Is there anyone who doesn’t really know Shaffer Chimere Smith, popularly known by the stage name Ne-Yo? Ne-Yo’s is a singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and record producer who became famous and so popular after a song he wrote for Mario, Let Me Love You, became a hit single in 2004. The song became a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and later the eighth most successful single of the decade.
The success of this album became both a turning point and a platform for Ne-Yo to embark on a successful music career. By the end of 2009, Ne-Yo had three albums in his account – seven of his singles and five others in which he appeared as an artist were in the top ten of the country’s hot R&B/hip-hop charts.
The talented songwriter also wrote Rihanna’s Take a Bow, Beyoncé’s Irreplaceable, and Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight, all of which were mega hits. He was also co-author of Marques Houston’s That Girl and Christina Milian’s I’m Sorry.
Ne-Yo’s Biography (Age)
Ne-Yo was born on October 18, 1979, as Shaffer Chimere Smith in Camden, Arkansas, and grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. His father is of African American and Chinese descent, while his mother is African American.
Smith’s parents divorced when he was very young, so he was raised alone by his mother, who moved to Las Vegas, Nevada after the divorce. He attended the Academy in Las Vegas.
Career
Ne-Yo’s parents are said to be musicians, so he must have inherited it from them. While studying at the Las Vegas Academy, he joined an R&B group called Envy and took the stage name GoGo.
After the group broke up in 2000, Ne-Yo was signed to Columbia Records, which dropped him before his first album, which he had already recorded, could be released. During this time, Marques Houston heard the song That Girl, which was a single from his album, re-recorded the song, and released it as a single in 2003. It was the release of that single that really made Ne-Yo known as a great songwriter, and in the following years, he wrote a number of other amazing songs that eventually became big hits.
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In addition to Rihanna’s Take a Bow, Beyoncé’s Irreplaceable, and Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight, Ne-Yo has also received recognition for contributing songs by artists such as Musiq, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, B2K, and others. His breakthrough came with the success of Mario’s single Let Me Love You, however.
After performing for the executives of Def Jam, the label’s CEO, Jay-Z signed Ne-Yo, and a year later he released his debut album In My Own Words through the label. So Sick – one single actually sold over 301,000 copies in the first week, topping Billboard 200, and his second album Because of You was released in 2007. The album sold 251,000 copies in the USA and reached a top position with Billboard 200.
Ne-Yo’s third album, Year of the Gentleman, was released in 2008. The first two singles from the album Closer and Miss Independent peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, and the album received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album and Album of the Year in 2009 Grammy Awards. The single Closer was also nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Miss Independent for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.
In the same year (2009), Billboard ranked him as the 57th artist of the 2000s decade. After that time, Ne-Yo went down on his knees for a while to make a comeback in 2010 with Libra Scale – an album that he said was inspired by comic books, science fiction, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Jackson’s most ambitious recordings.
In 2012, Ne-Yo signed with Motown and was named Senior Vice President of A&R, then came the release of R.E.D. (“Realizing Every Dream”). The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200.
In May 2017 he released two singles, Earn Your Love and Another Love Song. In July 2017 he made a short appearance in the comedy Girls Trip alongside stars such as Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall, and Queen Latifah.
The singer has collaborated with other artists including Celine Dion, Akon, Cher Lloyd, David Guetta, and others. The talented singer/songwriter named his musical influences Usher Raymond, Luther Vandross, R. Kelly, Blackstreet, Michael Jackson, and Babyface.
Who Is Ne-Yo’s Wife? Kids
The R&B star is married to the beautiful Crystal Renay (model). The couple married in February 2016 and the following month welcomed their first child Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr.
In December 2017, the couple announced that they were expecting their second child together.
Ne-Yo’s have two other children, Mason Evan (born October 9, 2011) and Madilyn Grace (born November 12, 2010) from his previous relationship with Monyetta Shaw.
Is He Gay?
The rumor that the talented artist is gay is a topic that comes up again and again in the course of time, although he denies it several times. In an interview with Essence in 2009, he revealed that when he first heard the rumor that he was gay, he thought someone must really hate him, although there is nothing wrong with being gay, he added, but that he could not understand why someone would simply make up such lies.
In 2015, the website NewsBuzzDaily.com quoted the R&B singer in a report that Caitlyn Jenner’s transitional journey inspired him to come out as gay.
Ne-Yo’s responded to the rumor with a tweet saying: “You should all know by now that you shouldn’t believe everything you read. Much love to #CaitlynJenner, but I’m not part of this team.
Not gay people. I am so sorry.” Well, folks, you heard it firsthand: Ne-Yo is not gay!
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Height And Other Facts
Ne-Yo stands at 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) and weighs 74 kg (163 lbs). In 2017, after watching a health documentary, he announced that he would go vegan.
In 2008 he was arrested for reckless driving. In 2011, Lindsay Lohan sued him alongside DJ Afrojack and rapper Pitbull, claiming that the lyrics to her song Give Me Everything mentioned her by name. They won the lawsuit after the court ruled that Pitbull’s use of the name was protected by the First Amendment and that the song barely mentioned her name.