Nelly Furtado Biography | NellyFurtadoBiography.com
International pop star Nelly Furtado was born on December 2, 1978 in
the city of
Victoria,
British Columbia,
Canada.
Furtado was born into a working class Roman Catholic family, her parents
Maria and Antonio Jose Furtado immigrated to
Canada from
Portugal during the 1960’s.
Despite her humble beginnings, Furtado was destined to be a music super
star. From a very young age, Nelly was deeply immersed in music
and her talent was apparent. At the age of 4, Furtado was already
singing songs with her mom at her local church. By the time she
was 9, Nelly was playing both the trombone and ukulele. It was
this devout passion for music that set the stage for Nelly’s rise to
stardom.
After graduating from
Mount Douglas Secondary School
in 1996, Furtado made the trek from the west coast of
Canada all the way to
Toronto to pursue her dream of a career in
music. In
Toronto, Nelly joined a trip hop group by the
name of “Nelstar.” Shortly after joining Nelstar, Nelly would part
ways with the trip hop trio. Furtado felt her talents as a
musician were not being presented fairly in Nelstar.
After leaving Nelstar, Nelly had her sights set on returning home to
Victoria. As fate would have it,
Furtado decided to enter the Honey Jam talent show– an all female urban
talent showcase hosted in
Toronto – before heading back home. It
was at the Honey Jam show that Furtado caught the attention of The
Philosopher Kings’ band members Gerald Eaton and Brian West.
Recognizing her gift for music, Eaton and West helped Furtado produce a
demo tape which, eventually, led to a deal with DreamWorks Records in
1999.
