Ne-Yo's divorce from Crystal Smith was confirmed a few weeks ago and he has been giving us excuses to use the "Mr. Independent" pun ever since (a play on his 2008 hit "Miss Independent", for those who didn't catch on). Just a few days after this news was made official, Ne-Yo was spotted getting jiggy with belly dancers at a hookah bar. Now, another sighting of Ne-Yo celebrating the single life has been reported.
According to Page Six, the 40-year-old singer was partying it up at the Paradise Club inside NYC's Edition hotel for the launch of Macy’s Good Brother Apparel. Ne-Yo himself posted photos from the evening on his Instagram page. If it wasn't clear how much he was enjoying himself based on how hard he was smiling in the shots, he captioned them, "Better than I’ve ever been." Being surrounded by (at least) five models and sipping Courvoisier cognac in a VIP section til 4 AM will have you feeling like that. Page Six's source also shared that Ne-Yo performed his new bachelor anthem, "Pinky Ring", which features O.T. Genasis. “He was in good spirits, having fun with his friends and repeated the lyrics ‘turn wedding ring into a pinky ring’ while on stage,” said the witness.
Ne-Yo spoke on his split from Smith on the Private Talk podcast. “It’s not a sad thing," he explained. "Long story short, I’m never gonna talk bad about her. I’m not that person. There’s nothing bad to say about her. She’s a fantastic woman. She’s the mother of my children and she’s always gonna be that. Long story short, she’s got demons just like everyone else, just like me. We realized our demons don’t mesh and until the both of us get ahold of our personal demons, it’s gonna be just difficult for us to stay married. That’s the end of that chapter, not the end of that book. Like I said, that’s the mother of my kids and I love her to death. We’re gonna be family forever.”