Ne-yo life and biography

Ne-yo was born as Shaffer Chimere Smith Arkansas but raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He's a Grammy award winning singer, a songwriter, composer, and producer, one of music’s most talented and prolific artists and a man who needs only one name: Ne-Yo. In less than five years, he’s produced three No.1 albums, sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and collaborated with everyone from Michael Jackson to Tim McGraw.

Ne-Yo emerged into the recording industry as member of the Romford-based quartet Envy. After the group disbanded in 2000, Ne-Yo was signed to Columbia Records, but, after recording his first album, was dropped from the label before he could even release it. For the next two years, Ne-Yo continued writing songs, some of which have not been officially released.In early 2006, Ne-Yo released his debut album, In My Own Words, through Def Jam. Boosted by its popular second single, "So Sick", the album debuted at number one on Billboard 200, selling over 301,000 copies in the first week.

His second album, Because of You, was released on May 1, 2007, and, fueled by its lead single, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
Ne-Yo's third album, Year of the Gentleman, was released internationally on August 5, 2008.

Ne-Yo explained the thinking behind its title: "To me 'Year Of The Gentleman' is all about a persona, a swag and a charm. I made an assessment of the music business. And, in my personal opinion, the essence of the gentleman is absent right now. Everybody kinda looks the same, everybody's kinda doing the same thing, everybody's kinda rude and full of themselves. Whereas a gentleman is calm, courteous, kind, charming... So that title basically represents me trying to lead by example, and showing these cats what it is to be a gentleman in this business still."

The first two singles, "Closer" and "Miss Independent", have peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album and Album of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards, "Closer" for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and "Miss Independent" for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.Year of the Gentleman has been certified platinum by RIAA for a shipment of more than one million copies. The third single, "Mad", peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

After taking a few years off to work on several films, Ne-Yo’s now back with his fourth project, Libra Scale, a stellar effort that’s sure to race up the charts and catapult the R&B superstar to even greater heights.

Libra Scale is a monumental concept album that tells the story of the rise of R&B’s first superhero squad, The Gentleman, a trio of garbage men who are granted all that they’ve ever wanted--special powers, money, fame, women-- after encountering a mysterious figure. The only catch? The men must use their powers to fight crime in their city and must never ever fall in love. Not a problem until Jerome (Ne-Yo) meets Pretti Sinclair, a vivacious, no-nonsense beauty. He quickly captures her heart. But all goes awry when after a night of passion, Pretti Sinclair contracts a strain of Jerome’s superpowers and suffers an adverse reaction that effectively drives her crazy.

Once the story was complete, the songs poured out easily. In less than four months he wrote and recorded 60 songs, 12 of which ultimately made the album.
For party records like “Chamapagne Life,” a bubbly-drenched ode to living lavishly, the singer spent a month doing “research” in Miami’s hottest spots. “One night we went to the club with DJ Khaled and bought about 50 bottles of champagne,” he recalls. “We were ordering 10 bottles every 10 minutes. In Miami the bottles have sparklers on them, so everybody is looking at us like, ‘who are these guys?’

Ne-Yo is currently working on his upcoming fifth studio album, due for a release in the third quarter of 2011. On February 25, 2011, while on his tour in the United Kingdom, he announced his new album would be called Love and Passion and would be released in September. American rapper Fabolous is planning a collaboration album with Ne-Yo as well. Ne-Yo is currently writing songs for Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé Knowles, Justin Bieber, Monica, Alexandra Burke, Cheryl Cole and Willow Smith's upcoming albums.

In the spring of 2011, Ne-Yo collaborated with American rapper Pitbull on his single, "Give Me Everything", which has peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Ne-Yo his second U.S. number-one single since 2006's "So Sick" and his first as a guest artist.
On August 22, 2011, Lindsay Lohan sued Ne-Yo, Pitbull, and Afrojack in response to Give Me Everything's lyrics referencing her name.
Ne-Yo has also revealed an interview that he would like to collaborate with Chris Brown, Lil Wayne & Drake on his new album.

As one of the industry’s most sought after songwriters, Ne-Yo has gladly shared his prodigious talents with his fellow artists, penning number one hits for Beyonce (“Irreplaceable”), Rihanna (“Take A Bow”) and Mario (“Let Me Love You”), as well as chart toppers for Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Kanye West, Lionel Richie and many more. All three of Ne-Yo’s previous albums--2006’s “In My Own Words,” 2007’s “Because of You,” 2008’s “Year of the Gentleman”—have gone platinum and produced a slew of top 10 hits, including “Sexy Love,” “Because of You,” “Mad” and “Closer.” Hollywood has also embraced him, both in front of and behind the camera. He’s written music for films like The Princess and the Frog, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire and I Can Do Bad All by Myself. Meanwhile, he’s appeared on screen in handful of films, including Stomp the Yard and Save the Last Dance 2. Two more films starring the singer— George Lucas’ Red Tails and Columbia Pictures Battle: Los Angeles—are in the pipeline. Music, however, will always be his first love, he says.

In 2005, Ne-Yo's girlfriend at the time gave birth to a boy, naming him Chimere after Ne-Yo's middle name. Though Ne-Yo believed he was the father, he later discovered the child was not his. He is now in litigation with the child's mother.

In June 2010, Ne-Yo told Ebony that he and his thought to be girlfriend, Monyetta Shaw, were expecting their first child together, a girl due early in 2011. Shaw gave birth early to a girl, Madilyn Grace Smith, on November 12, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. Announcing the birth, Ne-Yo said of his first child, "I've been in love before but this feels like nothing I've ever felt...Like I'm in love for the first time."

In September 2011, Ne-Yo revealed that he is expecting his second child with Monyetta Shaw.

Ne-Yo was arrested for reckless driving on February 19, 2008, while driving through Cobb County, Georgia. He was driving at over 100 mph in his 2006 Range Rover and did not have a valid license. It was reported that he was doing about 105 mph, 50 mph over the speed limit. According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Ne-Yo was sentenced to 24 hours community service by a judge on June 2, 2008. He pleaded guilty to driving without a license and pleaded "no contest" to the reckless driving charge.

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