Closer (Ne-Yo song)

"Closer"
Song

"Closer" is a song by American R&B/pop singer Ne-Yo. The song was produced by Stargate.

The song was released as the first single from his upcoming album Year of the Gentleman. It was released as a digital download in the UK on May 5, 2008 and was released as a CD single on June 23, 2008.

The song and its music video are being used in a commercial for Overstock.com; the commercial is also used as promotional tool for Year of the Gentleman. There is a "Closer" Remix Produced by G Music.

Song information

"Closer" marks a musical departure for Ne-Yo, taking on a dance pop style over the more rhythmic and urban sound his songs usually possess. In the song, Ne-Yo sings of having an urging attraction to a woman he sees, having the desire to "come closer" to her. His attraction to her becomes stronger, and almost hypnotic-like, as he sings "And I just can't pull myself away, under a spell I can't break. I just can't stop."

Music video

The video was filmed at Santa Clara Studios, California. It was directed by Melina Matsoukas who also directed his "Because of You" and "Do You" video. Ne-Yo wore a "gentleman-looking" suit dancing with a woman. Other shots also show him alone in the center of the spotlight being backed up with four dancers, or with a Matchless motorcycle. A number of on-set pictures from the video leaked over the Internet.

The video premiered on BET on April 25, playing every hour of the day with the last airing being at 7 PM. It features Ne-Yo performing dance moves, with lyrics from the song occasionally appearing on-screen.

The video has been nominated in the "Best Dancing In A Video" category at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, but it lost to Pussycat Dolls's "When I Grow Up".

Chart performance

"Closer" is Ne-Yo's most successful single in Europe. It debuted at number twenty-two on the UK Singles Chart, and managed a peak of number one based on on downloads alone after seven weeks on the chart. Upon the release of the physical CD single, "Closer" climbed to number-one, becoming his second UK number one, following "So Sick", "Closer" spent 11 weeks in the UK Top 10. In Ireland, "Closer" initially peaked at number-twelve for four weeks before jumping to number-three. It has peaked at number four on the German Singles Chart, becoming his highest charting single there. It recently debuted at #37 in Italy. In Bulgaria, the song has reached number one. In addition it has peaked in the top ten or top twenty in Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland.

In the United States "Closer" has so far peaked at number-seven, becoming his seventh top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100. While having a relatively weak peak on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs for a Ne-Yo song, peaking outside of the top twenty at #21, "Closer" has instead had surprising success on Top 40 radio. After losing it's bullet and falling down the charts on CHR/Top 40, suddenly the track exploded and frequently had the biggest bullet on pop radio, at times with over +1000. It currently sits at number two there, making it Ne-Yo's biggest pop radio hit in his career so far. It has also become his biggest U.S. radio hit in general, despite the lack of Urban airplay, becoming his first song to top the Hot 100 Airplay chart.

The song jumped fifteen spots from number-twenty to number five on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart and has reached a peak of number-three, it has also been certified Gold with sales of over 7,500. In Australia, "Closer" debuted at number-seventeen on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and has thus far peaked at number-ten, and is his second top ten single after "So Sick". The song has reached number four on the United World Chart, making it Ne-Yo's second highest peaking song there, after "So Sick", which reached number three.

Charts

Charts	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	10
Austrian Singles Chart	9
Belgium Singles Chart	24
Canadian Hot 100	21
Danish Singles Chart	18
Dutch Top 40	12
German Singles Chart	4
Irish Singles Chart	3
Italian Singles Chart	12
Israeli Singles Chart	6
New Zealand RIANZ Chart	3
Norway Singles Chart	17
Polish Singles Chart	54
Portugal Singles Top 50	32
Swedish Sverigetopplistan Singles Chart	43
Turkey Top 20 Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	21
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Airplay	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	4
United World Chart	4

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	April 15, 2008
United Kingdom	May 5, 2008		Digital download
	June 23, 2008		CD single
Germany	July 18, 2008
	July 4, 2008		CD Maxi