Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado ComIH
Nelly Furtado in 2017.
Background information
Birth name	Nelly Kim Furtado
Born	(1978-12-02) December 2, 1978
Origin	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Pop, R&B, folk, hip hop, world, latin
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Singing, guitar, keyboard, ukulele, trombone and more
Years active	1996–present
Labels	DreamWorks Records, Mosley Music Group, Geffen Records
Website	NellyFurtado.com

Nelly Kim Furtado ComIH (born December 2, 1978) is a Portuguese-Canadian singer-songwriter.

Music

She can also play many musical instruments. She first started singing at the age of four. She could play the trombone, the guitar the keyboard and the ukulele at the age of twelve. She has released seven albums. The first album was released in 2000 and was called Whoa! Nelly. She become famous worldwide because the album was very popular. The first single released was "I'm Like a Bird" which earned her a Grammy Award. Her second album was Folklore released in 2003. It was not as popular as the previous album. Her third album in 2006 was Loose which spawned many hit songs including "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right" and "All Good Things (Come to an End)". She then released a Spanish language album in 2009 titled Mi Plan and in 2010 released a greatest hits album. Her next English language album The Spirit Indestructible was released in 2012. In 2017 she released her sixth album, The Ride. In 2024 she released her seventh album, named 7. She sings in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Family

Furtado's parents are Portuguese immigrants. On September 20, 2003, she gave birth to a daughter, Nevis.

Biography

Her parents named her Nelly Kim in reference to Kazakh gymnastics champion Nellie Kim who won 5 gold medals (3 in 1976 and 2 in 1980) and 1 silver (in 1976) at the Olympic Games.

She learned to play trombone, guitar and ukulele at the age of 9 and the synthesizer at age 11. Nelly liked music from an early age. She knew from the age of 4 that she wanted to become a singer. Nelly sang with her mother in a choir, especially during Portugal's National Day.

As a teenager, she began to write songs and was part of a Portuguese fanfare. During this time, she listened to R&B, hip hop, alternative rock, alternative hip hop, trip hop, fado, bossa nova, Indian music and variety. The artists that Nelly loved (and influenced her) include: Jeff Buckley, Caetano Veloso, Jennifer Lopez, Amalia Rodrigues, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cornershop, Maryh Blige, Mariah Carey, TLC, Digable Planets, De The Soul, Aaliyah, Radiohead, Oasis, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Verve, U2, Kylie Minogue, Beck.