N.E.R.D.

N.E.R.D.
Pharrell Williams (left) and Shay Haley from N.E.R.D. performing at Pori Jazz 2010
Background information
Origin	Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Genres	Alternative hip hop funk rock alternative rock rap rock avant-funk progressive rap[1]
Years active	1988–2005 2008–present
Labels	I Am Other Columbia Virgin Star Trak Interscope
Members	Pharrell Williams Chad Hugo Shay Haley
Past members	Mike Etheridge Thaddaeus Tribbett James Darrell Robinson Junius Bervine Brent Paschke
Website	nooneeverreallydies.com

N.E.R.D.^[A] (a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, who originally formed as the rap group The Neptunes in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1989. The Neptunes were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin. After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s, the group decided to form a band version of The Neptunes group called N.E.R.D. in 1999. N.E.R.D.'s debut album, In Search Of..., sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was also awarded the second annual Shortlist Music Prize. The band's second album, Fly or Die, sold 412,000 copies in the United States, but shipped at least 500,000 units, certifying it Gold.^[2][3]

In 2005, N.E.R.D. ended their contract with Virgin and disbanded. Three years later, the band reunited under Star Trak Entertainment, a subsidiary of Interscope Records established by Williams and Hugo. The band's third album, Seeing Sounds, released in 2008, sold just under 80,000 copies in its first week.^[4] The album was followed by Nothing, which was released in 2010.

N.E.R.D. then began promotion in October 2017 after a period of silence following their 2010 album, which made fans speculate that the group had a new album or project in the works.^[5] Their new album was titled No One Ever Really Dies, explaining their initial advertisements and confirming the rumors of fans.^[6] The group released the first single for the album, "Lemon", in early November. Released in December 2017, the album has collaborations with multiple artists, including Kendrick Lamar, André 3000, M.I.A., Future, Wale, Gucci Mane, Rihanna, and Ed Sheeran.^[6]

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