Las Vegas, NV · r&b · pop

Ne-Yo

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A songwriter's songwriter who became the star instead: silk-smooth R&B, and the pen behind a decade of other people's hits.

Born Shaffer Chimere Smith in 1979, Ne-Yo grew up in Las Vegas and got his start writing songs for other artists. Mario's 2004 single "Let Me Love You" became a hit and led directly to a Def Jam contract under then-president Jay-Z, setting up his own recording career.

"So Sick" gave him his first number one and became the centerpiece of his 2006 debut, In My Own Words, which topped the Billboard 200 and picked up two Grammy nominations. Because of You and Year of the Gentleman followed, reaching number one and two respectively, and their singles, including "Because of You," "Closer" and "Miss Independent," kept him on the charts and won him further Grammys.

He also kept writing for other singers throughout this run, giving Beyoncé "Irreplaceable" and Rihanna "Take a Bow," and later lent his voice to the hook on Pitbull's "Give Me Everything." After Libra Scale saw his commercial standing slip, he left Def Jam for Motown, working there as both artist and label executive.

Beyond music, he judged World of Dance for several seasons and later turned up on The Masked Singer, finishing second in the UK version and winning the US one as the Cow. Onstage he still works with a full band and a dance routine, opening the show with the songs he wrote for other people before he became the one singing them.

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