Ne-Yo On How The Dark Times In His Marriage To Crystal Smith Inspired New Album

Singer Ne-Yo is opening up more about reconciliation with his wife and learning to slow down in his marriage. 

After nearly four years of marriage, Ne-Yo and his wife Crystal Smith announced their divorce. But within months, they got back together. At the time, he credited the pandemic for getting them back together.

In his recent podcast interview with PeopleEveryday to mark the release of his eighth album "Self-Explanatory," he sat down with host Janine Rubenstein to discuss the pandemic, his new music, and his vows renewal with his wife.

Read on to learn more on what he had to say.

In his conversation with host Rubenstein (Via People), he shared that some songs on the album were borne from the "dark points" of he and his wife’s relationship and the work they put in to pull themselves out.

"I can honestly say we are better now than before it happened. We have learned to genuinely listen to each other; we have learned to slow down in a moment and figure out whether or not the emotion that we're trying to jump to is the emotion that should be placed in that situation," he said. "These are things that require effort every single day. It's not easy."

He concluded, "It's very easy to fall back into bad habits, but with that being said, marriage requires effort every single day, and that's kind of what that is. And if the person is worth it, then the workload ain't that heavy."

In February 2020, Ne-Yo and his wife separated and filed for divorce. The singer announced this news on "Private Talk With Alexis Texas," attributing the cause of the split to their issues.

"We realize that our demons don't mesh and until both of us get a hold of our personal demons, it's gonna be just difficult for us to stay married," he shared.

Months later, they got back together, with Ne-Yo sharing on the "Good Morning Britain" show that the healing occurred during the pandemic.

"The pandemic saved my marriage," he began on the morning show, per The Daily Mail. "We were talking about a full-on divorce. It forced us to sit down, talk about our problems, and reconnect with our kids. There's only so much FaceTime you can do."

He concluded, "The quarantine forced us to sit still, block out the noise from the world; you know the world can get very loud, and we tend to let the world's opinion mean more in certain situations than it should." 

Four months after they announced their divorce, the pair were back together for good. They had a vow renewal ceremony to commemorate their reconciliation.

Ne-Yo and Smith married again in April 2022 in a red-themed Las Vegas soirée. After the ceremony, they shared several photos and videos from the big day on their Instagram.

Part of the singer's vows was shared on his wife's Instagram story, and it featured the star praising her beauty and quirks.

"Where some might see a smart-ass mouth, what I saw was a mouth that has no problem letting it be known what's on the lady's mind, thus making it easier for a worldly man to understand her," he shared of his wife. "Where some would see an attitude, I saw confidence. A woman with knowledge of self-worth, absolutely refusing to accept anything less."

Ne-Yo and Smith share four-year-old Roman Alexander-Raj, six-year-old Shaffer Chimere, and 12-month-old Isabella Rose.

Not only did the quarantine help strengthen the bond he had with his family, but he also helped his thought process while he produced his new album, "Self-Explanatory."

"I'm looking at the industry. The sound has changed. The look has changed. Two generations are coming up behind me, and I kind of fell into a 'Does NE-YO even fit into this situation' type of mental state. And it took me a little second to get out of that."

Ne-Yo's new album, "Self Explanatory" got released on July 15th.