Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado (born December 2 1978 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, who has been one of Canada's most visible pop stars in recent years. She won a Grammy Award in February 2002 for her debut hit song, "I'm Like a Bird".

One of three children born to Portuguese parents, Furtado learned to play trombone and ukulele at the age of nine, keyboard at eleven, and began composing her own songs at thirteen. She then formed a trip-hop group called Nelstar. Nelstar played eight dates on the "village stage" of the Sarah McLachlan founded Lilith Fair.

She can speak English, Portuguese, Hindi, and Spanish.

Performing one night at a Toronto nightclub Lee's Palace, Furtado met Philosopher Kings singer Gerald Eaton. Eaton became an important collaborator, co-producing Furtado's debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, when she signed with DreamWorks Records.

Her style, described by Toronto Sun writer Jane Stevenson as a cross between Macy Gray and Ivana Santilli, incorporates pop, trip-hop, bossa nova, soul, R&B, hip-hop, and folk, and was a result of her urge to move beyond the kinds of music that have always emotionally moved her. She has mentioned Cornershop, Beck and Finley Quaye as factors in her sound.

Before her record deal, her music was slighty gloomy, along the lines of Portishead and Radiohead. After a while, she became tired of all her songs being depressing. She has said "...then I realized good music does not have to be sad, it can be poppy and wonderful and fun, and that's the kind of record I want to make."

Her second album, Folklore, was released in 2003, which included "Força" (Force), the official anthem of Euro 2004.

She has also been associated with the band Swollen Members who are old friends from British Columbia.

On September 20 2003, Nelly gave birth to a daughter named Nevis.

Contents

1 Timeline of noteworthy events in Nelly Furtado's career 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.1.1 Worldwide sales & certifications for Whoa, Nelly! 2.1.2 Worldwide sales & certifications for Folklore 2.2 Singles 2.3 Collaborations 3 External links

Timeline of noteworthy events in Nelly Furtado's career

• June 2000 - Vanity Fair features Nelly Furtado.
• October 20 2000 - First appearance on Jay Leno's The Tonight Show.
• October 24 2000 - Whoa, Nelly! released.
• January 13 2001 - She was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, with Charlie Sheen as that episode's host.
• November 25 2003 - Folklore released.

Discography

Albums

• 2000 Whoa, Nelly!; #24 US, #2 UK
• 2003 Folklore; #38 US, #11 UK

Worldwide sales & certifications for Whoa, Nelly!

• 4xPlatinum sales in Canada (400,000+ units)
• 3xPlatinum sales in New Zealand (45,000+ units)
• 2xPlatinum sales in USA (2,000,000+ units), Uk (600,000+ units), Australia (140,000+ units), Ireland
• Platinum sales in Europe (1,000,000+ units), Mexico (150,000+ units), Portugal, Switzerland (40,000+ units)
• Gold sales in Chile, Denmark (25,000+ units), Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Venezuela
• Silver sales in France

Worldwide estimated sales for Whoa, Nelly! 7,000,000 units

Worldwide sales & certifications for Folklore

• Platinum sales in Germany (300,000+ units), Canada (100,000+ units)
• Gold sales in USA (500,000 units), Uk (100,000 units) Netherlands, India and in two other countries

Worldwide estimated sales for Folklore 1,300,000 units

Singles

• 2000 "Party's Just Begun ... Again" [promo only]
• 2001 "I'm Like a Bird" #9 US, #5 UK
• 2001 "Turn off the Light" #5 US, #4 UK
• 2002 "On the Radio (Remember the Days)" #18 UK
• 2002 "Trynna Finda Way" [Mexico only]
• 2002 "Hey, Man"
• 2002 "Breath" (as featured vocalist, with Swollen Members)

• 2003 "Powerless (Say What You Want)" #13 UK
• 2004 "Try" #15 UK
• 2004 "Força" #40 UK
• 2004 "Explode"
• 2005 "The Grass Is Green" [Europe only]

Collaborations

• "Quando, Quando, Quando" on Michael Bublé's It's Time (2005)
• "Thin Line" on Jurassic 5's Power In Numbers (2002)
• "Fotografia" on Juanes' Un Día Normal (2002)
• "Sacrifice" on The Roots' Phrenology (2002)
• "Breathe" on Swollen Members' Monsters In The Closet (2002)
• "The Harder They Come" on Paul Oakenfold's Bunkka (2002)
• "Trés Fly" on Tallisman's 80 Million Isms (2002)
• "Fine Line" on Jarvis Church's Shake It Off (2002)
• "Ching Ching" on Ms. Jade's Girl Interrupted (2002)
• "What's Going On" on Artists Against AIDS' What's Going On (2001)
• "Get Ur Freak On" (Remix) by Missy Elliot on Lara Croft: Tomb Raider O.S.T. (2001)
• "Waitin' 4 The Streets" on Plains Of Fascination's Join the Ranks (1996)

• "Instant Karma" (Live) with Dave Stewart on Come Together - A Night For John Lennon's Words And Music DVD (2001)

• "I Feel You" featuring Esthero on Nelly Furtado's I'm Like A Bird single (2001)
• "Turn Off The Light" (Remix) featuring Ms. Jade and Timbaland on Nelly Furtado's Turn Off The Light single (2001)
• "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Spanish version) featuring Juanes on Nelly Furtado's Força single (2004)

External links

• nellyfurtado.com - Official Website
• shitontheradio.com - The official Nelly Furtado fan site
• burninthespotlight.com (http://www.burninthespotlight.com/) - The official Nelly Furtado fans forum
• The site of a Portuguese fan (http://members.tripod.com/arlindo_correia/181101.html)de:Nelly Furtado

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