*The day NE-YO cashed his first songwriting check, he didn’t celebrate alone. He called his mother, Loraine Smith, at her job to deliver news that would change her life.
“This was the day I got my first check from writing Mario’s ‘Let Me Love You,’ which was a very nice check,” he said during a July appearance on the Zach Sang Show, PEOPLE reports. “[I] told her to get in her car. Turn on your car and drive home. You never have to go back into that building ever again in your life,” he added.
Ne-Yo shared the memory while reflecting on what it meant to finally repay his mother, who had juggled multiple jobs while raising him.
“That moment I feel like any son, if you could ever do that for your mom, that’s a defining moment. It gives you motivation,” he said.
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Ne-Yo also confirmed his hit “Miss Independent” was written with his mom in mind. She “cried like a baby” after learning the song was about her.
“It was a beautiful moment,” Ne-Yo said.
“I grew up in a house full of women. These were not women that were waiting to be rescued. These were not dames in distress. They were changing tires and opening pickle jars and squishing spiders and whatever, taking out the trash,” he explained.
Beyond the personal milestones, Ne-Yo remains active creatively. July brought the release of “Highway 79,” a country-leaning project that marks a new direction for the singer-songwriter.
“Every single person I’ve worked with out here has embraced what I’m trying to do with open arms,” Ne-Yo said in April on Rolling Stone’s “Nashville Now” podcast, adding that his collaborators have been genuinely curious about how his R&B sensibility will intersect with country.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: NE-YO Opens Up About Nashville Experience and New Country-Inspired Music
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