Whatever Happened To Nelly Furtado?

In the mid-aughts, Nelly Furtado was a force to be reckoned with. The Canadian-born singer rose to fame in 2000 when she released her debut album, "Whoa, Nelly!" In 2006, she teamed up with powerhouse producer Timbaland and created stratospheric pop hits like "Promiscuous," "Say it Right," and "Give it to Me."

Furtado's third album, "Loose," achieved platinum status in 32 countries and cemented her as a global pop phenomenon. For a while, her music dominated radio stations and nightclubs everywhere. There was virtually no escaping Furtado — not that you'd want to anyway.

However, in 2007 — during the peak of her career — the Grammy winner seemingly vanished from the spotlight. During her hiatus, Furtado has stayed busy with mom duties, new passion projects, and even a retail job. She may have stepped back from the limelight, but she never stopped making music. And as of 2023, she's making a fierce comeback. These days, Furtado undoubtedly still has what it takes to make us say, "Whoa!"

Life in the spotlight wasn't exactly easy for Nelly Furtado. Endless nights of parties and performances left little time for solitude. Behind the scenes, Furtado attempted to divide her time between performing and raising her young daughter, Nevis Gahunia. The singer was also newly single and navigating a co-parenting relationship with her ex, Jasper Gahunia (DJ Lil'Jaz).

The pressure came to a head in 2007, when she said she "had a nervous breakdown on stage." She continued, telling the Daily Mail, "I was on the Loose tour and my daughter was with me — I was being a mum and a singer on the road. I was exhausted. Then one night I went on stage and I suddenly realized how stressed out I was. I actually cried my way through the first two songs."

After her breakdown, Furtado high-tailed it out of the limelight. She had achieved a flourishing career, a hit record, and international fame — but at the end of the day, all she wanted was to go home and spend quality time with her daughter. Furtado's exit sent shockwaves through the music industry. "It was not easy to take time out," she recalled. "I had to learn to say no. People were trying to get me to record another album. I wasn't worried about burning any bridges, though."

After spending most of her adult life in the whirlwinds of fame, Nelly Furtado wasn't exactly sure what to do next. And so she tried many things. At one point, she even worked at a record shop. It was a stark contrast to her previous occupation, but it allowed her to slow down and enjoy a low-key existence. Most importantly, she was able to do things on her own terms.

At the time, Furtado wasn't interested in recreating the glory of her pop music career — she wanted to find herself again. "I think I was really "in search of," the "Promiscuous" singer told GQ. "What is really being grounded? Grounded is not just 'I'm going to take some time off.' I wanted to clean my own bathroom again and wash my own laundry again. I really missed normal life. I wanted to make it as isolated as I possibly could. It really helped me, honestly. It sounds silly but it kind of saved me."

Along with her dramatic lifestyle change, Furtado also took a different approach to music. She started writing songs purely for the thrill of being creative. Furtado also did several art installations, including a sound design piece for the Art Basel Contemporary Art Fair. "I did an installation at an art gallery and wrote songs with 80 strangers," the Grammy winner told Forbes in 2017. "I wouldn't be able to create with that productivity had I been under contract."

In the 2010s, Nelly Furtado partnered with Free the Children (now known as WE Charity), an international charity working to alleviate poverty in underprivileged communities. In 2011, she joined the organization in rural Kenya to film a documentary about education. It was a life-changing experience for the singer, who embraced the local culture and formed deep bonds with residents — including a teenage girl named Susan, who wanted to become a doctor but lacked the resources to attend college. Towards the end of her visit, Furtado helped Susan enroll in a prestigious secondary school, where she was able to get a jump start on her dream.

Furtado found a renewed sense of purpose thanks to her work with charity. "Giving back is really important to me," the pop icon told Samaritan Mag in 2016. "Before I started working with Free the Children, I felt like there was something missing from my career in general. I was like, 'This is all great, but I feel like I haven't really made a difference.' So I feel like I'm inspiring more people now and there's a lot of room to do a lot more."

Following her first trip to Kenya, Furtado returned to the country regularly, and in 2011, the hitmaker donated $1 million to the organization. The singer didn't just focus on the international community — she also helped out at home by contributing to causes like conservation and youth empowerment. In 2016, she received the prestigious Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award. 

In 2017, Nelly Furtado released her sixth studio album, "The Ride." Unlike her previous English-language albums, "The Ride" wasn't produced by a major label; instead, Furtado created the record under her independent label, Nelstar Entertainment. The singer gushed about her album to Forbes, stating, "It's a project that I'm extremely proud of, and one I feel is a nice addition to my collection of music." She added, "I feel like it's probably my strongest lyrical album yet. It came out of a time of great growth for me, so as a writer, chaos is definitely songwriting gold."

Releasing an independent record involved some unique challenges — but for Furtado, it was worth it. Ultimately, the process freed her from the pressures of being attached to a major record label. "For me, I've realized what a simple person I am, and how, at my root, I'm just this bohemian artist who wants to create things on a whim," the singer shared. "Becoming independent and owning this new record has been very pivotal for me because I'm able to own everything that I sing."

"The Ride" hit stores on March 31, 2017. Unfortunately, it was a commercial flop. According to iHeart, the record sold only 1,814 copies in the U.S. It also floundered in the opinion of some critics – The Guardian's Kate Hutchinson, for example, called it "a hit-and-miss patchwork of trendy pop styles."

In 2020, Nelly Furtado proved that her music is truly timeless when "Promiscuous" started trending on TikTok. The double-platinum bop, released in 2006, inspired a dance trend and got a major boost from TikTok giants like Addison Rae and Charli D'Amelio. Over a decade after conquering the airwaves, "Promiscuous" was officially reborn on Gen Z's favorite app.

At the time, Furtado wasn't familiar with TikTok — so she was shocked to learn that "Promiscuous" was going viral on the platform. "It first came to my attention when my oldest was 16," Furtado told Vogue. "She was like, "Mom, 'Promiscuous' is trending on TikTok!" I didn't even have TikTok on my phone. I was like, 'okay, what do we do?' So we did a cute little video — I'm literally breastfeeding my son in it — and me and my daughter 'battled' each other." The video racked up 6 million views and made Furtado a TikTok icon. Since then, the singer has become a regular user of the platform.

Thanks to her TikTok fame, Furtado's music was embraced by a new generation. "When I went to Australia and got on that stage for the first time in six years, I also saw these 20-year-old girls singing every line to every song, and I really did trip out a little bit," the singer recalled. "I felt like I was in the year 2001!" In 2023, Furtado celebrated reaching 1 million TikTok followers – no doubt a mix of new and original fans alike.