Nelly and Ashanti.Photo:Brian Brunner
Brian Brunner
Ashantiwent above and beyond forNelly’s 49th birthday celebration.
The “Foolish” singer, 43, threw her boyfriend a surprise birthday party at Frost Bistro & Bar in Atlanta on Thursday, and PEOPLE has the exclusive info and photos from the intimate bash, which featured fellow stars, family members and lots of karaoke.
Nelly’s 49th Birthday Party.Will Plant
Will Plant
Nelly’s 49th Birthday Party.Brian Brunner
Guests including Jermaine Dupri, Bryan Michael Cox,T.I.and Tiny, Toya Johnson,Monicaand more were greeted with a photo booth as they entered the establishment, before making their way to the main area, where a DJ was set up for karaoke — one of Nelly’s favorite hobbies.
Several surprises were in store throughout the evening. The couple’s family members were also in attendance, including Ashanti’s parents Tina and Ken-Kaide Douglas, Nelly’s four children, father Cornell Haynes Sr. and mother Rhonda Mack, whom Ashanti flew out to ATL in secret for the party.
As karaoke got started, one of Nelly’s friends began to sing Case’s “Touch Me Tease Me (Remix)” before the Grammy-nominated hip-hop star himself surprised the crowd and finished the song. He then sang “Missing You,” one of Nelly’s favorite songs, and the birthday boy joined in to sing along.
Later in the evening, Ashantishared a video to Instagramof Nelly appearing to have a blast while performing King George’s “Keep on Rollin'.” Rasheeda left a comment on the post, writing “A MF vibbbbbbeeeee!!!!!”
The party’s food menu included comforting dishes of salmon, lemon pepper wings, chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, rice and peas, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. As for drinks, the bar was stocked withNelly’s MoShine(moonshine crafted with Piedmont Distillers) in both peach and passionfruit flavors.
“It wasn’t anything that we planned. We both were pretty much doing what we do,” he explained. “But sometimes being separate, you understand one another more. You could be like, ‘Well yo, let me exactly see maybe what they see.’ We all can be defensive sometimes in our own relationships. We know we wrong but we going to stand on it, you know what I mean? But we all a victim to that.”
At the event, she told PEOPLEshe and Nelly are “in a great space,” adding, “Everything is positive. [We’re] having a lot of fun.”
source: people.com
