Ne Yo tickets are on sale to see this gifted songwriter and producer as he continues to establish himself as a performing artist. Ne Yo is not his given name of course. He was born Shaffer Chimere Smith in Camden, Arkansas on October 18, 1979. He and his family would not stay in Camden for his entire childhood. His mother moved the family in Las Vegas to find better job prospects. A young Shaffer found his calling after the move, forming an R&B group called Envy. Though the band would not go far, it did expose Shafer to the music industry and set him on a path to become an industry everyman.

Envy broke up in 2000, but Shaffer, known as GoGo while performing with the group would stick around the studios, writing songs and producing. He emerged as a songwriter, writing material for Christina Milian, Mary J. Blige, BSK, Musiq, and Faith Evans. It was the success of his song "Let Me Love You" that spurred him forward into the recording studio. The song, sung by Mario, stayed at the top of the charts for nine weeks.

Suddenly Ne-Yo (a play on the name Neo from the Matrix) found himself working in the studio with Big D Evans producing. The result was the 2006 album In My Own Words. The debut album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 thanks to the popularity of the single "So Sick". The album produced two more hit singles ("When You're Mad" and "Sexxy Love") and reached platinum certification.