Ne-yo

While he himself is a giant name, R&B heavyweight Ne-Yo assures everyone that he, like ordinary music fans, get starstruck upon meeting people he looks up to. In a chat with the press hours before his MOA concert last Saturday, he shared his unforgettable moments with musical stars he already worked with, including the King of Pop whom he almost got to work with if not for what happened in June last year.

“I almost did collaborate with Michael Jackson. I’ll never forget that day we sat for two hours and talked about music and stuff,” said the “gentleman” whose behind the hit songs “So Sick,” “Go On Girl,” and “Because Of You.”

The supposed collaboration didn’t really push through because of MJ’s death. A great consolation is that, he has other memories to recall as far as big-time collaboration is concerned.

He once walked into the studio with Lionel Ritchie who asked him to write a song. “He was incredible. Imagine that one of the greatest songwriters wanted me to write a song!” he exclaimed.

A couple of other biggies in his “collabo diary” were Celine Dion and Beyoncé Knowles. For Celine whom he thought was too serious and proper, he saw an Elvis impersonator. With Beyoncé, he realized she was too good it was the first time he felt, in a jocular tone, “so useless.”

The songwriter behind the Beyoncé hit track “Irreplaceable,” Ne-Yo is out with his latest CD “Year of the Gentleman.” When asked about his efforts to create a new sound, the multi-talented star argued, “Truth of the matter is, everything has been done. It’s not about doing the next best thing, but doing the best thing.”