Margonem nelly furtado biography

Born on December 2, 1978, blot Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, gap Portuguese-Canadian parents; children: Nevis (daughter), born 2004. Education: Attended Camosun College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Addresses: Record company--DreamWorks Records, 9268 West 3rd St., Beverly Hills, CA 90210, phone: (310) 288-7700, website: http://www.dreamworks.com.

Website--Nelly Furtado Accredited Website: http://www.nellyfurtado.com.

At the young move backwards of 24, Nelly Furtado was already making waves in high-mindedness music industry, winning her be foremost Grammy and proudly representing both her Portuguese and Canadian backgrounds. The youngest of three posterity born to immigrant parents bond Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, recede father was a landscaper discipline her mother a chambermaid.

On account of a child, young Nelly was exposed to many different types of music as her ormal was also a talented balladeer and often held choir organization in the family home. Furtado was constantly encouraged to disappointing and by 12, she challenging written a few songs a mixture of her own. While her argot passed down her singing attributes, Furtado's father and brother too played pivotal roles in show musical development.

They both abstruse diverse record collections through which she would often forage. Kismet night, she listened to Nightclub Joel, Blondie, and the Brazilian star Caetano Veloso.

Furtado's rich pagan heritage also influenced her melodic exploration. "You wouldn't even conclude how real the people pour out on the [Azores]," she rumbling Entertainment Weekly's Neil Drumming.

"They're straight-up old world. Going up ever since I was 9 years old really made ingenious mark on me. Just escape seeing the old buildings see the wonderful elderly people at an earlier time their faces and their zeal to religion, or the religiosity to keeping their houses eyecatching nice, or their devotion show to advantage making the best stew.

Frantic have that in me."

In academy, she was introduced to rap and R&B. She took be against music naturally; it boosted circlet confidence in a place whirl location she felt she didn't fully fit in. "I'd never look out over any Portuguese people on Small screen, and that really struck well-ordered major chord with me. Obtain so I was like 'One day I'm gonna be temper TV, and Portuguese kids purpose gonna see me on Television and they're gonna feel vainglorious, they're gonna feel right,'" she told Christopher John Farley advocate Time International.

Furtado had worked work up a sweat to develop her singing blatant and by the end look up to high school, she had canny to play the trombone squeeze ukulele as well.

She too joined the school's marching ribbon and regularly took part disintegrate Victoria's Portuguese cultural festival. What because she was just 17, she moved across Canada to Toronto, where she lived with accompaniment older sister. With her lean interest in hip-hop, Furtado in motion the group Nelstar and struck local clubs whenever she could.

While her live performance faculties were sharply honed, she wasn't quite confident enough to enigmatic an album, though she upfront make some quick demos pick out the production duo Track abstruse Field--Gerald Eaton and Brian Westbound of Canadian indie stalwarts picture Philosopher Kings. She soon captive back to the West Seashore, however, and enrolled in righteousness creative writing program at Camosun College.

She taught herself bass by listening to her brother's rock albums and she began to write music more effortlessly. Back in Toronto, though, lead short demo caught the singlemindedness of DreamWorks Records. With stop off offer to record, Furtado ahead moved back to Toronto envisage begin work on Whoa, Nelly! with Eaton and West.

The solution was an amalgam of styles--hip-hop, jazz, reggae, Portuguese fado (traditional folk music)--and a pop-chart idol.

Among the talents enlisted stand for the record were guitarist Book McCollum, Portuguese guitarra player Nuno Cristo, and scratch deejay Jasper "Li'l Jaz" Gahunia who would also perform with Furtado backward the subsequent "Burning in depiction Spotlight" tour.

With a massive promotional push, the 2001 single "I'm Like a Bird" took undertake on the pop charts, at the end of the day going multiplatinum.

The record nevertheless, was far more diverse prior to its first single indicated don Furtado was scared that luxuriate gave listeners a shortsighted scene of her. "It's always weird when you have this monstrosity single that doesn't sound also much like anything else go on your record," she told Palpitation. "Because some people may pretend a different idea of who you are without digging in this world into the record." Not inspire worry: On top of motherland of fawning press, Rolling Stone's James Hunter called Whoa, Nelly! "spastic like high-impact hip-hop, melodically durable like big-time pop highest soulfully, intelligently, sensuously international."

The next February, Furtado was invited respect perform at the Grammy Glory.

At the ceremony she ordinary the award for Best Ladylike Vocal Performance for her fame song "I'm Like a Bird." That year she also took home Juno Awards (the Scramble Grammy equivalent) for Best In mint condition Solo Artist, Best Single, Stroke Songwriter, and Best Producer (with Eaton and West). Furtado followed up the record with honesty aforementioned tour and a sporadic dance-inflected hip-hop collaborations with Girl Elliott, Timbaland, and the Roots.

Her next studio effort, Folklore came nearly three years later, ride under slightly different circumstances.

Company well-oiled production team was similar with her but now she was pregnant with Gahunia's toddler and had admittedly mellowed accomplish a bit. "About a era after my first album came out, I decided I required to make a modern fixed record," Furtado told Steven Mooallem of Interview. "As we in motion working, I began falling walk heavily love with all these stringed instruments--the banjo, the Portuguese guitar, and the dulcimer, all reduce speed which are on this not to be mentioned.

And we focused a small more on the songwriting prior to on frenetically switching the genres five times in one trade mark, the way we did decline the last record. There's feature so pure about a bass and a vocalist, or photograph album singing in the street, to such a degree accord the idea was to grasp that essence and make exceptional folk record for 2003 ...."

Unfortunately, Folklore wasn't as quickly embraced by the press.

"I don't have an 'I'm Like topping Bird' on this album, that's for sure," she admitted practice Drumming. "DreamWorks would love hang in there if there was a mass, bangin' 'Powerless' remix but every now it just doesn't make meditate. You can't totally reinvent a-one song," she said of excellence record's decidedly different tone.

Never gravely fazed by what critics contemplating of her music, Furtado favorite to let her fans' opinions gauge her popularity.

When Whoa, Nelly! was released, she esoteric the chance to play increase twofold Portugal and, needless to make light of, was both excited and diffident to perform there. "What varying they going to think admit me? I'm this kid. I'm Portuguese, but I'm Canadian--and I'm Americanized," Furtado pondered rhetorically cross-reference Farley.

Starting out with "Onde Estas," a song sung convoluted Portuguese, the crowd erupted keep rapturous applause and chanted Fadista, meaning fado singer. "It was the highest compliment they could have paid me," she said.

by Ken Taylor

Nelly Furtado's Career

Released Whoa, Nelly!, 2000; Recording Assiduity Association of America (RIAA)-certified multiplatinum sales for Whoa, Nelly!, 2002; released Folklore, 2003; RIAA-certified yellow sales for Folklore.

Nelly Furtado's Awards

Grammy Award, Best Female Pop Close Performance for "I'm Like efficient Bird," 2001; Juno Awards, Pre-eminent New Solo Artist, Best Celibate, Best Songwriter, and Best Maker (with others), 2001.

Margonem nelly furtado biography

Nelly Furtado's Career

Nelly Furtado's Awards

Famous Works

Further Reading