Trey Songz

Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz signed to his record label, Songbook Entertainment, in a joint venture with Atlantic Records during that same year. His debut album, I Gotta Make It (2005), entered at number 20 on the Billboard 200, while his second album, Trey Day (2007), peaked at number 11. The latter was supported by the single, "Can't Help but Wait", which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. His third album, Ready (2009), peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single, "Say Aah" (featuring Fabolous), and was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Neverson's fourth album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure (2010), peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single, "Bottoms Up" (featuring Nicki Minaj), which peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Supported by the Grammy Award-nominated single "Heart Attack", his fifth album, Chapter V (2012), became his first to debut atop the Billboard 200. His sixth album, Trigga (2014), became his second to do so, and spawned a commercial re-issue following the success of his 2015 single, "Slow Motion". He has since released the albums Tremaine (2017) and Back Home (2020). Trey Songz has sold over 25 million records worldwide in singles and albums.

Tremaine Aldon Neverson was born on November 28, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia. He is the son of Claude Neverson Jr. and April (Gholson) Tucker, who was 17 when he was born. Raised as a military brat by his mother and stepfather, Neverson did not have aspirations for a musical career as a child due to his shyness, saying "Singing wasn't a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good." He recognized his vocal abilities at the age of 14.

After his stepfather introduces his son to a record producer Troy Taylor, whom Taylor was also attended at the high school, before graduating from Petersburg High School in 2002, Trey Songz moved to New Jersey to begin recording his debut studio album, though recording did not begin until 2003. Also in 2003, Taylor signed Songz to his label, called Songbook Entertainment, which soon led to a joint venture with Atlantic Records. While recording his-then upcoming and untitled debut album in 2004, Songz released multiple mixtapes under the alias Prince of Virginia. There were one of his mixtapes that features an "answer track" to R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet", titled "Open the Closet", which granted Songz some regional attention. Songz's debut single, "Gotta Make It" (featuring Twista), released in March 2005, reached at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B/urban community, but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. His debut studio album, I Gotta Make It was released on July 26, 2005. Upon its release, the album debuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales. After the album had sold 300,000 records in the United States, the album's second and final single, "Gotta Go", has released in July 2005, reaching at number 67 on the Hot 100 and number 11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the R&B/urban community and in the mainstream community. After promotion for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from Twista's fifth album, The Day After. The single, "Girl Tonite", reached at number 14 on the Hot 100 and number 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a huge hit.

In mid-2006, Songz began working on a follow-up album to his debut record with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed successful Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate, and R. Kelly into helping him create the album. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album. His-then upcoming and untitled second album would be preceded by the lead single, "Wonder Woman", which was released in February 2007. It reached at number 54 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to impact the Hot 100. The album was going to be released on May 8, 2007, but was continually delayed in order for a successful single to precede the album, as the lead single failed to impact charts. However, because of the single's failure, his second album was delayed from May 2007 to October 2007. The album's second single, "Can't Help but Wait", was released as a promotional single not only towards his second album, but to its soundtrack of the film, Step Up 2 the Streets, in August 2007.

His second studio album, titled Trey Day, was released on October 2, 2007. The album reached at number 11 on the Billboard 200, selling 73,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold 400,000 records in the United States, becoming his second album not to be certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After the album release, the single, "Can't Help but Wait", reached at number 14 on the Hot 100, and number 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It became Songz's first Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, and helping the song boost his second album's first-week sales. The single was also nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 50th Grammy Awards. The third single from the album, "Last Time", was released in January 2008, and reached at number 69 on the Hot 100, and number 9 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single from the album, "Missin' You", was released in May 2008, but failed to chart completely. In mid-2008, Songz was nominated for a BET Award for Best Male R&B Artist, but did not win the award.

In 2008, Trey began working on his-then upcoming and untitled third studio album with Bryan-Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Stargate, and Taylor, while aiming for a more mature record than his first two full-length albums. The lead single from the album, "I Need a Girl", was released in April 2009 and reached #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart and #59 on the Hot 100, becoming an R&B/urban hit but not a mainstream hit. A promotional single, "Successful", featuring rapper Drake, was released in June 2009 and reached #17 on the Hot 100, becoming Songz's third Top 20 hit. The single also served as the second and final single from Drake's extended play (EP), So Far Gone. Before releasing his third album, Songz released a mixtape, titled Anticipation through his blog in June 2009, in which features some of these songs that would be included on his third album. Trey's other mixtape, called Genesis was released in the summer of 2009. Genesis was a collection of Trey Songz's first recordings to show his fans the dedication that he was making when he was fifteen years old. The second official single from his third album, "LOL Smiley Face" (featuring Soulja Boy and Gucci Mane), was released in August 2009, and reached at number 51 on the Hot 100, and number 12 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On August 31, 2009, Trey released his third studio album, titled Ready. Upon its release, the album reached at number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 131,000 copies in its first week. These are his best first-week sales to date, making the album his first record to ever reach atop of the Billboard 200. To date, the album has since sold over 1,000,000 records in the United States, earning a Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in June 2014, becoming his first Platinum album.

The third single from the album, "I Invented Sex" (featuring Drake), was released in October 2009, and reached at number 42 on the Hot 100, but reached at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first single to top that chart. Like the first two singles from the album, it achieved success in the R&B/urban community, but only some mainstream success. Charted within the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the R&B chart. Songz was also the opening act for Jay-Z on his Jay-Z Fall Tour towards the end of 2009. The fourth single from the album, "Say Aah" (featuring Fabolous), was released in January 2010, and reached at number 9 on the Hot 100, and number 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single has become Trey's highest-charting single on the Hot 100 and one of his most successful singles on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. He also collaborated with R&B singer Amerie on her song "Pretty Brown", the third single from her fourth album, In Love & War. The fifth and final single from the album, "Neighbors Know My Name", was released in February 2010, and reached at number 43 on the Hot 100 and number 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The sixth single, "Yo Side of the Bed", was going to be released in June 2010, but its release was canceled for unknown reasons. The music video, featuring singer Keri Hilson, was filmed and released, however. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, but lost to Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce. On April 1, 2010, he recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged, which aired on April 26, 2010. The documentary-series, Trey Songz: My Moment, which began in June 2010, received a positive reviews and high ratings. The 10-part series, which follows Trey during his time as opening act on the Jay-Z Fall Tour towards the end of 2009, ended in August 2010.