Last November, R&B singer Ne-Yo, whose real name is Shaffer Chimere Smith, was dropped from R. Kelly’s tour, for which he had been hired as an opening act by promoter company Rowe Entertainment Incorporated.

Ne-Yo, who left the tour after only one week, later stated that the reason for this consisted in the fans’ and critics’ preference for him to Kelly’s detriment, which urged Rowe Entertainment to fire him.

The aforementioned company replied that it had made the decision because a full contract from the performer’s agent had not been obtained, president Leonard Rowe stating that it would have been fairly difficult to continue, given the uncertain terms of the agreement.

In January, Ne-Yo sued the company, which did not respond to the case until last week, when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered them to pay $700,320 worth of damages to both the singer and his touring company.

Ne-Yo, 25, released his debut album called "In My Own Words” in early 2006. It became the number one album in Billboard 200, selling approximately 2 million copies in the US and 4 million worldwide, with over 300,000 copies sold in the first week. His second single, "So Sick,” reached the first position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same week.

Smith is also renowned for his songwriting, him being the one behind Rihanna's "Unfaithful” and "Take a Bow” hits, as well as Mario’s "Let me love you” and Beyonce’s "Irreplaceable” ones.

On May 1, 2007, he released his second album, "Because of You.”