Who is R&B legend Ne-Yo, who is coming to Vietnam to perform?

Ne-Yo was one of the most prominent names in the hip hop and R&B world in the 2000s, nicknamed the Billboard Destroyer when he topped the chart many times - Photo: The Independent

Ne-Yo is the stage name of Shaffer Chimere Smith, a versatile artist who is prominent in the American music and film industry in the early 21st century.

He was known as one of the top musicians of the 2000s, behind many famous hits at that time such as So sick, Sexy love, Because of you... songs that brought him to the top of the Billboard 200 chart many times.

Throughout two decades of making music, the African-American male artist has received 16 prestigious Grammy nominations, winning 3 of them, standing on par with famous artists such as Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Usher...

Ne-Yo, R&B icon of the 2000s

Born on October 18, 1982 in Camden, Arkansas, Ne-Yo comes from a family of musicians. He also showed a natural talent for music when he wrote his first song at the age of 5 (according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas).

His studio career began with a recording contract with Columbia Records in 2000 under the stage name Shaffer but was dropped by the label before he had a chance to release his debut album.

Let me love you, the first hit that helped Ne-Yo's career take off

Not giving up, the young artist continued to work hard on music and began to attract the attention of many "big guys" in the industry such as producer Deon Evans (stage name: Big D), who was also the one who gave the young Shaffer the name Ne-Yo.

Ne-Yo plays on the name of the male lead Neo in the movie Matrix because Deon Evans believes that Ne-Yo sees music as deeply as the character sees through the structure of the matrix.

Ne-Yo's musical journey officially took off in 2004 when he co-wrote Mario's hit Let Me Love You , which was also the first time his song reached number one on the Billboard charts.

Ne-Yo has collaborated with "giants" in the world music industry such as Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion... - Photo: Daily Mail

Currently, Let me love you has more than 1 billion listens on Spotify and nearly 600 million views on YouTube, many listeners still regularly listen to this 20-year-old song.

Since then, Ne-Yo has become a famous hit-maker, writing songs for Beyonce ( Irreplaceable ), Rihanna ( Take a bow ), Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion... many of whom have broken the Billboard charts over the years.

Rapper Jay-Z, who owns the Def Jam record label, recruited Ne-Yo and gave him the opportunity to write his debut album In my own words , released in 2006.

On stage, Ne-Yo stood out with a flashy suit, fedora hat and iconic sunglasses - Photo: Getty Images

The first time he won a Grammy - Best Contemporary R&B Album - was in 2008 for Because of you , collaborating with many big names such as rapper Jay-Z; King of pop Michael Jackson... with many outstanding songs such as: Crazy; Leaving tonight and Because of you .

His next two albums, Year of the Gentleman (2008) and Libra Scale (2010), were also best-sellers, and Ne-Yo received two more Grammy Awards in 2009 for the song Miss Independent .

Throughout his career, Ne-Yo has had tens of billions of views and streams on platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music...

Although his reputation is no longer what it used to be, Ne-Yo's music still has a loyal fan base over the years, mainly the 8X and 9X generations who often return to immortal songs such as Miss Independent, Because of you, She knows, Closer, Mad ...

Miss Independent, one of the best songs of Ne-Yo's career

At the age of 44, he is still working hard to make music and perform around the world. He has just released the single 2 million secrets to mark his first release as an independent artist.

Before stopping in Vietnam, Ne-Yo had a sold-out concert in Singapore in May 2024, attracting thousands of spectators.

In addition to music, Ne-Yo has also appeared in many films such as: Save the last dance 2 (2006), Stomp the yard (2007), Battle: Los Angeles (2011) and Red Tails (2012) , guest-starred in television shows such as NBC's World of Dance or most recently, the US version of The Masked Singer season 10.

Moviegoers may know him for his role as Corporal Specks in the action film Battle: Los Angeles , which was also one of Ne-Yo's most notable forays into the film industry.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/huyen-thoai-rb-ne-yo-nguoi-sap-den-viet-nam-bieu-dien-la-ai-20240816132142607.htm