Tremaine Aldon Neverson was born on November 28, 1984 in Petersburg, Virginia. Neverson, who professionally goes by the stage name Trey Songz, is an American contemporary R&B singer and songwriter. Trey did not have professional or rigorous musical training growing up, instead spending his formative years playing sports and going to church with his grandmother, who sang in the gospel choir. As a young man, Songz listened mostly to rap, but soon transitioned to R&B when he started listening to R. Kelly, to whom Trey has been compared for his soulful fusions of R&B and hip-hop.
When Trey began to seriously consider singing, he began entering and winning several local talent shows, and at age 15 Songz met his producer and mentor Troy Taylor, who urged him to pursue music professionally.
After finishing high school, Songz began serious mentoring under Taylor, and became his production assistant. Songz soon after signed with Atlantic Records. While working on his solo debut album, Atlantic also helped Trey collaborate on projects with other artists such as Kevin Lyttle, Trick Daddy, Young Jeezy, and Gerald Levert.
Songz released his first album, I Gotta Make It, in 2005. Trey made a cameo appearance in Ne-Yo's video “Miss Independent” and in Young Jeezy's video “Vacation.” Songz has also been making a name for himself on the mixtape scene, and has gone on to release the albums Trey Day (2007) and Ready (2008).