Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), knowkn professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario’s 2004 hit “Let Me Love You”. The single’s successful release prompted a meeting between Ne-Yo and Def Jam’s then-president Jay-Z, resulting in a recording contract that produced 4 successful studio albums. He is a recipient of several awards including three Grammy Awards.

Ne-Yo’s debut solo single, “Stay” (featuring Peedi Peedi), was released in 2005 to moderate success. His debut studio album, In My Own Words (2006), was critically and commercially successful, reaching number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. It is certified platinum in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Australia and saw the success of the single “So Sick”, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.

Because of You (2007), Ne-Yo’s second studio album, peaked on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, and received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 50th Grammy Awards. His third studio album, Year of the Gentleman (2008), saw continued success and further Grammy Award nominations for Best Contemporary R&B Album as well as Album of the Year. Its singles “Closer” and “Miss Independent” were also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Song. Year of the Gentleman has been certified platinum twice in the US, selling two million copies, also platinum three times in the UK and once in Japan.

Libra Scale (2010), Ne-Yo’s fourth studio album, reached number one in the UK R&B Singles and Albums Charts and number nine on the US Billboard 200, seeing a decline in overall sales. His fifth studio album, R.E.D. (2012), saw the international success of its lead single “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)”, which certified platinum in the United States, became Ne-Yo’s fifth chart-topping song in the United Kingdom, and sold over two million copies. Ne-Yo’s sixth studio album, Non-Fiction, followed in 2015. His seventh studio album, Good Man, was released on June 8, 2018. In addition to music, Ne-Yo served as judge for the reality competition series World of Dance from 2017 to 2020 alongside Jennifer Lopez and Derek Hough. In 2021, Ne-Yo competed as Badger on the second season of The Masked Singer UK, and finished in second place. His ninth studio album, Self Explanatory, was released on July 15, 2022.

According to Recording Industry Association of America, Ne-Yo has sold 29 million certified albums and singles in the United States. Billboard ranked “Give Me Everything” and “Knock You Down” among the Greatest Songs of the Summer of all time. In the UK Official Singles chart, he has scored five No. 1 singles in the country, spending 315 weeks in the Top 75 of the chart. Ne-Yo also has four songs listed on Motown’s Top 100 songs of the Millennium in the UK (5th most entries among artists on the list).

Shaffer Chimere Smith was born in Camden, Arkansas. His father is of African American and Chinese descent, while his mother is African American. Both of his parents were musicians. As a young child, he was raised by his mother after she separated from his father. His mother then relocated the family to Las Vegas, Nevada.

While in the Las Vegas Academy, Smith adopted the stage name GoGo and joined an R&B group called Envy, who appeared during amateur night on Showtime at the Apollo and on the short lived MTV series The Cut[13] (hosted by Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC). The group disbanded in 2000, and Smith continued to write songs for other artists before starting his solo career. The stage name Ne-Yo was coined by Big D Evans, a producer with whom Ne-Yo once worked, because Evans claimed that Ne-Yo sees music like the character Neo sees the Matrix.

After Envy disbanded in 2000, Columbia Records signed Ne-Yo, but the label dropped him before he could release his already-recorded first album. American singer Marques Houston happened to hear “That Girl”, which Ne-Yo had planned to release as his debut single from his then-unreleased album. Houston re-recorded the song and released it as a single for his 2003 album MH. The release of the song led to Ne-Yo being recognized as a top songwriter.

For the next two years, Ne-Yo continued writing songs, some of which have not been officially released. He contributed songs to American singer Teedra Moses’s 2004 album Complex Simplicity, Christina Milian’s It’s About Time, and the American boy band Youngstown, none of which, however, brought Ne-Yo much mainstream attention. Ne-Yo has also contributed songs to singers Mary J. Blige, B2K, Faith Evans, and Musiq, among others.

A breakthrough came when Ne-Yo wrote “Let Me Love You” for American singer Mario. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and later stayed at the top spot for nine weeks. After the successful release, Tina Davis, former A&R representative for Def Jam Recordings, arranged an informal meeting with label head L.A. Reid. Despite not seeking a new contract at the time, then-CEO of Def Jam Jay-Z signed Ne-Yo to a new deal after he performed for the label’s executives.

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 its first week on sale. During the same week, the single had reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Later singles released were “When You’re Mad” and “Sexy Love”, which peaked at number 15 and number seven, respectively. The album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for a shipment of over one million units.

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, selling 251,000 copies in the United States; the feat gave Ne-Yo his second number-one album. The first single from the platinum-selling album was the title track, which peaked at the number-two spot. Despite the success of “Because of You”, later singles released charted lower and were unable to reach the Top 20. The album has been certified platinum by RIAA for a shipment of over one million units. In December 2007, Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls performed at a fund-raising concert for the then–presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.