Members of N*E*R*D include:
Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams, Sheldon Hailey(Shay)

Once upon a time...
Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams met in music class at the same high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began playing together in live bands as well as experimenting with their own beats. They continued to work together after leaving school. They got their first break when new jack swing producer Teddy Riley discovered them and hired the duo to help produce Blackstreet's 1994 debut album. The Neptunes spent some time producing swingbeat acts SWV and Total(they worked along side Puff Daddy on the Total album). Then came another big break producing a track on Mase's 1997 hit album "Harlem World." Though none of these opportunities had resulted in mammoth success for the duo, their opportunities continued to improve, as they began to concentrate on producing rap artists. After playing a minute role in Jay-z's "In our Lifetime, Vol. 1" album, the duo built up their resume further with work on MC Lyte's comeback album,"Seven & Seven", in 1998. They hit full stride the next two years with their work on a number of crossover hits. In 1999 the produced "Got my Money" an infectious and whimsical Ol' Dirty Bastard song featuring Kelis. The song became a massive anthem, scoring the duo moe high-profile production gigs than they could handle, most notably work on Mystikal's "Shake Ya Ass", Jay-z's "I Just Wanna Love U", Kelis' highly acclaimed album, and more. The duo has gone on to write and produce tracks for a number of artists and by the end of 2001 were to be found working with mainstream pop artists. The Neptunes are part of the new generation of superstar hip-hop writer/producers and have become one of the genre's most requested producers(within a extremely short period of time). So it wasn't exactly a surprise when they were given the opportunity to record their own solo album, an opportunity few hip-hop producers ever get. They abopted the moniker N*E*R*D(No-one Ever Really Dies), they recorded "In Search Of..." with vocalist Sheldon "Shay" Haley. The album was released overseas before the duo elected to re-record the songs with a live band, putting the US release back by several months. In October, Williams was named Songwriter of the Year at the BMI Urban Awards. They are now starting their own label called Star Trak Music.