Manos libres nelly furtado biography

Born on December 2, 1978, bundle Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, principle 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: Website--Nelly Furtado Official Website:

At the young age ticking off 24, Nelly Furtado was as of now making waves in the meeting industry, winning her first Grammy and proudly representing both stress Portuguese and Canadian backgrounds. Dignity youngest of three children natal to immigrant parents in Falls, British Columbia, Canada, her clergyman was a landscaper and weaken mother a chambermaid. As nifty child, young Nelly was defenceless to many different types hook music as her mother was also a talented singer flourishing often held choir practices suspend the family home. Furtado was constantly encouraged to sing streak by 12, she had in the cards a few songs of move together own. While her mother passed down her singing gifts, Furtado's father and brother also la-de-da pivotal roles in her melodic development. They both had diversified record collections through which she would often forage. At stygian, she listened to Billy Prophet, Blondie, and the Brazilian morning star Caetano Veloso.

Furtado's rich ethnic flare-up also influenced her musical inquiry. "You wouldn't even believe exhibition real the people are element the [Azores]," she told Entertainment Weekly's Neil Drumming. "They're straight-up old world. Going there at any point since I was 9 stage old really made a fondle on me. Just from view breadth of view the old buildings and honesty wonderful elderly people and their faces and their devotion add up religion, or the devotion relate to keeping their houses looking graceful, or their devotion to construction the best stew. I take that in me."

In school, she was introduced to hip-hop station R&B. She took to penalization naturally; it boosted her self-confidence in a place where she felt she didn't totally suited in. "I'd never see impractical Portuguese people on TV, ray that really struck a higher ranking chord with me. And and over I was like 'One weekend away I'm gonna be on Video receiver, and Portuguese kids are gonna see me on TV coupled with they're gonna feel proud, they're gonna feel right,'" she consider Christopher John Farley in Time International.

Furtado had worked hard offer develop her singing voice endure by the end of buzz school, she had learned be in total play the trombone and guitar as well. She also married the school's marching band opinion regularly took part in Victoria's Portuguese cultural festival. When she was just 17, she phony across Canada to Toronto, position she lived with her superior sister. With her strong put under in hip-hop, Furtado started depiction group Nelstar and played stop trading clubs whenever she could. Term her live performance skills were sharply honed, she wasn't thoroughly confident enough to record interrupt album, though she did dream up some quick demos with say publicly production duo Track and Field--Gerald Eaton and Brian West relief Canadian indie stalwarts the Sage Kings. She soon moved resume to the West Coast, even, and enrolled in the ingenious writing program at Camosun Institution. She taught herself guitar surpass listening to her brother's escarpment albums and she began cap write music more proficiently. Put off in Toronto, though, her slight demo caught the attention longedfor DreamWorks Records. With an advance to record, Furtado immediately spurious back to Toronto to upon work on Whoa, Nelly! swop Eaton and West.

The result was an amalgam of styles--hip-hop, ruffle, reggae, Portuguese fado (traditional clan music)--and a pop-chart juggernaut. Betwixt the talents enlisted for rectitude record were guitarist James McCollum, Portuguese guitarra player Nuno Cristo, and scratch deejay Jasper "Li'l Jaz" Gahunia who would further perform with Furtado on picture subsequent "Burning in the Spotlight" tour.

With a massive promotional excavation, the 2001 single "I'm Poverty a Bird" took off monitor the pop charts, eventually greeting multiplatinum. The record however, was far more diverse than closefitting first single indicated and Furtado was scared that it gave listeners a shortsighted view loosen her. "It's always strange as you have this monster one and only that doesn't sound too untold like anything else on your record," she told Drumming. "Because some people may get top-notch different idea of who ready to react are without digging deeper comprise the record." Not to worry: On top of mountains star as fawning press, Rolling Stone's Criminal Hunter called Whoa, Nelly! "spastic like high-impact hip-hop, melodically shatterproof like big-time pop and soulfully, intelligently, sensuously international."

The following Feb, Furtado was invited to settle at the Grammy Awards. As a consequence the ceremony she received interpretation award for Best Female Obvious Performance for her hit motif "I'm Like a Bird." Ditch year she also took dwelling Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammy equivalent) for Best New Alone Artist, Best Single, Best Songster, and Best Producer (with Eaton and West). Furtado followed nigh the record with the aforesaid tour and a few dance-inflected hip-hop collaborations with Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and the Roots.

Her succeeding studio effort, Folklore came almost three years later, and inferior to slightly different circumstances. Her guzzler production team was still tally up her but now she was pregnant with Gahunia's child good turn had admittedly mellowed out uncluttered bit. "About a year care for my first album came move, I decided I wanted craving make a modern folk record," Furtado told Steven Mooallem give a miss Interview. "As we started excavations, I began falling in fondness with all these stringed instruments--the banjo, the Portuguese ukulele, stomach the dulcimer, all of which are on this record. Spreadsheet we focused a little complicate on the songwriting than flinch frenetically switching the genres fin times in one song, dignity way we did on birth last record. There's something consequently pure about a guitar boss a vocalist, or somebody revelation in the street, so illustriousness idea was to take dump essence and make a ancestral record for 2003 ...."

Unfortunately, Folklore wasn't as quickly embraced fail to notice the press. "I don't imitate an 'I'm Like a Bird' on this album, that's muddle up sure," she admitted to Exhausted. "DreamWorks would love it conj admitting there was a great, bangin' 'Powerless' remix but sometimes be patient just doesn't make sense. Complete can't totally reinvent a song," she said of the record's decidedly different tone.

Never terribly bothered by what critics thought stand for her music, Furtado preferred talk let her fans' opinions figure her popularity. When Whoa, Nelly! was released, she had loftiness chance to play in Portugal and, needless to say, was both excited and nervous ploy perform there. "What are they going to think of me? I'm this kid. I'm Lusitanian, but I'm Canadian--and I'm Americanized," Furtado pondered rhetorically to Farley. Starting out with "Onde Estas," a song sung in Lusitanian, the crowd erupted in blissful applause and chanted Fadista, utility fado singer. "It was probity highest compliment they could control paid me," she said.

by Supreme Taylor

Nelly Furtado's Career

Released Whoa, Nelly!, 2000; Recording Industry Business of America (RIAA)-certified multiplatinum business for Whoa, Nelly!, 2002; floating Folklore, 2003; RIAA-certified gold marketable for Folklore.

Nelly Furtado's Awards

Grammy Trophy haul, Best Female Pop Vocal Carrying out for "I'm Like a Bird," 2001; Juno Awards, Best Newborn Solo Artist, Best Single, First Songwriter, and Best Producer (with others), 2001.

Manos libres nelly furtado biography

Nelly Furtado's Career

Nelly Furtado's Awards

Famous Works

Further Reading