Tijs Michiel Verwest, (; born 17 January 1969), known as Tiësto (), is a Dutch musician, DJ and record producer of electronic dance music. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tiësto. On his latest productions, however, he has dropped the "DJ" label and is now known simply as "Tiësto", an alias which is a twist of his childhood nickname.

In 1997, he founded the label Black Hole Recordings with Arny Bink, where he released the ''Magik'' and ''In Search of Sunrise'' CD series. Tiësto met producer Dennis Waakop Reijers in 1998, and the two have worked together extensively since then. Reijers is credited as producer, writer, composer, or arranger on many of Tiësto's releases. Then, in 1999 and 2000 he collaborated with Ferry Corsten to create Gouryella. His 2000 remix of Delerium's "Silence" featuring Sarah McLachlan exposed him to more mainstream audiences. In 2001, he released his first solo album ''In My Memory'' which gave him several major hits that launched his career. He was named "World’s No.1 DJ" 3 consecutive times by DJ Magazine from 2002 through 2004.

Just after releasing his second studio album ''Just Be'' in 2004 at the Summer Olympics, he performed live at the opening ceremony in Athens, Greece, becoming the first DJ to play live on stage at an Olympics. Tracks he made especially for the Olympics were mixed together and released as the mix compilation ''Parade of the Athletes'' later that year. In April 2007 Tiësto launched both his radio show ''Tiësto's Club Life'' on Radio 538 in the Netherlands and released his third studio album titled ''Elements of Life''. The album reached number one on the Dutch album chart as well on "Billboard Top Electronic Albums" in the U.S. and received a nomination for a Grammy Award in 2008. Tiësto released his fourth studio album called ''Kaleidoscope'' in October 2009.

Life and musical career

Early life and career

In 1994, he began releasing material on Noculan Records' sub-labels Chemo and Coolman. During these years, he produced hardcore/gabber tracks under aliases such as Da Joker and DJ Limited. He was later discovered by the general manager of Rotterdam-based Basic Beat Recordings. In late 1994, he signed to Basic Beat where he met Arny Bink, Tiësto released records on the sub-label Trashcan, founded by Arny, and later created the Guardian Angel sub-label with Arny in which they introduced the popular Forbidden Paradise series. Meanwhile from 1995 to 1996 he released four extended plays on Bonzai Jumps and XTC, sub-labels of Lightning Records. In 1997, Tiësto joined his friend Yves Vandichel on his sub-label, DJ Yves, a division of the now defunct Human Resource label XSV Music. In the fall of 1997, both Arny and Tiësto decided to leave Basic Beat and create their own parent label, now known as Black Hole Recordings, Trashcan was discontinued and Guardian Angel continued releasing music until 2002. Through Black Hole, Tiësto released the ''Magik'' series and also created two major sub-labels in 1998; In Trance We Trust and SongBird.

From 1998 to 1999, Tiësto released music on Planetary Consciousness where he met A&R; Hardy Heller and invited him to release some records on Black Hole. Tiësto later included the ''In Search of Sunrise'' series on SongBird. In 1999, Tiësto joined forces with fellow Dutch deejay Ferry Corsten to create the trance based duo of Gouryella. He also collaborated with Benno de Goeij from 1998 to 2000 under the name Kamaya Painters. Since November 1999, he performed monthly as a resident at Gatecrasher in Sheffield, one of the most popular clubs in England. In 1999 he also played in a 12-hour set, being his longest lasting concert in Amsterdam.

Late in 2000, Tiësto decided to concentrate on his personal work and left Corsten by himself to write and produce Gouryella's next single with John Ewbank, the record company was demanding more tracks and neither Tiësto or Ferry could work together at the time. Tiësto introduced Armin van Buuren, Johan Gielen and Ferry Corsten to the mainstream with his first compilations and the ''In Trance We Trust'' series. ''Summerbreeze'' became Tiësto's debut DJ mix album in the US with the help of a contract signed to Nettwerk. ''Summerbreeze'' featured his remix of Delerium's "Silence", which spent four weeks in the UK's Top Ten chart and reached number three in the ''Billboard'' dance chart. ''In Search of Sunrise 2'' was released in 2000. Tiësto decided to create a sub-label, known as Magik Muzik. The label began releasing Tiësto’s own releases, but it has also released tracks for the Filterheadz, Oliver Lieb, Mark Norman, Mojado, Phynn and Jes Brieden. The label became a trademark that stands for high quality electronic dance music which was due to the release of Tiësto's classic dance anthem "Flight 643" in 2001.

''In My Memory'' era (2001–2004)

His fame continued to skyrocket in the early 2000s, following his six-hour "Tiësto Solo" sets which he performed without other DJs or opening acts. This idea, of one DJ playing alone to a large crowd, was brought to its pinnacle when Tiësto was the first DJ to hold a solo concert in a stadium; on May 10, 2003, he performed for over 25,000 people in Arnhem's GelreDome. This concert was later called ''Tiësto in Concert'', the event was an enormous success. He repeated the same type of concert the following year during two consecutive nights in late October. In addition to holding these two concerts for 35,000 of his fans, he held another concert for a crowd of 20,000 in Hasselt, Belgium the following week. DVDs of both his May 10, 2003 and October 30, 2004 concerts have been released, having the other DVD titled ''Tiësto in Concert 2''. The DVD's show the journey from the first idea to the main event, it features live performances by Andain, Dinand Woesthoff, and Jan Johnston. The event includes live music and dancers performing at different times throughout the set. The theme of the event is a mystical, musical journey around the world based on the theme of ''Magik''. It consists of 200+ minutes of performances with a second disc with special features, It includes a behind-the-scenes looking at ''The Making Of the event'', the music video for his song "Traffic" and TV Commercials for the event. The second DVD has performances from Aqualung and violin player DJ Mason, Micha Klein and the Bulgarian Children of Orpheus choir. During this period, he was crowned as "No. 1. DJ in the World" by DJ Magazine (UK) in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

''Just Be'' era (2004–2007)

The Athens Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC) asked Tiësto to perform at the Olympic Games, making him the first DJ to play live on stage at an Olympic Games at the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Athens, where he played for 90 minutes. Tiësto flew to Athens in January 2004 to have a meeting with the ATHOC. His ''Tiësto in Concert'' DVD caught their attention, after which he was asked to write more tracks based on his opening tune "Adagio for Strings" which could fit in with the Olympic spirit and combine the classical with the modern age; They also requested that he play his own produced music. The first rehearsal was on Saturday August, 7, for an empty stadium; the second rehearsal was on Sunday August 8 with 35,000 volunteers, a lot of the people recognised some tracks like "Traffic" and "Adagio for Strings". The last rehearsal included almost 60,000 people in the stadium which was on Tuesday August 10, there were some technical problems, the mixer broke down, the monitors dropped out a couple of times and the music in the stadium was not continuously on the right volume.

During the parade on Friday, August 13, 2004, all participating nations introduced their athletes—10,500 in total There were 80,000 spectators, only 75,000 knowing about dance music. During the course of his performance the Dutch athletes started dancing in front of the DJ booth and had to be moved on by officials. The performance included new tracks produced especially for the Opening Ceremony and songs that were created to complement the spirit and theme of the ceremony. A condensed studio-recorded album of the songs played on the Olympic set was later released, including new songs specially composed for the occasion, entitled ''Parade of the Athletes'' in October 2004. In the liner notes, he noted the IOC requested that the music not contain any lyrics as they could be inadvertently misinterpreted.

In late 2004, he began his touring across Latin America, with his release of ''In Search of Sunrise 3: Panama'' in which he gained influence from the sun and sand in summer 2002. The tour continued in 2005, and Tiësto performed live at Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Peru, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia. Following the tours, ''In Search of Sunrise 4: Latin America'' was released in 2005, featuring a second CD for the first time in the ''In Search of Sunrise'' series.

In 2005, his ''Perfect Remixes Vol. 3'' compilation was released through Warlock Records, containing ten tracks which were created during the beginning of his career, between those is Junkie XL, Mauro Picotto and The Roc Project. On August 20, 2005, Verwest took ''Tiësto in Concert'' to the US when he played to 16,000 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena with Cirque du Soleil dancers. For the second year in a row he performed live at a New Year's Eve/New Year's concert in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Orleans Arena to a sell-out crowd. Despite his four-city US tour being postponed due to the hurricane damage in New Orleans and Miami, playing such cities further expanded and cemented his popularity among mainstream audiences. This was surpassed later in summer 2007 when some 250,000 danced on Ipanema Beach, Brazil, becoming the second largest concert in history. BPM magazine has an annual poll in the US which is unveiled in the WMC, in 2005 Tiësto took the No. 1 spot. The influences of Los Angeles remained with him and would later influence his ''In Search of Sunrise'' compilation.

A wax sculpture of Tiësto was placed behind a turntable at Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam where visitors can mix Tiësto's music together. In the fall of 2005 he went on a very successful tour across Central and Eastern Europe where he played once in each country to crowds of 10,000 to 15,000 fans. Stops were made in Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Croatia, Poland and South Africa. The United States tour that was part of ''Tiësto in Concert'' was dwarfed by his appearance at Sensation White in 2006 where he performed to over 45,000 people in the world's biggest dance event in Amsterdam, Holland.

''In Search of Sunrise 5: Los Angeles'' was released in 2006 which was certified Gold in Canada for sales over 50,000 copies. It also charted, peaking at number 34 in Canada and number 59 in Austria. The compilation was launched in the Winter Music Conference at Mansion in South Beach Miami to support his release, Tiësto went on his In Search of Sunrise 5 Asia Tour for more than three weeks.

In September 2006, Tiësto was admitted to hospital after experiencing pain in his chest. He was diagnosed with pericarditis and subsequently had to cancel a number of shows. With the diagnosis, he was invited to support Dance4Life to help teens who are not aware of the risks of HIV/AIDS. He was chosen as the official ambassador for the Dance4Life foundation in May 2006, and released the song "Dance4Life" with Maxi Jazz to help spread the awareness of HIV/AIDS.

On April 6, 2007 Tiësto began presenting a new weekly two-hour radio show called ''Tiësto's Club Life'' on Dutch radio station Radio 538. It is syndicated worldwide and later released as a Podcast.

''Elements of Life'' era (2007–2009)

On April 16, 2007, Tiësto released his third studio album ''Elements of Life'', the album moved 73,000 units in its April release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. During the production of the album Tiësto in several cases sent a demo with the music to certain artists, and they replied back with the lyrics and vocals and other duration times. In the case of Christian Burns from BBMak, Tiësto met him through MySpace and got in contact with him and the production of the single "In the Dark". The album consists of rock, trance and experimental music, which shows the style Tiësto has grown throughout the years since his previous albums which contained lyrics, ''In My Memory'' and ''Just Be''. Producer Brian Transeau collaborated with Tiësto in three tracks, he composed "Bright Morningstar" and "Sweet Things", he also performed the vocals in the single "Break My Fall". Together, they produced more tracks which were not released in the album, Tiësto has mentioned they would work again during the coming summer. In December 2007 it was announced that the album was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the category "Best Electronic/Dance Album." The album also received gold certifications in Belgium, Hungary, Netherlands, and Romania. A special release party was held at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam on November 3, 2007 for ''In Search of Sunrise 6: Ibiza''.

His last three full-length releases broke the 70,000 mark, and the 2003 2CD compilation ''Nyana'' recently hit 87,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In support of the album, he embarked on his Elements of Life World Tour which had shows across the world. Tiësto's performance at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 10, 2007 was also sold out. The ''Copenhagen: Elements of Life World Tour'' DVD was released in a party which was held on February 29, 2008 in London at the IndigO2 club.

Tiësto announced his residence at Privilege, officially recognised by the Guinness World Records as being the largest club in the world. He played in Ibiza every Monday, from July 7 until September 22. The gigs consisted of sets in the style of his ''In Search of Sunrise'' series. In 2007, he had released ''In Search of Sunrise 6: Ibiza'' which was inspired by the island. The residencies also featured the performance of guest deejays, all selected by Tiësto, such as Chris Lake, Andy Duguid, Mat Zo, Cosmic Gate, Alex Kunnari and Sander van Doorn as well as exclusive appearances by Fonzerelli and Airbase.

On April 28, Tiësto released ''Elements of Life: Remixed'', a recompilation of the ''Elements of Life'' album with all songs being replaced by remixed versions. In mid-2008, Tiësto announced his In Search of Sunrise: Summer Tour 2008, which will be presented by Armani Exchange on May in support of his upcoming In Search of Sunrise 7: Asia compilation and the previously released ''In Search of Sunrise 6: Ibiza''. On August 8, 2008, Tiësto became the first DJ to perform at the famous O₂ Arena in London as part of his In Search of Sunrise 7 summer tour, the event was sold out with a capacity of 20,000 people. Earlier that day, Tiësto had performed in-store at Armani Exchange on Regent Street in central London.

A sole production was prepared for Tiësto from June 8 to September 21 for his return at club Privilege for the second year in a row on Monday nights, after a successful year as a resident in 2008. During his time at Privilege he previewed tracks from his upcoming artist album. ''InTheBooth'', the official members-only fansite of Tiësto launched July 17, 2009. On July 31, he was the first DJ to perform for 25,000 people at an exclusive outdoor concert in Victoria Park, London.

''Kaleidoscope'' era (2009–present)

To release the album he has set up a new record label called Musical Freedom after parting ways with Black Hole Recordings. Tiësto felt that his music was evolving in a new direction and his focus as an artist was moving away from what Black Hole was set up to support. His new tour, sharing the name of his new album, called Kaleidoscope World Tour commenced in late September.

Tiësto contributed songs to both DJ Hero and DJ Hero 2 video games and is a playable character in the second game. He contributed two exclusive mixes to the second game, and used content from DJ Hero 2 to create the official video for his single 'Speed Rail' - the world's first music video to be created entirely using in-game footage.

Tiësto has produced a trance-flavoured song on Memphis rap duo Three 6 Mafia's upcoming album ''Laws of Power'' called "Feel It," which features Flo Rida and Sean Kingston.

On March 16, 2010, Tiësto released his greatest hits album called ''Magikal Journey: The Hits Collection 1998-2008'', a two disc album focusing on his most famous songs and remixes of his songs.

On April 7, 2010, Tiësto announced that he would start a new compilation series called ''A New Dawn'' with his own label Musical Freedom. In his interview Tiësto furthermore confirmed that he would no longer have any more involvement with Black Hole Recordings.

On August 31, 2010, ''Kaleidoscope: Remixed'' was released, a remix album of his album ''Kaleidoscope''.

On December 11, 2010, Tiësto was one of the headlining acts at ZoukOut 2010, which was held in Singapore at Siloso Beach, Sentosa Island.

On April 4, 2011, his mix compilation ''Club Life: Volume One Las Vegas'' was released.

On June 13, 2011, his studio album ''Kiss from the Past'' was released under his alias Allure.

On August 15, 2011, his single ''Work Hard, Play Hard'' featuring Kay, was released.

Philanthropy

In April 2006, Tiësto was named the official worldwide ambassador for the Dance4Life foundation promoting awareness of HIV/AIDS, as the foundation's ambassador he has helped the organisation with fundraising along with recording the track "Dance4life" that he recorded with Maxi Jazz from Faithless. The foundation consists on a better way of living with safe sex in exchange of entertainment to the young crowd. The song was a huge success, peaking for five weeks in number 3 and eleven consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of the Dutch Singles Chart, it also reached number 5 in Belgium, number 6 in Finland and also charting in the UK and Germany. With the successful release of ''Elements of Life'', Tiësto and fashion designer Giorgio Armani collaborated together on a limited edition Tiësto T-shirt available at Armani Exchange stores. His single "Sweet Things" comes with the shirt including an exclusive "A|X Remix" by Tom Cloud which shows the great influence Tiësto has in fashion culture. The charity raised over US$300,000. On November 29, 2008 artists like Tiësto himself, Sied van Riel, Leon Bolier, Joop, and MC Gunner presented a concert at The Sand, Amsterdam promoted by Dance4Life, the sales from the event will go to the foundation to support next year's Schools4Life project.

Personal life

Discography

Tours

See also

References

External links

* Category:1969 births Category:2004 Summer Olympics Category:Club DJs Category:Dutch dance musicians Category:Dutch DJs Category:Dutch electronic musicians Category:Dutch record producers Category:Dutch trance musicians Category:Eurodance musicians Category:Living people Category:People from Breda Category:Remixers Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Ultra Records artists Category:Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau

Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes (born May 20, 1972), is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes. Early in his career, he was known for his wild style and fashion, and today is best known for his highly skilled rapping technique, which involves rapping at a much faster rate, and to date has received nine Grammy nominations for his musical work.

Early life

Music career

The Coming & When Disaster Strikes (1996-1997)

Extinction Level Event (Final World Front) (1998-1999)

J/Arista/BMG

Anarchy & Genesis (2000-2001)

It Aint Safe No More (2002-2004)

Aftermath/Interscope

The Big Bang (2006)

Universal Motown

Back on My B.S. (2007-2009)

Conglomerate Records & E.L.E. 2 (2010-present)

DJ Premier, in an August 6, 2010 interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio said Busta Rhymes has received over eight beats which he didn't want to use but Premier hoped his next beat would be chosen for inclusion on the album. On DJ Premier's Live From Headqcourterz radio show Premier confirmed that one of his beats were to be included in ''E.L.E. 2''. In 2010, Busta Rhymes formed his new label Conglomerate Records (With later on having rosters such as N.O.R.E., and Spliff Star). He was featured on C'mon (Catch 'Em By Surprise) by Tiësto and Diplo.

Also in, 2011 Rhymes has recorded a song with Chris Brown.

In 2011, Rhymes recorded "Look at Me Now" with Chris Brown and Lil Wayne on Brown's F.A.M.E. album

On May 1, 2011 Rhymes appeared on the launch show for MNET's Big Brother Africa 6: Amplified and performed some of his songs.

In 2011, Busta Rhymes performed at the Gathering of the Juggalos.

Personal life

Religion

Busta had been a member of The Nation of Gods and Earths since the age of 15.

Legal issues

On October 24, 2006, he appeared at Manhattan Criminal Court as the district attorney's office attempted to amend previous charges against him to include weapons possession for a machete found in his car. The judge, ShawnDya Simpson, refused to add the charge and adjourned the case.

On February 20, 2007, Busta refused a plea deal offered by the prosecutors office for the assault of his former driver, Edward Hatchett. The deal would have entailed six months in jail and pleading guilty to two assaults, the attack on Hatchett, and the attack on the former fan. The dispute with Hatchett is believed to have originated over back pay Hatchett felt he was owed. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Becki Rowe offered Busta another option, pleading guilty to third-degree assault. The conditions of the proposed sentence would include five days of community service, two weeks of youth lectures and six months of anger management classes, as well as three years of probation. On March 18, 2008 a judge in New York City sentenced Busta to three years' probation, 10 days' community service, $1250 in fines (plus court costs), and to enroll in a drunken driving program.

On September 25, 2008, he was temporarily refused entry to the United Kingdom due to "unresolved convictions".

On October 14, 2009, a Brooklyn judge ordered Busta to pay a concert goer $75,000 in compensation for an assault which occurred in 2003.

Discography

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Awards

Busta Rhymes has been nominated for 10 MTV Video Music Awards during his 15 year solo career, but has yet to win one.

MTV Video Music Awards

See also

References

External links

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from New York City Category:African American film actors Category:African American Muslims Category:African American rappers Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:American people convicted of assault Category:American rappers of Jamaican descent Category:Members of the Nation of Gods and Earths Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Rappers from Long Island Category:Rappers from New York City

Nelly Kim Furtado (born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress of Portuguese descent. She has sold 20 million albums worldwide and 18 million singles, bringing her total sales to nearly 40 million records. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, ''Whoa, Nelly!'', and its single "I'm like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It produced two more international singles: the more successful "Turn off the Light", and "Shit on the Radio (Remember the Days)". After giving birth to her daughter Nevis, her second studio album, ''Folklore'', was released. It was less commercially successful in the US. It produced three international singles: "Powerless (Say What You Want)", "Try", and "Força" (the theme of the 2004 European Football Championship).

In summer 2006, she released her third studio album, ''Loose''. It is her biggest success to date worldwide. It produced the number-one hits "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right" and "All Good Things (Come to an End)". After a three-year break, in September 2009, she released her first full-length Spanish album, ''Mi Plan'', along with her first Spanish single "Manos al Aire", which topped the Billboard Hot Latin Songs. This made Furtado the first North American singer to top the Billboard Hot Latin Chart with an original Spanish song. Further singles released were "Más" and "Bajo Otra Luz". For ''Mi Plan'', Nelly received the Latin Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. On October 26, a remix album, ''Mi Plan Remixes'', was released. Furtado released her first greatest hits album, ''The Best of Nelly Furtado'', one month later on November 12, 2010.

Early life

At age four, she began performing and singing in Portuguese. Furtado's first public performance was when she sang a duet with her mother at a church on Portugal Day. She began playing musical instruments at the age of nine, learning the trombone, ukulele and – in later years – the guitar and keyboards. At the age of 12, she began writing songs, and as a teenager, she performed in a Portuguese marching band.

Furtado has acknowledged her family as the source of her strong work ethic; she spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her mother, along with her brother and sister, who was a housekeeper in Victoria. She has stated that coming from a working class background has shaped her identity in a positive way.

Music career

1996–99: Musical beginnings

In 1997, she performed at the Honey Jam talent show. Her performance attracted the attention of The Philosopher Kings singer Gerald Eaton, who then approached her to write with him. He and fellow Kings member Brian West helped Furtado produce a demo. She left Toronto, but returned again to record more material with Eaton and West. The material recorded during these sessions led to her 1999 record deal with DreamWorks Records, where she was signed by A&R; executive Beth Halper, partner of Garbage drummer and record producer Butch Vig. Furtado's first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", was released that year on the ''Brokedown Palace: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''.

2000–05: ''Whoa, Nelly!'' and ''Folklore''

The album was an international success, supported by three international singles: "I'm like a Bird", "Turn off the Light", and "...On the Radio (Remember the Days)". It received four Grammy nominations in 2002, and her debut single won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Furtado's work was also critically acclaimed for her innovative mixture of various genres and sounds. ''Slant Magazine'' called the album "a delightful and refreshing antidote to the army of 'pop princesses' and rap-metal bands that had taken over popular music at the turn of the millennium". The sound of the album was strongly influenced by musicians who had traversed cultures and "the challenge of making heartfelt, emotional music that's upbeat and hopeful". According to ''Maclean's'' magazine, ''Whoa, Nelly!'' had sold six million copies worldwide as of August 2006. Portions of the song "Scared of You" are in Portuguese, while "Onde Estás" is entirely in Portuguese, reflecting Furtado's Portuguese heritage. The International Release of "Whoa Nelly" featured fellow Canadian Esthero on the song titled "I Feel You".

In 2002, Furtado appeared on the song "Thin Line", on underground hip hop group Jurassic 5's album ''Power in Numbers''. The same year, Furtado provided her vocals to the Paul Oakenfold's song "The Harder They Come" from the album ''Bunkka'' and also made the song "These words are my own". She also had a collaboration with Colombian artist Juanes, in the song "Fotografia" where she showed her diversity of yet another language. Furtado was also featured in "Breathe" from Swollen Members "Monsters in the Closet" release; the video for "Breathe," directed by Spawn creator Todd MacFarlane, won the 2003 Western Canadian Music Awards Outstanding Video and MuchVIBE Best Rap Video.

Furtado's second album, ''Folklore'', was released in November 2003. The final track on the album, "Childhood Dreams", was dedicated to her daughter, Nevis. The album includes the single "Força" (meaning "strength"/ "power" or "you can do it!" in Portuguese), the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship. Furtado performed this song in Lisbon at the championship's final, in which the Portugal national team played. The lead single is "Powerless (Say What You Want)" and the second single is the ballad "Try". The album was not as successful as her debut, partly due to the album's less "poppy" sound, as well as underpromotion from her label DreamWorks Records. DreamWorks had just been sold to Universal Music Group. In 2005, DreamWorks Records, along with many of its artists including Furtado, was absorbed into Geffen Records.

"Powerless (Say What You Want)" was later remixed, featuring Colombian rocker Juanes, who had previously worked with Furtado on his track "Fotografía" ("Photograph"). The two would collaborate again on "Te Busqué" ("I searched for you"), a single from Furtado's 2006 album ''Loose''.

2006–08: ''Loose''

''Loose'' has become the most successful album of Furtado's career so far, as it reached number one, not only in Canada and the United States, but also several countries worldwide. The album produced her first number-one hit in the United States, "Promiscuous", as well as her first number-one hit in the United Kingdom, "Maneater". The single "Say It Right" eventually became Furtado's most successful song worldwide, due to its huge success in Europe and in the United States, where it became her second number-one hit. "All Good Things (Come to an End)" became her most successful song in Europe, topping single charts in numerous countries there.

On February 16, 2007, Furtado embarked on the "Get Loose Tour". She returned in March 2007 to her hometown of Victoria to perform a concert at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. In honour of her visit, local leaders officially proclaimed March 21, 2007, the first day of spring, as Nelly Furtado Day. After the tour, she released her first live DVD/CD named ''Loose the Concert''. On April 1, 2007, Furtado was a performer and host of the 2007 Juno Awards in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She won all five awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year and Single of the Year. She also appeared on stage at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London on July 1, 2007, where she performed "Say It Right", "Maneater", and "I'm like a Bird".

In 2007, Furtado and Justin Timberlake were featured on Timbaland's single "Give It to Me", which became her third number-one single in the U.S. and second in the UK. In late 2008, Furtado collaborated with James Morrison on a song called "Broken Strings" for his album ''Songs for You, Truths for Me''. The single was released on December 8 and peaked at No.2 on the UK Singles Chart in early January.

In 2007, Furtado leaked plans to ''Flare'' regarding a song she was set to duet for Kylie Minogue's return. However, the song was not featured on her album ''X'', though Minogue says the aforementioned song "is still outstanding" and has plans to pursue it. She said, "I am looking forward to getting in the studio and doing it because I know Nelly and I would have a great time together". The track has not appeared on Minogue's 2010 album ''Aphrodite'' either. In 2008, she sang with the Italian group "Zero Assoluto" the ballad Win or Lose – Appena prima di partire, released in Italy, France and Germany and whose video was shot in Barcelona. On December 31, 2008, ''El Diario La Prensa'' posted an article that Furtado is planning on recording songs in English and Spanish for her upcoming album and that it is "expected to launch on September 15, 2009".

2009–2010: ''Mi Plan'' and compilation albums

In early March, a song called "Gotta Know" leaked onto the Internet and was said to be Nelly's. In response, on March 4, 2009, Furtado stated on her MySpace blog that the song is not hers and that she is recording two new albums: one in Spanish, and the other in Portuguese. Nelly Furtado announced via the Perez Hilton blog, that the Spanish album would be titled ''Mi Plan'' and the first single titled "Manos Al Aire" (in English, meaning "Hands in the Air"). The album will have twelve new songs, all in Spanish, as stated by Nelly in a message left in her official website. The second single "Más" was released on July 21, as it was announced on Nelly's official MySpace. The third single "Mi Plan" (ft. Alex Cuba) was released on iTunes on August 11, 2009 and "Bajo Otra Luz" (ft. Julieta Venegas and La Mala Rodriguez) is the fourth and final countdown single and it was released on September 1, 2009. She also invited the Mexican star Alejandro Fernández to sing a duet song named "Sueños" ("Dreams"). The video for "Manos al Aire" premiered on July 29 on It's On with Alexa Chung. On November 11, 2010 Furtado won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album for ''Mi Plan''. She is the first Canadian to win a Latin Grammy award.

Furtado made a guest appearance on Canadian singer k-os's new album ''Yes!'', collaborating alongside Saukrates on the song "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman," released in early July 2009. Nelly Furtado will make a guest appearance on Tiësto's single "Who Wants to Be Alone" on his new album ''Kaleidoscope'' which was released on October 6, 2009. Furtado also recorded "Manos al Aire" in Simlish for the new Sims 3 expansion, World Adventures.

On February 12, 2010, Nelly Furtado sang in a duet with Bryan Adams at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. The song was called "Bang The Drum" released on EMI album ''Sounds Of Vancouver 2010'' (a commemorative album). On February 14, 2010, she appeared again at the Winter Olympic Victory Ceremony after the awarding of the medals for the athletes. On April 13, 2010, Nelly announced on her Twitter account that ''Lifestyle'', her fourth English studio album, would not be released during the summer of 2010 and that she will go on a second leg of her Mi Plan Tour where she will get more inspiration for her upcoming album ''Lifestyle''. Nelly Furtado is featured in a new song by N.E.R.D. called "Hot N Fun". She also participated in the Young Artists for Haiti song, in which many Canadian artists came together and sang K'naan's inspirational song "Wavin' Flag" to raise money for the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

To promote the tour in Brazil, on March 24, 2010, Furtado made a ''"VIP Pocket Show"'' in reality show program Big Brother Brasil 10 from Rede Globo, the country's leading channel. She performed 5 songs from the tour in acoustic versions ("Maneater", "I'm Like A Bird", "Try", "Say It Right" and "Turn Off The Light"). Nelly Furtado participated in the live DVD recording of the Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo in Madison Square Garden on September 4, 2010. Nelly Furtado sang two new songs: "Girlfriend in the City" and "Night Is Young" on her concert in Warsaw, Poland.

Furtado was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in October 2010. On October 26, 2010, Furtado released ''Mi Plan Remixes'' featuring 12 tracks of remixed hits from "Mi Plan." This album included the Original Spanglish Version of "Fuerte", her final release from ''Mi Plan''.

Furtado released her first greatest hits album entitled ''The Best of Nelly Furtado'' on November 16, 2010. The album's first single, "Night Is Young" premiered on BBC Radio 1 on October 3, 2010. The song was first released for digital download on October 12, 2010 in Australia. Three new songs will be on the greatest hits album, including "Night Is Young", another collaboration Salaam Remi entitled "Girlfriend in the City", and the Lester Mendez produced track, left over from the ''Loose'' sessions, "Stars".

2011–present: ''Lifestyle'' and other projects

Aside from ''Lifestyle'', Furtado was featured Game's second single on the The R.E.D. Album entitled "Mamma Knows" (produced by the Neptunes). For the Canadian film The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, Furtado lent her vocals for the Dolly Parton gospel cover "The Seeker" featured during the credits of the film.

Other work

Record label

Philanthropy

Furtado's music has also been influenced by her current residence, Toronto, which she calls "the most multicultural city in the entire world" and a place where she "can be any culture". Regarding Toronto's cultural diversity, she has said that she did not have to wait for the Internet revolution to learn about world music; she began listening to it at the age of five and continues to discover new genres.

Her biggest influence when growing up was Ani DiFranco:

"When I was a teenager, I wanted to be (the feminist punk-folk singer) Ani DiFranco. I never wanted to be part of corporate music."

Personal life

In June 2006, in an interview with ''Genre'' magazine, when asked if she had "ever felt an attraction to women", Furtado replied "Absolutely. Women are beautiful and sexy". Some considered this an announcement of bisexuality, but in August 2006, she stated that she was "straight, but very open-minded". In November 2006, Furtado revealed that she once turned down $500,000 to pose fully clothed in ''Playboy''.

Furtado married Cuban sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellón, with whom she had worked on the ''Loose'' album, on July 19, 2008.

Furtado is one of several celebrities who have come under fire recently after 2011 reports from the New York Times and a WikiLeaks document revealed several entertainers had received extravagant sums to perform for the family of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi. She has promised to donate to charity the $1 million she received for a 2007 concert.

Furtado publicly endorsed Green Party Leader, Elizabeth May in Saanich-Gulf Islands during the Federal election in 2011.

Discography

Filmography

See also

References

External links

Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:People from Victoria, British Columbia Category:Canadian dance musicians Category:Canadian female guitarists Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian multi-instrumentalists Category:Canadian pop guitarists Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian rhythm and blues singers Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Musicians from British Columbia Category:Canadian people of Portuguese descent Category:Portuguese-language singers Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Trip hop musicians Category:Fellows of the Royal Conservatory of Music