B Ne-yo - Ne-yo Still Red Faced About First Apollo Performance With Boy Band

R&B Ne-Yo wishes he could erase the memory of his first performance at the Apollo Theater in Harlem - because he was booed offstage.

The So Sick singer hit the fabled stage for talent show Showtime at the Apollo with his boy band Envy in 1997 - and nerves got the better of him.

Ne-Yo and his bandmates were ill-prepared and off-key for the Amateur Night performance and they exited the stage with their heads hung in shame.

He says, "The boos were the loudest thing and I remember this one guy in particular (who was just) as loud as hell."

Ne-Yo tells Vh1's Behind The Music, "I remember we went backstage and looked at each other and everybody just starts crying all at the same time... We knew that was gonna be our shot and we blew it."

But the group gave fame one more shot a year later when they decided to drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, park outside the Capitol Records building and blast their music until they landed a deal - but the stunt didn't go to plan.

He adds, "Out plan was: move to California, find the Capitol Records building, park the van in front of the Capitol Records building, stand on top of the van, sing our hearts out until they come down and give us a record deal.

"We sang our hearts out until security came out and told us to move our van before they called the cops."

And things went from bad to worse as the budding young star and his bandmates tried to strike it rich on the mean streets of Hollywood: "The lowest point for me was when I had to call home and ask my mother for money... I felt like I'd failed and I cried like a baby."