Nelly Kim Furtado (born December 2, 1978) is a Portuguese-Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She has sold over 18 million albums worldwide, and currently resides in Toronto. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Furtado came to fame in 2000 with the release of her debut album Whoa, Nelly!, which featured her breakthrough Grammy Award-winning single "I'm Like a Bird". After becoming a mother and releasing the less commercially successful Folklore (2003), she returned to prominence in 2006 with the release of Loose and its hit singles "Promiscuous", "Maneater," "All Good Things (Come to an End)" and "Say It Right."
In 2009, Furtado released her first full-length Spanish album "Mi Plan", Which contains her first solo number 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, "Manos al Aire",staying on the Top position for 4 consecutive weeks, She also made history by being the first North-American artist to achieve a number 1 with an original Spanish song on the Latin Tracks, the album also managed to debut within the Top 40 in the US.
Furtado is known for experimenting with different instruments, sounds, genres, vocal styles, and languages. This diversity has been influenced by her wide-ranging musical taste and her interest in different cultures.
Early life
Furtado was born December 2, 1978, in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia to Portuguese parents, Maria Manuela and António José Furtado, both immigrants from the Portuguese Azores archipelago
. Her parents were born on São Miguel Island and immigrated to Canada in the late 1960s. Furtado has a strong connection with Portuguese culture. At age four she began performing and singing in Portuguese. She was named after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim. Raised in a Roman Catholic home, Furtado first sang at the age of four when she performed a duet with her mother at a church on Portugal Day. Although remaining unclear about her religious beliefs, she still affirms a belief in God, the Ten Commandments, and in avoiding the Seven Sins. She began playing instruments at the age of nine, learning the trombone, ukulele, and, in later years, the guitar and keyboards. At the age of 12, she began writing songs, and as a teenager, she performed in a Portuguese marching band. Furtado has acknowledged her family as the source of her strong work ethic; she spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her mother, who was a housekeeper in Victoria. title=Nelly Furtado Biography She has stated that coming from a working class background has shaped her identity in a positive way.
Musical career
Early career
The first musicians Furtado interacted with were underground rappers and DJs. title=How Nelly Furtado Got Her Ghetto Pass During a visit to Toronto the summer after eleventh grade, Furtado met Tallis Newkirk, member of the hip hop group Plains of Fascination. She contributed vocals to their 1996 album, Join the Ranks, on the track "Waitin' 4 the Streets". title=Nelstar* (Nelly Furtado) Biography After graduating from Mount Douglas Secondary School in 1996, she moved to Toronto. The following year, she formed Nelstar, a trip hop duo with Newkirk. Ultimately, Furtado felt the trip-hop style of the duo was "too segregated" and believed it did not represent her personality or allow her to showcase her vocal ability. She left the group and planned to move back home.
Before moving, however, she performed at the 1997 Honey Jam, an "all-female urban" talent show. title = Honey Jam Searches for Urban Women Her performance attracted the attention of The Philosopher Kings singer Gerald Eaton (aka Jarvis Church), who then approached her to write with him. He and fellow Kings member Brian West helped Furtado produce a demo. She left Toronto, but returned again to record more material with Eaton and West. The material recorded during these sessions led to her 1999 record deal with DreamWorks Records, where she was signed by A&R executive Beth Halper, partner of Garbage drummer and record producer Butch Vig.title=Nelly Furtado Biography Furtado's first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", was released that year on the Brokedown Palace: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
2000–2002: Whoa, Nelly!
Furtado continued the collaboration with Eaton and West, who co-produced her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which was released in October 2000. Following the release of the album, Furtado headlined the "Burn in the Spotlight Tour" and also appeared on Moby's Area:One tour.
The album was an international success, supported by three international singles: "I'm like a Bird", "Turn off the Light", and "...On the Radio (Remember the Days)". It received four Grammy Award nominations in 2002, and her debut single won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Furtado's work was also critically acclaimed for her innovative mixture of various genres and sounds. Slant Magazine called the album "a delightful and refreshing antidote to the army of 'pop princesses' and rap-metal bands that had taken over popular music at the turn of the millennium". title=Whoa, Nelly!
The sound of the album was strongly influenced by musicians who had traversed cultures and "the challenge of making heartfelt, emotional music that's upbeat and hopeful". According to ''Maclean's magazine, Whoa, Nelly!'' had sold five million copies worldwide as of August 2006. Portions of the song "Scared of You" are in Portuguese, while "Onde Estás" is entirely in Portuguese, reflecting Furtado's Portuguese heritage. The International Release of "Whoa Nelly" featured fellow Canadian Esthero on the song titled "I Feel You".
In 2002, Furtado appeared on the song "Thin Line", on underground hip hop group Jurassic 5's album Power in Numbers. The same year, Furtado provided her vocals to the Paul Oakenfold's song "The Harder They Come" from the album "Bunkka" and also made the song "These words are my own". She also had a collaboration with Colombian artist Juanes, in the song "Fotografia" where she showed her diversity of yet another language.
2003–2005: Folklore
Furtado's second album, Folklore, was released in November 2003. The final track on the album, "Childhood Dreams", was dedicated to her daughter, Nevis. The album includes the single "Força" (meaning "strength" or "carry on" in Portuguese), the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship. Furtado performed this song in Lisbon at the championship's final, in which the Portugal national team played. title=Nelly Furtado Gets Her Kicks The lead single is "Powerless (Say What You Want)" and the second single is the ballad "Try". The album was not as successful as her debut, partly due to the album's less "poppy" sound, title=Folklore as well as underpromotion from her label DreamWorks Records. DreamWorks had just been sold to Universal Music Group. In 2005, DreamWorks Records, along with many of its artists including Furtado, was absorbed into Geffen Records.
"Powerless (Say What You Want)" was later remixed, featuring Colombian rocker Juanes, who had previously worked with Furtado on his track "Fotografía" ("Photograph"). The two would collaborate again on "Te Busqué" ("I searched for you"), a single from Furtado's 2006 album Loose. title=Universal Music Snags DreamWorks Records
2006–2008: Loose
Furtado's third album, Loose, was released in June 2006. She named it after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album.title=Nelly Furtado Brings the Punk-Hop - Rollingstonework=BlogCritics Magazine Some have labeled her a "sellout" for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favour of hip hop and R&B, while others have accused her of attempting to "sex up" her music and appearance to sell more records.
end
start s-bef before=Black Eyed Peas years=2006 s-aft after=Lenny Kravitz end
Nelly Furtado
DEFAULTSORT:Furtado, Nelly Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:People from Victoria, British Columbia
Category:Canadian dance musicians Category:Canadian-born entertainers in the United States Category:Canadian female guitarists Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian multi-instrumentalists Category:Canadian pop guitarists Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian rhythm and blues singers Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Musicians from British Columbia Category:Portuguese Canadians Category:Portuguese-language singers Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Trip hop musicians Category:Fellows of the Royal Conservatory of Music Category:MTV Europe Music Awards winners
