Nelly Furtado, The #72 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Nelly Furtado was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  At age four, she began singing in Portuguese, the language of her parents.  Nelly began learning the trombone and ukulele at age eight, and soon after, the guitar and keyboards.  Furtado began writing songs at the age of 12, and performed in a Portuguese marching band.

Furtado sang backing vocals for an album by the group Plains of Fascination.  After graduating from Mount Douglas Secondary school, Nelly moved to Toronto to live with her sister.  She briefly formed the duo Nelstar before abandoning that idea and performing solo at the Honey Jam talent show.  Gerald Eaton, singer with the Philosopher Kings, saw her performance and the two began writing songs together.  Eaton and Brian West of the group helped Furtado record a demo, and that led to a recording contract in 1999 with DreamWorks Records.

Eaton and West co-produced Nelly's debut album Whoa Nelly! in 2000.  Furtado released "I'm Like A Bird" as the first single off the album--it reached #1 in her native Canada, #2 in Australia and New Zealand, #5 in the U.K. And #9 in the United States.  Furtado won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and an ASCAP Pop Music Award.

Furtado followed up that big hit with "Turn Off The Light", which made it to #1 in New Zealand, #2 in Switzerland, #4 in the U.K. and #5 in the U.S.

Nelly was nominated for four Grammys for her work on the 

debut, which has now gone over the six million mark in sales.  She won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I'm Like A Bird", which was also nominated for Song of the Year, and she was nominated for Best New Artist and Whoa, Nelly!  was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album.  Furtado was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist at the American Music Awards.  "...On The Radio (Remember The Days)" was a hit in several countries, peaking at #5 in New Zealand.

In 2003, Furtado released the album Folklore.  "Powerless (Say What You Want)" was the lead single from the album, hitting #5 in Germany.



 

Another track on the album was "Forca", which means "you 

can do it!" In Portuguese.  It was selected as the official anthem of the 2004 European Football (Soccer) Championship.  DreamWorks Records was purchased by the Universal Group and in 2005, was absorbed by Geffen Records.

The other singles did not click, and Nelly had to do something different to return to the spotlight.  

Furtado released the album Loose in 2006, enlisting Timbaland as producer.  The album featured elements from R&B and hip-hop, and Furtado was not only back; the album became the biggest of her career, hitting #1 in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Germany.  In fact Nelly would not have made The Top 100 Female Artists of the Rock Era* if not for it.

"Promiscuous" was the first release, and it went straight to #1 in the U.S. and Canada, #2 in Australia and #3 in the U.K.  Furtado won a Billboard Music Award for R&B/Soul Single of the Year, and she was nominated for Hot 100 Single of the Year, and she was also nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the Grammy Awards, and Favorite Hip-Hop Song at the People's Choice Awards.  Nelly nabbed four MTV Video Music Awards nominations(Best Pop Video, Best Female Video, Best Dance Video and Female Artist of the Year.

Nelly was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist at the American Music Awards.  Furtado released "Maneater" as the follow-up, and, while it only reached #16 in the United States, the song became her first #1 in the U.K.

"Say It Right" became arguably Nelly's biggest worldwide hit, reaching #1 in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland, and hitting the #2 spot in three others:  Australia, Germany and the Netherlands.  Furtado received another Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and she won an ASCAP Pop Music Award for Song of the Year.

Loose yielded a fourth big hit, which received significant airplay in just about every country but the U.S., where it peaked at #86.  "All Good Things (Come To An End)" ran up to #1 in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

In 2006, Furtado released her first Spanish album, Mi Plan.  Furtado toured extensively in 2007 and upon her return to her hometown of Victoria, city leaders proclaimed it as "Nelly Furtado Day".  Nelly hosted the 2007 Juno Awards in Canada and won all five awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year and Single of the Year.  Furtado was featured on Timbaland's single "Give It To Me", and it went to #1.

Nelly sang a duet with Bryan Adams at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Furtado released the album The Spirit Indestructible in 2012 but nothing from the release was a major hit.  

Furtado has had 11 hits in the U.S., with five of those going Top 10 and three #1 songs.  She has sold 20 million singles and 20 million albums worldwide.