Ne-Yo – American singer and songwriter
Ne-Yo’s real name is Shaffer Chimere Smith. In 2009, Billboard magazine called him the Artist of The Decade.
Ne-Yo was born on 18 October 1979. His father is African American and his mom is half-Chinese. After Smith’s parents divorced, he was brought up by his mother. She noticed the budding talent of the musician and sent him to study at Las Vegas Academy in Nevada. At that time, the young man showed great interest in music and even performed with the R&B band Envy under the pseudonym GoGo. However, the group fell apart before Smith had a chance to show his real talent. While studying in college, the talented songwriter earned money writing songs for such artists as B2K, Youngstown, K’Millian, and others.
In 2000, Shaffer made his first steps to fame. He adopted a pseudonym Ne-Yo and signed a contract with Columbia records. However, the collaboration didn’t work out and the contract was cancelled before the first LP came out. A famous musician Marques Houston heard Ne-Yo’s song “That Girl” and decided to make it part of his album, MH. It brought Ne-Yo more popularity.