N.E.R.D. is an American
rock,
funk, and
hip hop band.
Pharrell Williams and
Chad Hugo were signed by
Teddy Riley to
Virgin Records as a duo,
The Neptunes. After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the production duo formed the band with
Shae Haley as a side project of The Neptunes in 2001. N.E.R.D's debut album,
In Search Of..., sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified
Gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America. It was also awarded the second annual
Shortlist Music Prize. The band's second album,
Fly or Die, sold 412,000 copies in the United States, but shipped at least 500,000 units making it qualify for RIAA's Gold Certification.