Nelly Furtado was one of the biggest names in music in the early 2000s, and she has had a bit of a resurgence of late as younger folks rediscover her music.
It looks like those folks will have just the catalog to work from moving forward, though, because the 46-year-old singer announced Saturday that she is stepping away from performing.
“25 years ago today my first album Whoa, Nelly! was released,” she wrote on Instagram. “In the first slide I am 20 years old, about to play my first show as a professional artist at Lilith Fair. I went down to a store called ‘Original’ on Queen West in Toronto and shopped for that pink dress and some sparkly platform shoes to perform in. It was so meaningful and my artists self felt so actualized.
“25 years later, my music has reached a whole new generation of fans and I couldn’t be happier about that,” she continued. “In the year 2000 I remember feeling purpose hoping some kid would dust off the Whoa, Nelly! vinyl one day in a record shop and think it was cool or inspiring, so I never could have guessed that there would be so many new ways to discover ‘old’ music in 2025!”
That is when she got down to the point of the post.
“To have so many people rediscovering my music has been surreal and joyful,” she wrote. “It’s been so fun embracing this opportunity, getting out on stages again and seeing up close, the true lasting power of good music. It made me really believe in magic.
“All this aside, I have decided to step away from (performing) for the foreseeable future and pursue some other creative and personal endeavours that I feel would better suit this next phase of my life. I have enjoyed my career immensely, and I still love writing music as I have always seen it as a hobby I was lucky enough to make into a career. I’ll identify as a songwriter forever.”
There is good news there for fans of her music, because if she is still writing there is always the chance for a comeback.
“I’m grateful for all the years of fun, community and wonder,” she closed by writing. “Endless gratitude to anyone who has ever listened and vibrated with my music and attended any of my shows. I love you and your open hearts. I deeply thank all of those who have worked so hard to help me make my pop dreams come true on a creative and organizational level. I thank all my brilliant collaborators and loyal champions. I also with, to the new generation of artists, many years of fruitful and passionate performance.”
The Wrap called her “one of the most successful Canadian artists,” while noting that she has sold more than 45 million records. And while that may be, there was a period in the early 2000s when she was prominent on American airwaves, too. She won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration in 2007 for her song, “Give It to Me,” with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.
That came after her first big hit, “I’m Like a Bird,” took off in 2001 earning her considerable radio play and a constant rotation on MTV.
Her announcement came just months after she released her seventh studio album, “7” last September. It was also her first album in seven years.
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