Nelly Furtado

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", "Say It Right", and "All Good Things (Come to an End)". Furtado is known for experimenting with different instruments, sounds, genres, vocal styles and languages (She colaborrated with Colombian singer Juanes in the song "Te Busque". In this song Furtado sung in English, and in Spanish in the Spanish version). This diversity has been influenced by her wide-ranging musical taste and her interest in different cultures.^[2]^[3]

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Nelly Furtado was born in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia to Portuguese immigrants from the Azores, Maria Manuela and António José Furtado. Her parents were born on São Miguel Island and immigrated to Canada in the late 1960s.^[4] Furtado has a strong connection with Portugal. At age four she began performing and singing in Portuguese.^[4] Nelly Furtado was named after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim.^[2] 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.^[2]^[5] 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 twelve, she began writing songs,^[2] and as a teenager, she performed in a Portuguese marching band.^[4] 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.^[6] She has stated that coming from a working class background has shaped her identity in a positive way.^[2]^[7]

The first musicians Furtado interacted with were underground rappers and DJs.^[8] 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".^[9] 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.^[9] She left the group and planned to move back home.

[edit] 2000–2002: Whoa, Nelly! and early success

Audio samples:

"Party" (2000)

Image:Party's Just Begun (Again) sample.ogg

Her first single from Whoa, Nelly!.<small/></td></table>

"I'm like a Bird" (2000)

Image:I'm Like a Bird sample.ogg

Her first hit single worldwide.<small/></td></table>

Problems playing the files? See media help. </li> </ul> 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."^[11] 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.".^[12] According to Maclean's magazine, Whoa, Nelly! had sold five million copies worldwide as of August 2006.^[13] The song "Scared of You" has portions of the song in Portuguese, while "Onde Estás" is entirely in Portuguese, reflecting Furtado's Portuguese heritage. In 2002, Furtado appeared on a the song "Thin Line", on underground hip hop group Jurassic 5's album Power in Numbers.

[edit] 2003–2005: Folklore

Audio samples:

"Powerless" (2003)

Image:Powerless (Say What You Want) sample.ogg

Furtado's lead single from Folklore.<small/></td></table>

"Try" (2004)

Image:Try sample.ogg

The last U.S. single from Folklore.<small/></td></table>

Problems playing the files? See media help. </li> </ul>

See also: Folklore (album) and Come as You Are Tour

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.^[14] Other singles included "Powerless (Say What You Want)" and the ballad "Try". The album was not as successful as her debut, partly due to the album's less "poppy" sound,^[15] but also due to changes at DreamWorks Records. DreamWorks had just been sold to Universal Music Group. In 2005, DreamWorks Records, along with many of its artists including Furtado, were absorbed into Geffen Records.^[16]

[edit] 2006–2008: Loose

See also: Loose (album) and Get Loose Tour

Audio samples:

"Promiscuous" (2006)
Image:PromiscuousSample.ogg
Furtado's first U.S. number-one single

"Say It Right" (2006)
Image:Say It Right sample.ogg
Her highest points worldwide single

"Do It" (2007)
Image:Do It sample.ogg
Furtado's latest single from Loose

Problems playing the files? See media help. </li> </ul>

Furtado's third album, Loose, was released in June 2006. She named it after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album.^[17] 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 criticized her for attempting to "sex up" her music and appearance to sell more records.^[18]^[19] In this album, primarily produced by Timbaland, Furtado experiments with sounds from R&B, hip hop, and 1980s music.^[20] She categorized the album's sound as punk-hop, described as "modern, poppy, spooky" and as having "a mysterious, after-midnight vibe... extremely visceral".^[17] She attributed the youthful sound of the album to the presence of her two-year-old daughter.^[20] Four lead singles were released in different regions of the world: the Spanish reggaeton-influenced "No Hay Igual" (featuring Residente Calle 13), the hip-hop "Promiscuous" (featuring Timbaland), for which she won a 2006 Billboard Music Award for Pop Single of the Year, the Latin "Te Busqué" (featuring Juanes), and the dark pop single "Maneater". Loose has become the most successful album of Furtado's career so far. It reached number one in several countries including the United States and Canada, and it included the hit singles "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right", and "All Good Things (Come to an End)". The album received generally positive reviews from critics,^[21] with some citing the "revitalising" effect of Timbaland on Furtado's music,^[22]^[23] and others calling it "slick, smart and surprising".^[24] In 2007, Furtado and Justin Timberlake were featured on Timbaland's single "Give It to Me",^[25] which became her third number-one single in the U.S. and second in the UK. 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.^[26] On April 1 2007, Furtado was a performer at and host of the 2007 Juno Awards in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She won all five awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year and Single of the Year. Furtado appeared on stage at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London on July 1, 2007, where she performed "Say It Right", "Maneater", and "I'm like a Bird". In 2007, Furtado, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake were featured on the song "Party Control" which will be on Lil Wayne's upcoming album Tha Carter III.^[27] Furtado also appeared in the video for Nickelback's "Rockstar" alongside other celebrities such as Lupe Fiasco, Gene Simmons. In the music video she appears on her loose tour bus and sings the lines; "Rockstar" and "With the latest dictionary and today's". In September, 2007, MTV: Buzzworthy chose Furtado as the Artist of the Week, and gave an exclusive freestyle performance of "Going Away" with the Somalian-Canadian rapper K'naan.^[28] She also preformed serval comedy sketch entitled "NO", "I want the Nelly" and "Panties". On September 9, 2007, Furtado performed at the MTV Video Music Awards awards with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, where she sang "Do It" mixed with "The Way I Are", "LoveStoned" and "Give It to Me". In October 2007 Furtado was nominated for three MTV Europe Music Awards, and she won the "Album of the Year" award. After Furtado's success in her third album, Loose, she released her first live DVD under the name Loose the Concert which included her greatest hits of 2007 and 2006 as a live videos such as "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right", "All Good Things (Come to an End)" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy".^[29] Loose was chosen to be used to advertise the newly released iPod classic appearing in commercials and even on the box. In 2007, Nelly Furtado leaked plans to Flare regarding a song she was set to duet for Kylie Minogue's return. However, the song was not featured on her album X but Minogue says the aforementioned song "is still outstanding" and has plans to pursue it. She said "I am looking forward to getting in the studio and doing it because I know Nelly and I would have a great time together."^[30] Nelly has asked Keith Urban to feature on a track she was recording in L.A,^[31] which was thought to have been for her new album, however turned out to be just a remix of her song In God's Hands. It isn't known whether other tracks were recorded. However, the single "In God's Hands", featuring Keith Urban, has been released on iTunes and other online music stores, though not yet available in stores.

[edit] Personal life

On September 20, 2003 in Toronto, Furtado gave birth to a daughter, Nevis, whose father is DJ Jasper Gahunia. Furtado and Gahunia, who had been good friends for several years, remained together for four years until their breakup in 2005. Furtado told Blender magazine that they continue to be good friends and jointly share responsibility of raising Nevis.^[32]

In June 2006, in an interview with Genre magazine, when asked if she had "ever felt an attraction to women", Furtado replied "Absolutely. Women are beautiful and sexy."^[33] Some considered this an announcement of bisexuality,^[34] but in August 2006, she confirmed that she was "straight, but very open-minded".^[35] In November 2006, Furtado revealed that she once turned down US$500,000 to pose fully-clothed in Playboy. Furtado said "I (was) offered half a million dollars to pose fully-clothed."^[36]

In July 2007, it was reported that Furtado is engaged to Cuban sound engineer, Demacio "Demo" Castellón, who worked with her on Loose.^[37]

[edit] Influences

During her teenage years, Furtado embraced many musical genres, listening heavily to mainstream R&B, hip hop, alternative hip hop, drum and bass, trip hop, world music (including Portuguese fado, Brazilian bossa nova, and Indian music), and a variety of others.^[2] Her influences have included Jeff Buckley, Janet Jackson, Oasis, Caetano Veloso, Esthero, Amalia Rodrigues, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cornershop, TLC, Mary J. Blige, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Radiohead, Madonna, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Verve, U2, Enya, Mariah Carey and Beck.^[2]^[3]

Furtado's music has also been influenced by her current residence, Toronto, which she calls "the most multicultural city in the entire world" and a place where she "can be any culture". Regarding Toronto's cultural diversity, she has said that she did not have to wait for the Internet revolution to learn about world music; she began listening to it at the age of five and continues to discover new genres.

“

I always know there's a new genre left to discover. For me, it's like a metaphor for life. I feel like if you can get down with any style of music, you can get down with any style of person. So it's fun for me—I get to expose my fans to different vibes and they, in turn, open their minds too. I'm always undergoing mind-opening.

”

[edit] Acting career

Furtado began acting in school plays in middle school. She appeared on the episode "Some Buried Bones" of CSI: NY as Ava Brandt, a master-thief and victim of domestic abuse. She also guest starred on an episode of the day time soap opera One Life to Live, on which she performed some of her songs in a local club with Saukrates. Furtado participated in the hit Portuguese soap opera Floribella.^{[citation needed]}

She had stated in an interviews on Planète Rap, a French radio station, that she has taken up acting classes when she is in Toronto and also had been working on a movie which has been postponed.^[38]

[edit] Philanthropy

For World AIDS Day in 2006, Furtado, Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson teamed up with MTV, BET, and Nike to perform at an AIDS awareness concert in South Africa.^[39] Furtado also hosted a program about AIDS on MTV, which also featured celebrity guests Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake.^[40]

[edit] Discography

Main article: Nelly Furtado discography

[edit] Albums

2000: Whoa, Nelly!
2003: Folklore
2006: Loose

[edit] DVDs

2007: Loose Mini DVD
2007: Loose the Concert

[edit] Tours

[edit] Number-one singles

The following singles reached number one in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Switzerland and New Zealand. Their peak positions are shown along with their peak positions for the United World Chart and Australia. For a full singles discography, see Nelly Furtado singles discography.

Year	Single	Peak positions^[41]^[42]^[43]									Album
Year	Single	WW	U.S.	UK	EUR	CAN	POL	AUS	SWI	NZ	Album
2000	"I'm like a Bird"	7	9	5	3	1	3	2	17	2	Whoa, Nelly!
2001	"Turn off the Light"	3	5	4	3	7	3	7	2	1	Whoa, Nelly!
2006	"Promiscuous" (feat. Timbaland)	4	1	3	2	1	2	2	6	1	Loose
	"Maneater"	4	16	1	1	5	1	3	3	2
	"Say It Right"	2	1	10	1	1	1	2	1	1
	"All Good Things (Come to an End)"	5	86	4	1	5	1	12	1	12
2007	"Give It to Me" (Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake)	3	1	1	2	1	1	16	6	2	Timbaland Presents Shock Value
Total Number-one hits		—	3	2	3	4	4	—	2	3

[edit] Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Genre	Notes
2001	Roswell	Herself	American Science fiction Television series^[44]	Performed I'm like a Bird
2006	Floribella	Herself	Portuguese Soap Opera^[45]	Performed Maneater
2007	One Life to Live	Herself	American Soap Opera^[44]	Performed Say It Right and Promiscuous
2007	CSI: NY	Ava Brandt	American police procedural television series^[44]	Played Ava a professional criminal accused of murder.
2007	Punk'd	Herself	American hidden camera practical joke television series^[44]	A victim of a bomb scare
2008	Max Payne	Christa Balder	Video game adaptation^[44]	Wife of the main character's best friend

[edit] Awards

Main article: List of Nelly Furtado awards

Year	Title	Award	Nominated work	Result
2001	Grammy Awards	Best Female Pop Vocal Performance	"I'm like a Bird"	Won
		Song of the Year	"I'm like a Bird"	Nominated
		Best Pop Vocal Album	Whoa, Nelly!	Nominated
		Best New Artist	Nelly Furtado	Nominated
2007	Grammy Awards^[46]	Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals	"Promiscuous" (featuring Timbaland)	Nominated
	BRIT Awards	International Female Solo Artist	Nelly Furtado	Won
	Juno Awards^[47]	Juno Fan Choice Award	Nelly Furtado	Won
		Single of the Year	"Promiscuous" (featuring Timbaland)	Won
		Album of the Year	Loose	Won
		Artist of the Year	Nelly Furtado	Won
		Pop Album of the Year	Loose	Won
	MTV Europe Music Awards^[48]	Best Solo Artist	Nelly Furtado	Nominated
		Most Addictive Track	"All Good Things (Come to an End)"	Nominated
		Album of the Year	Loose	Won
2008	Grammy Awards	Best Female Pop Vocal Performance	"Say It Right"	Nominated
		Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals	"Give It to Me" (Timbaland featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake)	Nominated

[edit] References

^ LusoMotores
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Exclusive LAUNCH Artist Chat. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 28 May 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nelly Furtado Biography. MapleMusic. Retrieved on 27 May 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c Furtado Goes Portuguese. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 27 May 2006.
^ Fly Girl. Rolling Stone.
^ Nelly Furtado Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 27 May 2006.
^ Fly Girl. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 16 Aug, 2001.
^ Shepherd, Julianne. How Nelly Furtado Got Her Ghetto Pass. MTV. Retrieved on 16 August 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nelstar* (Nelly Furtado) Biography. Nelstar-Project.com. Retrieved on 9 December 2005.
^ Honey Jam Searches for Urban Women. ChartAttack (2003-05-27).
^ Whoa, Nelly!. Slant. Retrieved on 28 May 2006.
^ Nelly Furtado Biography. MapleMusic. Retrieved on 27 May 2006.
^ Intini, John. "Nelly Furtado: 'I'm not Mother Teresa'". Maclean's. August 25, 2006. Retrieved September 18 2006.
^ Nelly Furtado Gets Her Kicks. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 9 December 2005.
^ Folklore. BBC. Retrieved on 28 May 2006.
^ Universal Music Snags DreamWorks Records. Blogcritics.org. Retrieved on 29 May 2006.
^ ^a ^b {{cite web |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9325140/nelly_furtado_brings_the_punkhop|title=Nelly Furtado ref name=blogcritics>James Robert (2006 07-04). CD Review: Nelly Furtado Loose. BlogCritics Magazine.
^ Tom Breihan (2006-05-24Brings the Punk-Hop). Nelly Furtado: Mutating Like Avian Flu. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 28 May 2006.
^ Serious female singers harder to find on the charts. USA Today. Retrieved on 14 June 2006.
^ ^a ^b Nelly Furtado :: Loose. umusic.ca. Retrieved on 21 June 2006.
^ Loose by Nelly Furtado. Metacritic. Retrieved on 16 August 2006.
^ Murphy, John. Nelly Furtado - Loose (Polydor). MusicOMH. Retrieved on 16 August 2006.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Loose Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 16 August 2006.
^ Lynskey, Dorian. Nelly Furtado, Loose. Guardian Unlimited Arts. Retrieved on 16 August 2006.
^ Timbaland Nabs 50 Cent, Dr. Dre For LP, Starts Timberlake Gossip Frenzy. MTV News. Retrieved on 1 December 2006.
^ City of Victoria Press Release.
^ Shaheem Reid, Jayson Rodriguez and Rahman Dukes. "Lil Wayne Plans His Own Leak", MTV.com: Mixtape Monday, June 11, 2007.
^ Nelly Furtado artist of the week MTV:Buzzworthy
^ Loose the Concert Amazon.de The DVD: Track listing
^ TheStar.com | entertainment | Kylie Minogue makes comeback
^ NEWS URBAN FLIES 8,000 MILES TO SING WITH FURTADO Music, movie & Entertainment News
^ Nelly Furtado: Free As A Bird. Blender. Retrieved on 1 July 2006.
^ Nelly on the Loose!. Genre. Retrieved on 26 July 2006.
^ Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.. AfterEllen. Retrieved on 26 July 2006.
^ Furtado red-faced over loose tongue. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 11 August 2006.
^ http://www.mtv.co.uk/channel/mtvuk/news/21112006/nelly_furtados_playboy_offer
^ Nelly Furtado Engaged to Sound Engineer Boyfriend=People Magazine . Retrieved on 5 July 2007.
^ YouTube - PLANETE RAP - Nelly Furtado - 3/3
^ World AIDS Day | MTV UK
^ World AIDS Day | MTV UK
^ Nelly Furtado: Billboard Singles
^ UK Top 40 Hit Database
^ United World Chart
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Nelly Furtado profile Internet Movie Database
^ Nelly Furtado Guest Stars on 'Floribella' Soul Shine Magazine
^ 49th Grammay Awards show Grammy.com
^ 2007 Nominees Juno Awards
^ MTV EMA Nominees MTV.co.uk

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Nelly Furtado

NellyFurtado.com official website
NellyFurtadoMusic.co.uk official UK website
Nelly Furtado México Official Fans Club
Nelly Furtado Interview at DailyMusicGuide.com
Official fan forum
Nelly Furtado at MySpace
Nelly Furtado at the Internet Movie Database

Awards
Preceded by Macy Gray for I Try	Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance 2002 for I'm like a Bird	Succeeded by Norah Jones for "Don't Know Why"
Preceded by Madonna 2006	BRIT Award for International Female Solo Artist 2007	Succeeded by Kylie Minogue 2008

v • d • e

Nelly Furtado

Studio albums

Whoa, Nelly! · Folklore · Loose

</td></tr>

EPs</td>

Sessions@AOL ·</span> Live Session (iTunes Exclusive)

</td></tr>

DVDs</td>

Loose Mini DVD ·</span> Loose: The Concert

</td></tr>

Singles</td>

"Party's Just Begun (Again)" ·</span> "I'm like a Bird" · "Turn off the Light" · "Shit on the Radio (Remember the Days)" · "Hey, Man!" · "Trynna Finda Way" · "Legend" · "Powerless (Say What You Want)" · "Try" · "Força" · "Explode" · "The Grass Is Green" · "No Hay Igual" · "Promiscuous" · "Maneater" · "Te Busqué" · "Say It Right" · All Good Things (Come to an End)" · "In God's Hands" · "Do It" · "Somebody To Love"

</td></tr>

Guest singles</td>

"Ching Ching" ·</span> "Fotografía" · "What's Going On" · "Give It to Me"

</td></tr>

Tour</td>

Burn in the Spotlight Tour ·</span> Come as You Are Tour · Get Loose Tour

</td></tr>

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

[edit] 2000–2002: Whoa, Nelly! and early success

[edit] 2003–2005: Folklore

[edit] 2006–2008: Loose

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Influences

[edit] Acting career

[edit] Philanthropy

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] DVDs

[edit] Tours

[edit] Number-one singles

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

[edit] External links