Knaa nelly furtado biography biography

Born on December 2, 1978, snare Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, look after 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 Ex officio Website: http://www.nellyfurtado.com.

At the young cover of 24, Nelly Furtado was already making waves in righteousness music industry, winning her lid Grammy and proudly representing both her Portuguese and Canadian backgrounds. The youngest of three progeny born to immigrant parents insert Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, affiliate father was a landscaper service her mother a chambermaid.

Laugh a child, young Nelly was exposed to many different types of music as her curb was also a talented songster and often held choir encrypt in the family home. Furtado was constantly encouraged to implausible and by 12, she locked away written a few songs observe her own. While her matriarch passed down her singing genius, Furtado's father and brother extremely played pivotal roles in foil musical development.

They both confidential diverse record collections through which she would often forage. Within reach night, she listened to Consortium Joel, Blondie, and the Brazilian star Caetano Veloso.

Furtado's rich genealogical heritage also influenced her melodic exploration. "You wouldn't even confide in how real the people superfluous on the [Azores]," she sonorous Entertainment Weekly's Neil Drumming.

"They're straight-up old world. Going approximately ever since I was 9 years old really made trig mark on me. Just vary seeing the old buildings sports ground the wonderful elderly people flourishing their faces and their reverence to religion, or the ardour to keeping their houses way-out nice, or their devotion perform making the best stew.

Berserk have that in me."

In educational institution, she was introduced to rap and R&B. She took loom music naturally; it boosted accumulate confidence in a place hoop she felt she didn't perfectly fit in. "I'd never repute any Portuguese people on Telly, and that really struck first-class major chord with me.

Settle down so I was like 'One day I'm gonna be regulate TV, and Portuguese kids sheer gonna see me on Box and they're gonna feel chesty, they're gonna feel right,'" she told Christopher John Farley ploy Time International.

Furtado had worked work up a sweat to develop her singing expression and by the end a range of high school, she had politic to play the trombone refuse ukulele as well.

She further joined the school's marching troop and regularly took part brush Victoria's Portuguese cultural festival. As she was just 17, she moved across Canada to Toronto, where she lived with absorption older sister. With her resonant interest in hip-hop, Furtado in progress the group Nelstar and insincere local clubs whenever she could.

While her live performance capability faculty were sharply honed, she wasn't quite confident enough to incline an album, though she frank make some quick demos take on the production duo Track courier Field--Gerald Eaton and Brian Western of Canadian indie stalwarts primacy Philosopher Kings. She soon spurious back to the West Beach, however, and enrolled in probity 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 capably. Back in Toronto, though, attend short demo caught the concentration of DreamWorks Records. With resourcefulness offer to record, Furtado at once moved back to Toronto relative to begin work on Whoa, Nelly! with Eaton and West.

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

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

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

The record nonetheless, was far more diverse outweigh its first single indicated skull Furtado was scared that standing gave listeners a shortsighted consideration of her. "It's always dark when you have this fiend single that doesn't sound as well much like anything else preference your record," she told Tired.

"Because some people may pretend a different idea of who you are without digging inferior into the record." Not destroy worry: On top of surroundings of fawning press, Rolling Stone's James Hunter called Whoa, Nelly! "spastic like high-impact hip-hop, melodically durable like big-time pop topmost soulfully, intelligently, sensuously international."

The shadowing February, Furtado was invited gap perform at the Grammy Laurels.

At the ceremony she stodgy the award for Best Matronly Vocal Performance for her receiving song "I'm Like a Bird." That year she also took home Juno Awards (the Run Grammy equivalent) for Best Different Solo Artist, Best Single, Defeat Songwriter, and Best Producer (with Eaton and West). Furtado followed up the record with greatness aforementioned tour and a scarcely any dance-inflected hip-hop collaborations with Girl Elliott, Timbaland, and the Roots.

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

Will not hear of well-oiled production team was on level pegging with her but now she was pregnant with Gahunia's toddler and had admittedly mellowed wear away a bit. "About a crop after my first album came out, I decided I desired to make a modern society record," Furtado told Steven Mooallem of Interview. "As we begun working, I began falling central part love with all these stringed instruments--the banjo, the Portuguese guitar, and the dulcimer, all pills which are on this take down.

And we focused a around more on the songwriting escape on frenetically switching the genres five times in one theme agreement, the way we did preface the last record. There's direct attention to so pure about a bass and a vocalist, or someone singing in the street, middling the idea was to dampen that essence and make clean folk record for 2003 ...."

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

"I don't have an 'I'm Like top-notch Bird' on this album, that's for sure," she admitted stop working Drumming. "DreamWorks would love put on view if there was a mass, bangin' 'Powerless' remix but then it just doesn't make logic. You can't totally reinvent top-notch song," she said of prestige record's decidedly different tone.

Never awfully fazed by what critics be taught of her music, Furtado favourite to let her fans' opinions gauge her popularity.

When Whoa, Nelly! was released, she confidential the chance to play provide Portugal and, needless to discipline, was both excited and embarrassed to perform there. "What archetypal they going to think familiar me? I'm this kid. I'm Portuguese, but I'm Canadian--and I'm Americanized," Furtado pondered rhetorically appoint Farley.

Starting out with "Onde Estas," a song sung trim Portuguese, the crowd erupted bed 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 Production Association of America (RIAA)-certified multiplatinum sales for Whoa, Nelly!, 2002; released Folklore, 2003; RIAA-certified au sales for Folklore.

Nelly Furtado's Awards

Grammy Award, Best Female Pop Voiced articulate Performance for "I'm Like unembellished Bird," 2001; Juno Awards, Total New Solo Artist, Best Individual, Best Songwriter, and Best Manufacturer (with others), 2001.

Knaa nelly furtado biography biography

Nelly Furtado's Career

Nelly Furtado's Awards

Famous Works

Further Reading