Trey Songz biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Singer. Born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 28, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia. When Tremaine was 7 years old, his mother, April Tucker, married a member of the U.S. Army. The young Tremaine spent the next seven years as a military brat, traveling around the country as his stepfather was stationed to different military bases. The family returned to Petersburg, a small town a short distance south of Richmond, when Tremaine was 14 years old, in time for him to begin his freshman year at Petersburg High School. "When I came back, that's when I really found out who I was," the singer recalls. "Those were the years I basically found Trey Songz. I didn't really get into singing until I came back."

Although Trey Songz's family did not have extra money to spend on music lessons, the radio was constantly playing at home and in the car. As Songz's mother recalls, "He's familiar with the Temptations, Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding, Prince, Michael Jackson, because that's what we were listening to growing up." As a kid, Trey Songz loved to croon to his favorite songs in the shower, but he never imagined singing could be a possible career. Nevertheless, at his friends' insistence, Songz signed up in 1998 to sing at the Appomattox Regional Governor's School Talent Show in Petersburg. His mother, afraid her son might get booed off the stage if the performance didn't go well, brought along a 20-person cheering section. She didn't have to worry, though; Songz's first performance before a large audience went well, perhaps foretelling his future success in the music business.

A year later, at the age of 15, Trey Songz met New Jersey-based music producer Troy Taylor. The pair agreed that Songz should finish high school, so the singer spent his summers in New Jersey working on music with Taylor. To maintain his musical interests during the school year, Songz and some of his friends formed a vocal group called All Night Productions that performed at local parties and events. When Songz graduated from high school, he moved in full-time with Taylor in New Jersey, hoping to make a career in music.

Music Successes

In 2003, Trey signed a record deal with Atlantic Records, receiving a $100,000 advance. Two years later, Songz released his first album, I Gotta Make It. The album was a moderate success, selling 395,000 copies and peaking at No. 20 on the Billboard album charts. Always devoted to his family, Songz used his newfound wealth to fulfill a childhood promise to buy his mother a new home. "When he finally saw it, he ran up and down the stairs like a little kid, because we had never had a house," his mother recalls. "It's funny, but the only man in my life who has actually done what he said he was gonna do is the one I raised."

In 2007, Trey Songz released his second album, Trey Day, which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard charts. The