Ne Yo

A future singer, songwriter, producer and actor was born in the so-called Natural State - Arkansas. Nowadays, the owner of 3 Grammys and one of the best contemporary artists was raised in a family of talented musicians. 

His parents were the first people to open and make him love the music world, music art and singing. However, Shaffer’s childhood could not be called happy and cloudless. The boy’s father often used violence to resolve various family disputes with his wife. Thus it’s not a surprise the marriage ended up with a divorce.  

In search of better living conditions and career opportunities, Shaffer’s mother took her little son and moved to another US state - The Silver State (Nevada). Later on, the decision appeared to be justified - Shaffer entered a considerable Las Vegas Academy of Individual and Fine Arts, where he started to improve his talent and make music on a professional level. 

The first ever stage to success was made by Shaffer as a member of the R&B group “Envy”. At this time, Shaffer took up the GoGo alias. After a few years of existence, the band split up and at the beginning of the 2000s Smith, not yet a star, decided to write songs for other renowned stars, such as pop and R&B star Rihanna, rapper Jay-Z, Kristina Millan, etc. 

The alias we all know Shaffer Chimere Smith for - Ne-Yo was created at that time. The beginning of popularity came to Ne Yo with the release of his “Let Me Love You” song performed by a famous then R&B star Mario. The single peaked the Hot 100 music chart for over 2 months. However, Ne-Yo always dreamt about a solo career and not only about writing songs for other artists. Step by step, as a result of getting acquainted with Antonio rid, Ne-Yo signed a contract with Def Jam recording label. 

In 2006 Ne-Yo released his debut solo studio album “In My Own Words'' with such hits as “Stay”, “So Sick”, “When You’re Mad”, “Sexy Love”, etc. included. The album was a real success: over 300 thousand of its copies were sold during the first weeks after its presentation and several songs hitted the Billboard 200 music chart. Later on, “In My Own Words'' got a platinum certification from RIIA Association. In a year, the second studio work, “Because of You'', saw the world and peaked the Billboard 200 as well as the first one and got a platinum certification too. The same year Ne-Yo took part in Barack Obama’s electoral campaign. In 2008 the musician was awarded with Grammy in the category of the Best contemporary R&B album. 

In 2008 the R&B star recorded and presented his 3rd album “Year of the Gentleman”, received 2 Grammys for the hit song “Miss Independent”  and a platinum certification one more time. The 4th album “Libra Scale”, in its turn was noticeable for its songs included: “Champagne Life”, “One in a Million”, “Beautiful Monster”, “Know Your Name”, etc.  

As a result of 4-years of work, Ne-Yo releases his next album “R.E.D.”, which was appraised with lots of positive reviews from the music critics. The album is recognizable for entering not only US Billboard Hot but also UK charts. “Let Me Love You” even became a platinum one. 

Apart from singing, Ne-Yo also starred in a great number of films and TV shows: “Save the Last Dance 2”, “Wild ‘N Out”, “Stomp the Yard”, “The Fresh Beat Band”, “Red Tails”, “Empire”, “Girls Trip” and the list goes on.  

Ne Yo has always had many fans and admirers. The famous R&B performer has 4 children. First two of them: Madilyn Grace Smith and Mason Evan Smith were born by his former girlfriend Monyetta Shaw in 2010-2011. The star admitted that holding children on his arms is like falling in love for the first time ever. Unfortunately, the gorgeous pair of Ne Yo and Monyetta broke up and their children remained with their father. 

In 2016 Ne-Yo got married to Crystal Renay Williams. The ceremony took place in California, on the singer’s ranch. In a month, Crystal gave birth to Ne-Yo’s 3rd child Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. Not long ago, the woman gave birth to their younger son - Roman Alexander-Raj Smith.  

In 2018 Ne-Yo presented his new single “Good Man” and the music video to it at the same time. The album of the same title includes such songs as: “Push Back” in collaboration with Bebe Rexa, “Without You”, “1 More Shot”, “Summertime”, “Back Chapters”, “Breathe”, etc.