He’s the Grammy Award winner who has had global hits both as a performer and as a writer for other artists, and he’s just got back home from a huge arena tour in the UK and Europe, so it seemed strange to be talking to Ne-Yo at his home in Atlanta, Georgia, about coming back here.
But the ‘Because of You’ singer is coming back in June - and has now been announced as the headline act on a star-studded line-up at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol in just three months time.
Ne-Yo told Bristol Live he is hugely looking forward to taking to the stage at the BS3 Live event, which also includes Craig David, Dizzee Rascal and Jess Glynne, and promised to put on quite the show for the crowds at the stadium.
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“I love performing in the UK and in Europe,” he said. “It just feels like there’s more respect and appreciation for the music. They come for the show.” Ne-Yo just toured the UK, performing at the biggest arenas the country has to offer, in Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff, Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow and a huge show at the O2 in London, as well as dates in Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam and in Belgium.
With Bristol still not having an arena, Ne-Yo has still never played in the city, but that is about to change, with the headline slot at Ashton Gate on June 22.
After an early stint in an R&B group called Envy at the turn of the Millennium, Ne-Yo’s career actually made his name in the music industry as a songwriter, writing for the likes of Christina Milian and Mary J Blige. When he wrote Let Me Love You for Mario, it reached number one for nine weeks in the US in 2004, and then people started paying attention and he got his own record deal.
His second single So Sick reached number one in the US in 2006, and the hits and tours have continued ever since. He’ll be coming to Ashton Gate as part of a bigger summer tour, with a few dates in Europe too, and is looking forward to performing in a stadium rather than in an arena.
What can the crowds at the BS3 Live event expect? “There’s a theatrical element to it, it’s a real show we put on. There’s also a cinematic element as well, in that we really do use all the technology and screens as creatively as we can.
“But it’s about the music and there’ll be some good old tracks from the first album, and it’s a journey through the years, with a little bit of everything. So if you’ve been a fan from the start, it’s a real treat.
“Through the grace of technology, they have screens in these arenas, which really helps, but you might have to increase the movements so people can see, but we don’t have to change too much. It’s a great show. It’s a lot easier to pick out faces and emotions in a smaller venue, but to play in front of that amount of people is upside is the sheer energy you get from those large crowds, that’s a beautiful thing,” he added.
Ne-Yo has branched out into acting in the past few years, appearing in TV shows and Hollywood films, but people in the US are still talking about his victory in their most recent version of the Masked Singer.
He stormed Season 10 of the bizarre fancy dress singing competition in December 2023, baffling the judges as a female cow in a striking pink dress. He won the entire competition, going one better than his position as runner-up in the UK version of the show back in 2021.
Then, he was a lot more rocky, dressed as a greasy biker badger, and was only beaten by the unforgettable performances of Joss Stone dressed as a sausage and chips.
“I genuinely had the most amazing time,” he said, remembering his appearances which baffled the panel of judges. “I had a ball with that. I have to give props to the costumiers - they create such incredible costumes and then engineered ways to basically keep you alive in them.
"Because those suits don’t breathe much. The funniest part was trying to fool the panel trying to guess who I was, it was just great,” he added.
For now, Ne-Yo will be resting up, and getting ready to fly back to the UK with a date at Ashton Gate on his to-do list.
