Nelly Furtado
Real Name: Nelly Kim Furtado
Date of Birth: 2 December, 1978
Place of birth: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Profession: Singer – Songwriter - Record Producer - Instrumentalist
Nelly Furtado was born in Victoria and grew up in Canada. However, her parents were immigrants from Portugal who exposed Nelly to music from their home country from a very early age. Nelly also inherited a strong work ethic from her family. In fact, she worked with her mother as a chambermaid for several summers.
Furtado first entered the music scene by meeting up with underground rappers and DJs in Toronto. She performed at a 1997 talent show called the Honey Jam, which gave her a lucky break by giving her the opportunity to meet Gerald Eaton and Brian West of the Philosopher Kings. Nelly’s first music album, Whoa, Nelly! was released in October 2000. The album was co-produced by Eaton and West of the Philosopher Kings and proved to be a big hit. Whoa, Nelly! contained many chart-topping hits such as “I’m like a Bird” and “Turn off the Light” and received four Grammy nominations in 2002.
Nelly believes in experiencing and experimenting with new things, be it her lifestyle or her music. Her singing is influenced by various styles as well as renowned singers such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Amalia Rodrigues, Radiohead and Oasis. Nelly is a unique singer who has the ability to adapt diverse musical genres including R&B, Hip Hop, Indian, Rock, British Pop, Brazilian and many others. Discovering new genres of music is an undying quest for this talented singer.
On September 20, 2003 Nelly gave birth to her daughter Nevis in Toronto. Furtado and Nevis’ father, DJ Jasper Gahunia remained together for four years until their breakup in 2005. They jointly share responsibility of raising Nevis.
After having Nevis, Nelly released her second album Folklore in November 2003. The album had less of a pop sound and was not nearly as successful as her previous albums. She also performed one of its songs, “Força” in Lisbon at the 2004 European Football Championship and it became the official song of Euro 2004. Another reason for the disappointing sales could be attributed to the fact that DreamWorks had been sold to Universal Music Group during the album’s release; Nelly’s contract was eventually absorbed by Geffen Records.
Several years later, Nelly released her third album Loose. Primarily produced by Timbaland, the album experiments with R&B, hip hop and music from the 1980s. Loose was a huge success spawning hits such as “Promiscuous” and “Maneater.” The song, “Promiscuous” won her a 2006 Billboard Music Award for Pop Single of the Year.
Furtado announced in December 2006 that she would record an all-Spanish album. During an interview with a member of the Canadian press, she mentioned that her Latin album had been shelved. Although she still hoped to release a full-length, Spanish-language project one day, her plan was to re-release Loose in the United States and possibly Latin America with Spanish versions of “All Good Things (Come to an End)”, “Try”, and “In God’s Hands,” all of which she wrote and recorded with Julio Reyes. Nelly has proven that sticking to your own style, working hard and believing in yourself can take you to new heights.
