital Stats
Birth Name: Shaffer Chimere Smith
Birth Date: October 18, 1982
Birth Place: Camden, Arkansas
Height: N/A
Romantic Link: None

Ne-Yo Interesting Facts

Ne-Yo’s single “So Sick” is a true story (song) about him and his ex-girlfriend.

Ne-Yo’s adopted name is a reference to Neo, the main character in The Matrix.


Ne-Yo Biography

Born on October 18, 1982, in Camden, Arkansas, Shaffer Chimere Smith was raised by his mother, who decided to move to Las Vegas with Shaffer because she felt that there would be more job opportunities there. And she was right.

Ne-Yo works with Jamie Foxx

Shaffer discovered his passion for singing early on in his life, writing his first song about mustard when he was only 5 years old. And growing up listening to the likes of Diane Warren, Prince, Marvin Gaye, The Rat Pack, and Stevie Wonder, there was no doubt that he wanted to sing to the world.

By the time he was barely in his teens, Ne-Yo began co-writing songs with already famous singers Mary J. Blige, Marques Houston, Nivea, Tyrese Gibson, Jamie Foxx, Faith Evans, and Christina Milian.

But it was the song he wrote for Mario, entitled “Let Me Love You,” that got so much airplay and made Ne-Yo feel as though he had finally arrived as a songwriter.

Content to stay in the background, making other singers look good, it wasn’t until a chance meeting with L.A. Reid of Def Jam Records that Ne-Yo finally got his opportunity to make a name for himself.

Ne-Yo releases Stay

Ne-Yo’s first release, “Stay” (featuring Peedi Crack) did well on the hip-hop charts, but failed to make any ground on Billboard’s Hot 100. The video, which featured beautiful choreographer Taneisha Scott, however, did get some serious airplay on music television.

It was his second single release, however, that thrust Ne-Yo into the Billboard stratosphere and turned him into a household name.

Ne-Yo becomes So Sick

“So Sick,” a song that Ne-Yo put together when he was all of 18, became a North American hit, topping both of Billboard’s Hot 100 and Pop 100 charts.

When the album, In My Own Words, was finally released during the last week of February in 2006, it went straight to No. 1, selling 301,000 copies.

Ne-Yo worked on a single for the soundtrack of the 2007 movie Steppin’ Up: Save The Last Dance 2, in which he also made an appearance alongside Izabella Miko and Columbus Short.

Ne-Yo tours with Chris Brown

Ne-Yo has his own record company called Compound Entertainment, after finishing up his Up Close & Personal Tour with Chris Brown, Ne-Yo started his own clothing label.

In 2007, Ne-Yo released Because of You, which was certified platinum, and was nominated for 5 Grammy Awards at the 2008 American Music Awards.

Resource:
IMDb.com - Ne-Yo