Nelly Furtado

Canadian singer and song-writer Nelly Kim Furtado was born in 1978 in Victoria. Her Portuguese parents migrated to Canada in late 60’s and named their daughter after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim. When Furtado was nine years old, she started to learn how to play saxophone, cello, keyboards and guitar, and at the age of twelve Nelly began writing her own songs.

Nelly’s professional career started in the middle of 90’s when she worked with the hip-hop band Plains Of Fascination during the recording of their album Join The Ranks. The singer performed vocals in the composition Waitin' 4 The Streets. In 1996 after the graduation from the school Nelly moved to Toronto in order to live with her sister. Soon Furtado organized the trip-hop duo Nelstar, however she understood that trip-hop was not her style and she would not be able to demonstrate her vocal ability and to develop the talent. In 1997 Nelly took part in the talent show Honey Jam and the singer was noticed by the musicians from the band The Philosopher Kings. They offered help in the recording of Furtado’s demos, due to which she signed the contract with DreamWorks Records in 1999.

In 2000 the singer released her debut studio attempt Whoa, Nelly! That record was critically acclaimed and the music lovers enjoyed that album as well. It included I'm Like A Bird, Turn Off The Light and many others songs, which later became the international hits. In 2002 Nelly won the truly deserved Grammy Award in nomination Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the composition I'm Like A Bird. Whoa, Nelly! turned out to be strong enough to be certified 2x Platinum in the US and in Canada it was certified 4x Platinum. In 2003 Furtado issued her second studio work Folklore, which was hardly less interesting than the debut one. Its highest level is proved by the fact that more than three million copies of Folklore were sold worldwide.

In 2006 Nelly’s fans enjoyed the new sound of the singer’s creativity: she started working with the incredibly talented producer Timbaland. The first single Promiscuous (2006) from the new album attracted attention in no time and demonstrated absolutely fresh sound. The album Loose (2006) became one of the best Nelly’s works and it peaked at the first places in many world charts. Loose included such compositions as Say It Right (which turned out to be one of the most recognizable Furtado’s songs), All Good Things (Come To An End) and many others. In 2007 the lovers of the concert sound were pleased by Nelly’s live album Loose: The Concert, which managed to preserve the atmosphere of her show perfectly.

In 2009 the singer’s discography was enlarged by the record Mi Plan – first album in Spanish, which definitely created the right atmosphere and mood. Nelly’s sound has been changing, getting some new elements and ideas. Thereby by 2009 Mi Plan presented the sound, which Nelly had been looking for. Furtado’s professionalism and talent guarantee an extremely interesting and fair sound that had been already enjoyed by millions of good music lovers all around the world. Nelly released her first greatest hits record which got quite the logical title The Best Of Nelly Furtado in 2010. That really strong album includes such hits as I'm Like A Bird, Say It Right, Manos Al Aire and many others. There is no doubt that The Best Of Nelly Furtado became an excellent present not only for the singer’s old fans, but also for all the lovers of high quality and sincere music.