N.E.R.D. is a genre-smashing rock-rap-funk band featuring Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the hitmaking production duo The Neptunes, plus vocalist Shay Haley. • The group formed in 1999 when The Neptunes enlisted their childhood buddy Haley for a new project. Featuring guests like Kelis and Pusha T, N.E.R.D.’s 2001 debut album, In Search Of…, went gold in America. • In 2004, N.E.R.D. returned with their sophomore effort, Fly or Die. Benji and Joel Madden of the pop-punk band Good Charlotte appear on the track “Jump.” • N.E.R.D. split up in 2005 but reunited three years for Seeing Sounds. The LP sold fewer copies than the group’s previous efforts, and after the release of 2010’s Nothing, N.E.R.D. went quiet for seven years. • The trio’s 2017 comeback album No One Ever Really Dies, features Gucci Mane, Kendrick Lamar, Future, André 3000, Future, Ed Sheeran, and Rihanna, who raps on “Lemon,” N.E.R.D.’s first Top 40 US pop hit.