Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado, singer, songwriter (b at Victoria 2 Dec 1978). Nelly Furtado grew up in a Portuguese household and the music of her ethnic heritage had a strong influence on her even when she was listening to hip-hop, pop and other types of music. After moving to Toronto, she combined these elements to come up with her own fresh and enticing style that attracted the attention of Los Angeles-based DreamWorks Records, which released her Whoa, Nelly! debut album in the fall of 2000.

Whoa, Nelly! spawned such major pop hits as "I'm Like a Bird," "Turn Off the Light" and "On the Radio (Remember the Days)." The album earned Nelly Furtado 6 2001 JUNO AWARD nominations and 4 wins (for Best New Solo Artist, Best Single for "I'm Like a Bird," Best Songwriter, and Best Producer in conjunction with the Track & Field production team of Gerald Eaton and Brian West). The long shelf-life of Whoa, Nelly! allowed it to receive Best Album and Best Artist Juno nominations the next year, when "I'm Like a Bird" was named the best female pop vocal performance at the American Grammy Awards after Furtado received a total of 4 nominations. Whoa, Nelly! sold more than 400 000 copies in Canada and more than 2 million units in the United States, and received gold and platinum-plus sales certifications in almost 20 countries around the world.

After exhaustive touring in support of the album, Nelly Furtado took time off before recording her follow-up with Eaton and West while she was pregnant with her first child. Folklore was released in November 2003, and the first single "Powerless (Say What You Want)" became an immediate smash and was named Best Single at the 2004 Juno Awards. The album's second single, "Try," was also a success, and Folklore has sold more than 3 million copies globally.

Nelly Furtado worked with a variety of collaborators, most notably producer Timbaland, on her third album, Loose. She started with about 40 songs, which she whittled down to 13 by the time it was released in June 2006. The album, which had stronger hip-hop influences than any of her previous material, hit number one on the sales charts in Canada, the United States, Germany and Switzerland, making it the most successful of her career. Furtado won a World Music Award for best pop/rock artist on the strength of the chart-topping singles "Promiscuous," "Maneater," "All Good Things (Come to an End)" and "Say It Right." She hosted the 2007 Juno Awards show in Saskatoon and won all 5 awards for which she was nominated, including Best Artist, Album and Single (for "Promiscuous"). Nelly Furtado toured the world and Loose - The Concert was released on CD and DVD in November 2007. Loose has sold 10 million copies internationally, including 500 000 in Canada. In September 2009 Furtado released a Spanish-language album titled Mi Plan which reached number one on Billboard magazine's Top Latin Albums chart in the US and won the artist five Junos including Album of the Year. Mi Plan was followed in 2012 by The Spirit Indestructible.

Author STEVE McLEAN

Links to Other Sites
The Toronto Musicians' Association
The website for the Toronto Musicians' Association, an organization that represents professional musicians in all facets of music in the greater Toronto area. Click on "Multimedia" to access online music videos.