Nelly Furtado - Biography, Picture Gallery, Music Videos and tour dates

Nelly is MTV's Artist Of The Week

2007-10-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

Nelly is MTV's Artist of the Week this week!

Tune into MTV this week and catch Nelly everywhere, with skits, acoustic performances, and comedic public service announcements. Nelly also stepped into studio with hip-hop Canadian-Somali artist, K'naaan and freestyled the entire ballad.

Nelly Furtado - Give It to Me

2007-10-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

"Give It to Me" is a song recorded by Timbaland, with featured artists Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, for Timbaland's second solo album Timbaland Presents Shock Value (2007). It was released as the album's first single ).

Nelly Furtado - All Good Things (Come to an End)

2007-10-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

"All Good Things (Come to an End)" is a pop song written by Nelly Furtado, Timbaland, Danja and Chris Martin for Furtado's third album, Loose (2006). It was co-produced by Timbaland and Danja and released as the album's third European single in November 2006 . It was released as the fourth single in the United States and Australia.

Nelly Furtado - Say It Right

2007-10-07T05:10:00.000-07:00

"Say It Right" is a pop/R&B song written by Nelly Furtado, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and Nate "Danja" Hills for Furtado's third album, Loose (2006). It was co-produced by Timbaland and Danja and released as the album's third single in North America and Australia, with its U.S. radio release on October 31, 2006 . The song served as the album's fourth single in Europe and Asia; it was released in the United Kingdom in March 2007 as a download-only single. The song served as the album's fifth single in Latin America; in Mexico it is the fourth radio single and, according to MTV, the third single accompanied by a video.

According to Media Traffic, it is the most successful single of 2007, despite peaking only at number two on the United World Chart. It is also the most successful single of Nelly Furtado and Geffen Records, her label. The single is recognized for staying in the top ten of the United World Chart for twenty-nine weeks. It debuted at number one in France. So far, the song is one the best selling singles worldwide with 7.6 million points.

Nelly Furtado - Te Busque

2007-10-07T05:05:00.000-07:00

"Te Busqué" (English: "I Searched for You") is a pop song written by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado and Colombian musicians Juanes and Lester Mendez for Furtado's third album, Loose (2006). It features Juanes and was released as the album's first single in Spain, and as the fourth in Latin America . On July 20, 2007, the song was released as the album's fifth single in the Netherlands and Germany. In the Netherlands, the song was Alarmschijf of the week.

Nelly Furtado - Maneater

2007-10-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

"Maneater" is a dance-pop song written by Nelly Furtado, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Jim Beanz and Nate "Danja" Hills for Furtado's third album Loose (2006). It was co-produced by Timbaland and Danja and includes influences of 1980s music by artists such as Eurythmics and Hall & Oates. Released as the album's first single in Asia, Europe and Latin America in May 2006 , "Maneater" became one of Furtado's most popular singles, topping the singles charts in Poland and the UK, and reaching the top ten across much of Continental Europe. It served as the album's second single in Australia, where it reached the top five, and in North America, where it became a club hit, but was not as commercially successful as lead single "Promiscuous".

Nelly Furtado feat Timbaland - Promiscuous

2007-10-07T04:58:00.000-07:00

"Promiscuous", also referred to as "Promiscuous Girl", is a pop rap/dance/R&B song recorded by Nelly Furtado and Timbaland for Furtado's third album, Loose (2006). Furtado, Timothy "Attitude" Clayton, Timbaland and Danja wrote the song, and Timbaland and Danja produced it. The song lyrics feature a conversation between a man and woman who call each other "promiscuous".

"Promiscuous" was released as the first single from Loose in North America in early 2006, and as the second single elsewhere in mid-2006 except in Latin America, where the single was released as the third single in late 2006. The song received mostly positive reviews, and reached number one in Canada and the United States, becoming Furtado's first number-one single in North America. The song won in the Best Pop Song category at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, was nominated for the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Grammy Award at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards and won Single of the Year at the 2007 Juno Awards.

Nelly Furtado - Turn off the light

2007-10-07T04:52:00.000-07:00

"Turn off the Light" is the second official single from Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado's first album, Whoa, Nelly! The single peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, her highest chart position until her 2006 single "Promiscuous" reached number one. A remix featuring rappers Ms. Jade and Timbaland was released, and a dance remix reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. A remix was also made by Chris Vrenna of Tweaker.

Furtado, who cited a song by the Canadian band Big Sugar as the inspiration for "Turn off the Light", has described it as "a real song ... Though I may seem so independent and stuff, blah, blah, blah, when I turn out the light at night I can get lonely just like everybody else. Maybe that's why it's such a good song and everyone is responding to it – because it's real. Just a song with a fun, hooky chorus."

Nelly Furtado - I'm like a Bird

2007-10-07T04:37:00.000-07:00

"I'm like a Bird" is a song written by Nelly Furtado, and produced by Gerald Eaton and Brian West for her first album Whoa, Nelly!(2000). Furtado said that "I'm like a Bird" is her favourite song: "There's a simplicity about it that I love", she explained. "It's my freedom song." It was one of the most successful singles of 2001, reaching number one in Canada and Brazil, number two in Australia and New Zealand, number five in the UK and number nine in the U.S. It won a 2001 Juno Award for "Single of the Year". It won a 2002 Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". The music video was directed by Francis Lawrence.

The song was covered by the band Element 101, whose version appears on the compilation album Punk Goes Pop (2002). Furtado said of the song, "I've heard it sung at karaoke or by cover bands and it was awesome — I was like, wow, I've got one of those songs. Somebody once called it a "hairbrush song", one that girls and guys sing in front of the mirror with their hairbrush. I just think I'm lucky I have it — it's paying the bills!". Furtado performed this at the Concert for Diana.

Nelly is MTV's Artist of the Week this week!

2007-10-07T04:34:00.000-07:00

Tune into MTV this week and catch Nelly everywhere, with skits, acoustic performances, and comedic public service announcements. Nelly also stepped into studio with hip-hop Canadian-Somali artist, K'naaan and freestyled the entire ballad.

Watch Nelly Furtado - Do it

2007-10-07T04:18:00.000-07:00

Check out the music video for Nelly's song, "Do It" off the Loose album, marking Nelly Furtado's directorial debut. Inspired by her recently completed European and US Tour, the video captures the frenetic life on tour with her dancers, singers and band, at rehearsals, after show, hotels, and photo shoots.

Watch it now.

Nelly's Loose Global Sales Tops 6.1 million copies

2007-10-07T03:18:00.000-07:00

Global sales of Nelly Furtado's third album, Loose, have passed 6.1 million and counting. No other female recording artist has achieved this level of sales during the past year, according to Universal Music Group.

Additionally, Loose has racked up 7.4 million digital singles sales worldwide and 4.4 million in ringtones. Loose has been certified gold in 31 countries and platinum in 23 countries worldwide.

This week Loose will celebrate it's 60th continuous week on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart, where it debuted at #1 after being released June 20, 2006. The album also recently returned to #1 for the second time on Billboard's European Top 100 Album chart where it is currently at #2.

If you haven't picked up Loose yet, pick it up now.

Nelly live at VMA's

2007-10-07T03:17:00.000-07:00

Want to see Nelly Furtado LIVE at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards? Enter at www.mtvvmatrip.com for your chance to win the ultimate VMA sweepstakes. Don't forget to catch Nelly Furtado performing at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards airing LIVE on SEPTEMBER 9th @ 9PM/8PM Central.

Nelly Nominated for the 2007 MTV VMA's

2007-10-07T03:08:00.000-07:00

Nelly Furtado has been nominated for Female Artist of the Year, with the video "Maneater"

Congratulations to the multiple Grammy winner and tune in on September 9th to show your support.

Acting career

2007-09-18T05:35:00.001-07:00

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.

Influences

2007-09-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

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, Mariah Carey, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Radiohead, Madonna, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Verve, U2, Enya, 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.

Personal life

2007-09-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

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.[29] Nevis is ethnically a quarter Filipino, a quarter Asian Indian, and half Portuguese.[30]

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." [31] Some considered this an announcement of bisexuality,[32] but in August 2006, she confirmed that she was "straight, but very open-minded". [33] In November 2006, Furtado revealed that she once turned down US $500,000 to pose nude in Playboy.[34]

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

2006–present: Loose

2007-09-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

Furtado's third album was released in June 2006. She named it Loose after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album.[15][16] In this album, primarily produced by Timbaland, Furtado experiments with sounds from R&B, hip hop, and 80s music.[17] She categorized the album's sound as punk-hop, described as "modern, poppy, spooky" and as having "a mysterious, after-midnight vibe... extremely visceral".[15] She attributed the youthful sound of the album to the presence of her two-year old daughter.[17] Four lead singles were released in different regions of the world: the Spanish reggaeton-influenced "No Hay Igual" (featuring 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", "Te Busqué", "Say It Right", and "All Good Things (Come to an End)". The album received generally positive reviews from critics,[18] with some citing the "revitalising" effect of Timbaland on Furtado's music,[19][20] and others calling it "slick, smart and surprising."[21] Some have labeled her a "sell out" for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favor of hip hop and R&B,[22] while others have criticized her for attempting to "sex up" her music and appearance to sell more records.[23] Nonetheless, the album has fared well on the mainstream market, especially in Canada, where the album was certified 4x platinum in May 2007.[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, British Columbia to perform a concert at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. In honor 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 Lil Wayne's upcoming album Tha Carter III.[27] Furtado also appeared in the video for Nickelback's Rockstar. 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] 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.

2003–2005: Folklore

2007-09-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

Furtado's second album, Folklore, was released in November 2003. The title was influenced by her parents' immigration to Canada.[citation needed] Folclore [fOlk'lOrI] means the same in Portuguese as it does in English, but occurs much more frequently, in any reference to traditional culture. The final track on the album, "Childhood Dreams", was dedicated to her daughter. 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.[12] 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,[13] 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.

2000–2002: Whoa, Nelly! and early success

2007-09-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

Furtado continued the collaboration with Eaton and West, who co-produced her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, 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.” It received four Grammy 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."[

Nelly Furtado Biography. Early years.

2007-09-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

Nelly Furtado was born in Victoria, British Columbia to Portuguese immigrants from the Azores, Maria Manuela and António José Furtado.[4] She 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 keyboard. 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.
Before moving, however, she performed at the 1997 Honey Jam, an "all-female urban" talent show.[9][10] Her performance attracted the attention of The Philosopher Kings singer Gerald Eaton (aka Jarvis Church), who then approached her to write with him. He and fellow Kings member Brian West helped Furtado produce a demo. She left Toronto, but returned again to record more material with Eaton and West. The material recorded during these sessions led to her 1999 record deal with DreamWorks Records.[3] Furtado's first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", was released that year on the Brokedown Palace: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.