Ne-Yo Turns Up Birthday Party With Cello

Ne-Yo's a classy gent on any given day, but he took it up a notch for his 36th birthday ... toasting the night with that must-have for any serious turn up -- the cello.

The R&B singer celebrated on Tuesday night with a private party at PS 450 in NYC. There were the usual birthday favors -- booze, streamers, cake, DJ -- until it was time to sing happy birthday. That's when a cellist popped up to lead the song.

One of Ne-Yo's pals hired the musician, and we gotta hand it to him for putting a new spin on the 122-year-old song.

We would've gone accordion or kazoo -- but the cello's cool too.