Nelly Kim FurtadoComIH (/fərˈtɑːdoʊ/fər-TAH-doh,European Portuguese:[fuɾˈtaðu]; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide,[3] making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted Furtado's musical versatility and experimentation with genres.[4][5][6][7]
Furtado's third album,Loose (2006), was a smash hit and became her bestselling album, with more than 10 million copies sold worldwide, also making it one of the bestselling albums of the 2000s.[8][9] Considered a radical image reinvention, the album spawned four successful number-one singles worldwide: "Promiscuous" (featuringTimbaland), "Maneater", "Say It Right", and "All Good Things (Come to an End)". Her 2007 feature onTimbaland's "Give It to Me" in the same era also topped the charts in the US and overseas. Furtado's critically acclaimed duet withJames Morrison, "Broken Strings", also topped the charts in Europe in 2008.[10]
She released her first Spanish-language album,Mi Plan, in 2009, which won her aLatin Grammy Award forBest Female Pop Vocal Album. In 2012, Furtado released her nostalgia-inspired fifth albumThe Spirit Indestructible. Furtado split with her management and went independent thereafter, releasing her indie-pop sixth album,The Ride, in 2017 under her own label Nelstar Entertainment[pt]. Her seventh album,7, was released in September 2024.
Furtado was born on December 2, 1978, inVictoria,British Columbia, Canada. Her Portuguese parents, António José Furtado and Maria Manuela Furtado, were born onSão Miguel Island in theAzores[14] and had immigrated to Canada in the late 1960s.[15] Nelly was named afterSoviet gymnastNellie Kim.[16] Her elder siblings are Michael Anthony and Lisa Anne. They were raisedRoman Catholic.[16][17] At age four, she began performing and singing in Portuguese.[14][18] Furtado's first public performance was when she sang a duet with her mother at a church onPortugal Day. She began playing musical instruments at the age of nine, learning thetrombone,ukulele and, in later years, the guitar and keyboards. At the age of 12, she began writing songs,[16] and as a teenager, she performed in a Portuguesemarching band.[15] Furtado has acknowledged her family as the source of her strong work ethic; she spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her mother, along with her brother and sister, who was a housekeeper in Victoria.[19]
After graduating fromMount Douglas Secondary School in 1996, she moved toToronto to reside with her sister. There, she got a full-time job at an alarm company.[20] Later, she would meet Tallis Newkirk, member of thehip hop group Plains of Fascination.[20] She contributed vocals to their 1996 album,Join the Ranks, on the track "Waitin' 4 the Streets".[21] The following year, she formed Nelstar, atrip 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.[21] She left the group and planned to move back home.
In 1997, she performed at the Honey Jam talent show.[21][22] Her performance attracted the attention ofThe Philosopher Kings singerGerald Eaton, who then approached her to write with him. He and fellow Kings memberBrian 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 was shopped to record companies by her attorneyChris Taylor and led to her 1999 record deal withDreamWorks Records, signed by A&R executive Beth Halper, partner ofGarbage drummer and record producerButch Vig.[23] Furtado's first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", was released that year on thesoundtrack album forBrokedown Palace (1999).
Furtado continued the collaboration with Eaton and West, who co-produced her debut album,Whoa, Nelly!, which was released in October 2000. 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 nominations in 2002, and her debut single won forBest 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".[24] 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".[25] According toMaclean's magazine,Whoa, Nelly! had sold six million copies worldwide as of August 2006.[26] Portions of the song "Scared of You" are in Portuguese, while "Onde Estás" is entirely in Portuguese, reflecting Furtado's Portuguese heritage.[15] Following the release of the album, Furtado headlined the "Burn in the Spotlight Tour" and also appeared onMoby'sArea:One tour.
In 2002, Furtado appeared on the song "Thin Line", onunderground hip hop groupJurassic 5's albumPower in Numbers.[27] The same year, Furtado provided her vocals to thePaul Oakenfold song "The Harder They Come" from the albumBunkka. She also had a collaboration with Colombian artistJuanes in the song "Fotografía" (Photograph), where she showed her diversity of yet another language, Spanish. Furtado was also featured in "Breath" fromSwollen Members'Monsters in the Closet release; the video for "Breath", directed bySpawn creatorTodd McFarlane, won the 2003 Western Canadian Music Awards Outstanding Video and MuchVIBE Best Rap Video. In 2002, Furtado was the recipient of an International Achievement Award at theSOCAN Awards in Toronto for her song "I'm Like a Bird".[28]
Furtado's second album,Folklore, was released in November 2003. One of the tracks on the album, "Childhood Dreams", was dedicated to her daughter, Nevis. The album includes the single "Força", the official anthem of theUEFA Euro 2004. Furtado performed the song inLisbon in thefinal of the tournament, in whichPortugal's national team played.[29] The lead single released was "Powerless (Say What You Want)" and the second single was the ballad "Try". The album was not as successful as her debut, partly due to the album's less "poppy" sound,[30] as well as underpromotion from her label DreamWorks Records. DreamWorks had just been sold toUniversal Music Group at the time of the album's release. Eventually in 2005, DreamWorks Records, along with many of its artists, including Furtado, were absorbed intoGeffen Records. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" was later remixed into a Spanish version called "Abre Tu Corazón", featuring Juanes, who had previously worked with Furtado on his track "Fotografía". The two would collaborate again on "Te Busqué" (I Searched for You), a single from Furtado's 2006 albumLoose.[31] In 2003, Furtado won an International Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto for her song "Turn Off the Light".[28]
Furtado's third album, namedLoose, after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album, was released in June 2006.[32][33] In this album, primarily produced byTimbaland, Furtado experiments with sounds from R&B, hip hop, and 1980s music.[34] Furtado herself describes the album's sound aspunk-hop, described as "modern, poppy, spooky" and as having "a mysterious, after-midnight vibe... extremely visceral".[32] She attributed the youthful sound of the album to the presence of her two-year-old daughter.[34] The album received generally positive reviews from critics,[35] with some citing the "revitalising" effect of Timbaland on Furtado's music,[36][37] and others calling it "slick, smart and surprising".[38]
Loose has become the most successful album of Furtado's career so far, as it reached number one, not only in Canada and the United States, but also several countries worldwide. The album produced her first number-one hit in the United States, "Promiscuous", as well as her first number-one hit in the United Kingdom, "Maneater". The single "Say It Right" eventually became Furtado's most successful song worldwide, due to its huge success in Europe and in the United States, where it became her second number-one hit. "All Good Things (Come to an End)" became her most successful song in Europe, topping single charts in numerous countries there. On February 16, 2007, Furtado embarked on the "Get Loose Tour". She returned in March 2007 to her hometown of Victoria to perform a concert at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. In honour of her visit, local leaders officially proclaimed March 21, 2007, the first day of spring, as Nelly Furtado Day.[39] After the tour, she released her first live DVD/CD namedLoose the Concert.[40] On April 1, 2007, Furtado was a performer and host of the2007 Juno Awards inSaskatoon, Saskatchewan. She won all five awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year and Single of the Year. She also appeared on stage at theConcert for Diana atWembley Stadium in London on July 1, 2007, where she performed "Say It Right", "Maneater", and "I'm Like a Bird".
In 2007, Furtado andJustin Timberlake were featured on Timbaland's single "Give It to Me",[41] which became her third number-one single in the U.S. and second in the UK. In late 2008, Furtado collaborated withJames Morrison on a song called "Broken Strings" for his albumSongs for You, Truths for Me. The single was released on December 8[42] and peaked at No. 2 on theUK Singles Chart in early January. In 2008, she sang with the Italian groupZero Assoluto the ballad "Win or Lose – Appena prima di partire", released in Italy, France and Germany and whose video was shot in Barcelona. Furtado made a guest appearance on the song "Jump" byFlo Rida from his albumR.O.O.T.S.,[43] and also made a guest appearance onDivine Brown'sLove Chronicles, co-writing and singing on the background of the song "Sunglasses". Furtado married Cuban sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellón, with whom she had worked on theLoose album, on July 19, 2008.[44][45]
Furtado's debut Spanish album,Mi Plan was released with the first single, "Manos Al Aire" ("Hands in the Air").[46] She had formed her own record label, Nelstar, in conjunction with Canadian independent label group Last Gang Labels. The first act signed to Nelstar is Fritz Helder & the Phantoms.[47] "Manos al Aire" was released on the new label.[48] The second, third and fourth singles were "Más", "Mi Plan" and "Bajo Otra Luz" respectively. Furtado won theLatin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album forMi Plan. She is the firstPortuguese-Canadian to win a Latin Grammy award.Lifestyle, her planned fourth English studio album, was not released during the summer of 2010 in favor a second leg of her Mi Plan Tour. To promote the tour in Brazil, on March 24, 2010, Furtado made a"VIP Pocket Show" in reality show programBig Brother Brasil 10 fromRede Globo, the country's leading channel. Furtado participated in the live DVD recording of the Brazilian singerIvete Sangalo inMadison Square Garden on September 4, 2010.
Furtado releasedMi Plan Remixes featuring 12 tracks of remixed hits fromMi Plan. This album included the OriginalSpanglish Version of "Fuerte", her final release fromMi Plan. Furtado made a guest appearance on Canadian singerk-os's new albumYes!, collaborating alongside Saukrates on the song "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman", released in early July 2009. Nelly Furtado also made a guest appearance onTiësto's single "Who Wants to Be Alone"[49] on his new albumKaleidoscope. Furtado sang in a duet withBryan Adams at theopening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. The song was called "Bang the Drum" released on EMI albumSounds Of Vancouver 2010 (a commemorative album). Furtado was featured in a new song byN.E.R.D called "Hot-n-Fun". She also participated in theYoung Artists for Haiti song, in which many Canadian artists came together and sangK'naan's song "Wavin' Flag" to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Furtado was honoured with a star onCanada's Walk of Fame in October 2010.[50]
Furtado released her first greatest hits album titledThe Best of Nelly Furtado on November 16, 2010. Three new songs were included on the greatest hits album, including "Night Is Young", "Girlfriend in the City", and theLester Mendez produced track, left over from theLoose sessions, "Stars". The album's first single, "Night Is Young",[51] was released on October 12, 2010.[52] Furtado had previously sung two of the new songs: "Girlfriend in the City" and "Night Is Young" at her concert in Warsaw, Poland.[53]Furtado came under fire after 2011 reports from theNew York Times and a WikiLeaks document revealed she had accepted payment of one million dollars to perform for the family of Libyan rulerMuammar Gaddafi. Only after the story broke did she promise to donate to charity the CDN$1 million she received for a 2007 concert,[54] which ended up going toFree the Children.[55] Furtado publicly endorsedGreen Party leaderElizabeth May inSaanich-Gulf Islands during thefederal election in 2011.[56] Furtado was featured on one of the Game'sThe R.E.D. Album tracks, titled "Mamma Knows" (produced by The Neptunes).[57] For the Canadian filmThe Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, Furtado lent her vocals for theDolly Parton gospel cover "The Seeker" featured during the credits of the film.[58]
The first single fromThe Spirit Indestructible, "Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)", was released digitally on April 17, 2012[67] and was sent to North American radio stations on May 1, 2012.[68] The song was commercially successful in the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands, but underperformed in other territories. The second single andtitle track performed well in Germany and Slovakia and charted in Japan, peaking at number 79 on the Hot 100.[69] Other singles, "Parking Lot" and "Waiting for the Night", charted in Canada and several European territories.
Furtado continued to collaborate with hip-hop producerSalaam Remi, who previously worked on the 2010 single "Night Is Young", on "The Edge". The lyrics for the Salaam Remi produced track are reported to be influenced by theTiger Woods cheating scandal, in which was originally referred to as "Elin's Song".[70] Furtado promoted the album on herThe Spirit Indestructible Tour.[71]
On February 14, 2016, Furtado performed theCanadian national anthem at the2016 NBA All-Star Game, which was held inToronto[74] (this was the second time Furtado had performed at the NBA All-Star Game, also having performed "O Canada" at the2004 NBA All-Star Game). That same month, she also began teasing new music via social media, suggesting that the album would have a connection toDallas,Texas, where much of the album was recorded.[75][76] In 2016, Furtado collaborated withDev Hynes on the track "Hadron Collider".[77] The track appears on Hynes' albumFreetown Sound.
In July 2016, Furtado released "Behind Your Back" exclusively onSpotify, describing the song as an "appetiser" for her next album.[78] Following the release, in an interview with CBC Player, Furtado stated that her album is finished and she has recorded 16 songs withJohn Congleton, but the album will contain 12.[79] On September 8, 2016, Furtado confirmed the title of the upcoming album,The Ride, which was released in March 2017.[80] During the interview she also confirmed a new track off the album titled "Islands of Me", which was released on streaming services on September 10, 2016.[81] The album's first released song "Pipe Dreams" was released toSoundCloud on November 8, 2016, with the release accompanied by a short teaser video of the album onYouTube.[82] The cover song "Sticks & Stones" from her album was re-made by Metro with newly recorded vocals by Furtado in May 2018.[83][84] It later reached number one on theBillboardDance Club Songs chart.[85] The official remixes includeStoneBridge, Bimbo Jones,Manuel Riva &Cristian Poow.[86]
In October 2020, Furtado celebrated the 20th anniversary of her debut studio album,Whoa, Nelly! by releasing an expanded edition of 22 tracks to digital and streaming platforms.[87]
In May 2021, Furtado collaborated with German duo Quarterhead on a remix of her song "All Good Things (Come to an End)".[88] In June 2021, Furtado celebrated the 15th anniversary of her third studio albumLoose by releasing an expanded edition of 32 tracks to digital and streaming platforms.[89]
In July 2022, after a five-year performing hiatus, Furtado joinedDrake on stage for the latter's October World Weekend concert inToronto, where they performed "Promiscuous" and "I'm Like a Bird".[90] Furtado also has reported being working on new music via herInstagram stories.[91] She confirmed new music in May 2023 in an interview onFault Magazine: "I have so much music. I've recorded a hundred songs in the last 18 months, and I'm so excited to bring people new music."[92] She also confirmed she recorded some collaborations with artists like Canadian singer-songwriterCharlotte Day Wilson, Colombian bandBomba Estéreo,[93] Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriterLido Pimienta.[94] On December 31, 2022, five years after her last concert inBaloise Session inBasel,Switzerland, Furtado performed live at theBeyond The Valley Festival inAustralia.[95]
Furtado continued performing live in 2023. While performing atMachaca Fest inMonterrey,Nuevo León,Mexico she performed a verse from a new song titled "Corazón".[96] Furtado collaborated with Australian DJ and producerDom Dolla on the song "Eat Your Man", that was released on June 2, 2023, her first single release after five years.[97] On September 1, 2023, she released a new collaboration withTimbaland andJustin Timberlake titled "Keep Going Up", sixteen years following their previous release of "Give It to Me".[98][99][100] The song is expected to be included on Timbaland's upcoming extended play.[101] In August 2023, Furtado reunited withJuanes to record a song called "Gala y Dalí", 22 years after their first recording together, "Fotografía", and 18 years after their last release together, "Te Busqué".[102] The song was released on March 28, 2024, on streaming and digital download platforms.[103] According to Juanes, the song will be included on Furtado's upcoming seventh studio album.[102]
As of March 2024, in an interview onEuphoria Magazine, Furtado revealed she recorded over 200 songs and the cover art for her upcoming seventh studio album will be shot during April 2024 and lead single would be released in May 2024. She also confirmed club bangers would be expected on her new material, as well as ballads. She also confirmed her new material is 10-20 percent Spanish.[104] On May 8, 2024, Furtado announced via Instagram the release of a new single, "Love Bites", featuring Swedish singerTove Lo and British DJSG Lewis, which will be released on May 22, 2024.[105] On July 5, 2024, Furtado announced via Instagram the release of "Corazón" as a single, more than a year after singing it for the first time in Monterrey, Mexico.[106] The song features Colombian bandBomba Estéreo[107] and was released on July 12, 2024. In summer 2024, she appeared at numerous music festivals, including Mighty Hoopla andIsle of MTV.[108][109][110] Furtado's seventh studio album,7, was released on September 20, 2024.[111][112][113] On Christmas Day 2024, 25 December, Furtado released a remixed version of "Showstopper" as the album's next single; this version featured British rapperAJ Tracey.[114][115][116]
In September 2003, Furtado gave birth to a daughter with her then boyfriend Jasper Gahunia.[120][121] They dated for several years and were friends prior. The couple broke up in 2005, though according to Furtado in a 2006 interview, remain friends and share joint responsibility of raising their daughter.[122] On July 19, 2008, Furtado married sound engineer Demacio Castellon, with whom she had worked onLoose.[123] In April 2017, during an appearance on the British daytime panel showLoose Women, Furtado announced she had separated from Castellon during the summer of 2016 and said she is now single.[124][125] In December 2021, Furtado revealed on herInstagram account that she has two more children,[126][121] the oldest being a girl and the youngest being a boy, as she revealed in July 2023 during an interview withVogue where she also revealed she is single again.[93] The father of her second and third children is American rapperHodgy.[127]
In a June 2006 interview withGenre magazine, when asked if she had "ever felt an attraction to women", Furtado replied, "Absolutely. Women are beautiful and sexy".[128] Some considered this an announcement ofbisexuality,[129] but, in August 2006, she stated that she was "straight, but very open-minded".[130]
In November 2006, Furtado revealed that she once turned down US$500,000 to pose fully clothed inPlayboy.[131] In September 2009, she revealed the reason of this turn down was because she didn't wantPlayboy on her resume at 22 because it was too much too soon, but that she would probably say yes if asked at age 40.[132]
Furtado learned Portuguese up to the age of 12. She studied Spanish in high school and in 2009 estimated that her command of it was fifty to sixty percent.[133]
As of March 2017, Furtado has stated that she resides in Toronto andNew York City.[134] In an April 2017 interview withDIY magazine, Furtado revealed she had purchased an apartment in New York City.[135]
In May 2023, during an interview withFault magazine, Furtado revealed she had recently been diagnosed withADHD.[92]
In 2007, Furtado hosted a program about AIDS on MTV, which also featured guestsJustin Timberlake andAlicia Keys.[136] On September 27, 2011, Furtado announced duringFree the Children'sWe Day, that she was giving CDN$1,000,000 to Free the Children's effort to build girls' schools in theMaasai region of Kenya.[55]
Furtado is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.[137]
^"Fly Girl".Rolling Stone. Archived fromthe original on April 8, 2010....raised their brood according to the traditions of their Roman Catholic faith. 'It was a big part of my life,' Furtado says about church. 'Very exciting and colorful. It was just so customary that I didn't really take the time to think about what everything meant, besides the basics. I still believe in theTen Commandments and theSeven Sins. It keeps me on the straight and narrow, though I get jealous of people sometimes who can just let go and give in to sin.'
^ab"Face to face with Nelly Furtado: Canada's singing sensation".KidsWorld. September 22, 2001. Archived fromthe original on December 23, 2022. RetrievedDecember 23, 2022.When the year ended, I just hadn't really registered for college or anything, so I'm like, `I'm going to Toronto to do music.' I told my mom I'd be gone for four months. I was going to live with my aunt. But I actually stayed for a year. I got a full-time job working for this alarm company. I hooked up with Tallis [Newkirk] and formed the group Nelstar, which was a trip-hop band.
^Johnson, Reed; Times, Los Angeles (October 5, 2009)."Nelly Furtado's latin plan".Gulfnews – Gulf News. RetrievedAugust 27, 2022.
^Stevenson, Jane (March 13, 2017)."Nelly Furtado picks her fave Toronto hotspots".Toronto Sun. RetrievedDecember 6, 2020.Along with her weekend dwelling in New York City, former west coaster Nelly Furtado has called Toronto home for a while.
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