Nelly Furtado

Biography

Singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado heavily credits her ethnic background and creative childhood for spawning her career, which took flight after the success of 2001's "I'm Like a Bird." Born and raised in the Canadian city of Victoria, Furtado received a strong work ethic from her working-class parents, both of whom were of Portuguese descent. Although she learned multiple instruments as a young child, Furtado also spent eight summers working as a chambermaid alongside her housekeeping mother, quickly realizing what it meant to work for a living.

Furtado first turned to music for enjoyment, learning to play the trombone and ukulele while also taking part in various choir performances. Mainstream R&B acts like Mariah Carey, TLC, Jodeci, Salt-N-Pepa, and Bell Biv DeVoe formed the bedrock of her musical tastes. Later, she delved into her older brother's collection and discovered Radiohead, Pulp, Oasis, Portishead, the Verve, and U2. The contrast pushed Furtado to fully embrace a number of different musical genres, specifically Brazilian music, hip-hop, and material by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Amalia Rodrigues. Following high school, she left Victoria and relocated to Toronto, where she worked at an alarm company during the day and explored the local music scene at night.

Nelly Furtado soon joined a hip-hop duo, Nelstar, which encouraged her to write her own melodies and freestyle rhymes. Her musical prospects quickly grew, as musicians Brian West and Gerald Eaton — both from the Canadian funk-pop group the Philosopher Kings — asked to produce the young singer's demo. Although the left Toronto after the recording sessions, the demo sparked enough label interest to land Furtado a spot on the DreamWorks roster. She returned to the city to cut her debut album, 2000's Whoa, Nelly!, whose release was followed by a headlining U.S. tour in early 2001 and a subsequent spot on Moby's Area:One tour that same summer. Furtado's multi-cultural pop sound proved to be intensely popular, with singles like "I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light" pushing the album toward multi-platinum sales. One year later, Furtado was the lucky recipient of four Grammy nominations, with "I'm Like a Bird" going on to win "Song of the Year."

The sophomore effort Folklore appeared in November 2003, nearly two months after Furtado gave birth to a daughter named Nevis. The record was generally seen as a disappointment, failing to capitalize on the success (and failing to replicate the freewheeling energy) of her previous work. Appropriately, Furtado didn't return to the limelight until the summer of 2006, when she released the dance-influenced album Loose. Produced almost entirely by Timbaland and boasting an appealing, timely mix of pop, R&B, and club-worthy hip-hop, the album catapulted Furtado's career back onto the fast track. "Promiscuous" became a quick hit, earning Furtado the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the album itself debuted atop the charts upon its release in June. ~ Andrew Leahey & MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide