永生乐团

N.E.R.D. (a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) was an American rock and hip-hop band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1994. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin Records. After producing songs for several artists during the early 1990s, Williams and Hugo formed the band with Shay Haley, as a side project of the Neptunes, in 1994.

N.E.R.D.'s debut album, In Search of... (2001), received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and was awarded the second annual Shortlist Music Prize. The band's second album, Fly or Die (2004), also received gold certification.

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 (2008), sold under 80,000 copies in its first week. The album was followed by Nothing (2010).

After a hiatus, the band signed with Columbia Records to release their 2017 single "Lemon" (with Rihanna). The song peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded the band's fifth and final album, No One Ever Really Dies (2017).

History

Formation and early career

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo met at the age of 12 at a band class in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Hugo was the drum major for the Kempsville High School Marching Chiefs, under the direction of current University of Virginia Band Director, William Pease, while Williams was a drumline member of the Fabulous Marching Cavaliers (FMC) of Princess Anne High School, both of Virginia Beach. They spent their free time making beats and performing in groups with fellow childhood friends Missy Elliott, Clipse, and Timbaland & Magoo. Williams and Hugo met Shay Haley in high school and began performing together. The trio often met in Hugo's garage, where he beatboxed through a speaker system while Haley danced. After watching the duo perform at a high school talent show, producer Teddy Riley signed Williams and Hugo in 1991. After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the production duo formed N.E.R.D. in 1994 as a side project known for their appearance on "Ghetto Children" off Kelis' debut album Kaleidoscope.

2001–2004: In Search of... and Fly or Die

The band's debut album, In Search of..., was released in Europe in September 2001. Williams and Hugo used similar digital production techniques as they did for other artists. However, the band decided that they wanted to sound different from their previous work. This led them to rerecording the album using live instruments with rock band Spymob for a worldwide release in 2002. The album debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number 56. It failed to replicate the success of the Neptunes' previous productions. The album won the second annual Shortlist Music Prize, an accolade awarded to albums released in the United States that have not achieved mainstream success and have sales of 500,000 copies or less at the time of nomination. The album sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The album's lead single, "Lapdance", peaked at number 36 of the Hot Rap Tracks chart and number 85 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The second single, "Rock Star", peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. A 6.1 surround mix of this album was released by DTS Entertainment on a DVD-Audio disc in 2005.

The band recorded its second album, Fly or Die, in 2003. They learned to play the songs live, as Chad Hugo told MTV News on December 9, 2003: "We're the ones playing the instruments live this time. I just started playing guitar last year so I'm learning as we go. Pharrell's playing drums. [Last time] we didn't have time to learn certain instruments so we got Spymob to help us out."

Fly or Die was released in March 2004. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, selling 119,000 copies in its first week. The album sold 412,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The first single, "She Wants to Move", has gone top 5 in the United Kingdom, top 20 in Norway, Ireland, and Denmark, and top 40 in Australia and the Netherlands. The music videos for "She Wants to Move" and its follow-up single, "Maybe", have received strong support from the digital cable network VH1 Soul in America.

2005–2008: Hiatus and Seeing Sounds

In 2005, N.E.R.D. ended their contract with Virgin Records over a label dispute and the band disbanded. While touring, the band became "hooked" on the energy from their fans, which led them to begin recording their third studio album, spending their own money while still unsigned. Williams and Hugo later established Star Trak Entertainment, a subsidiary of Interscope Records. In March 2008, the band performed at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. While there they filmed a PSA for Rock the Vote saying why they thought voting was important and the issues they cared about that election year.