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A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.

During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less commercial appeal on a single ten-inch 78 RPM shellac record. After the launch of the long-playing microgroove record in 1948 and the arrival of the 45rpm single the following year, singles continued to appear separately from albums into the 1960s. For instance, the early rock and roll market of the 1950s and early 1960s was very much focused on singles rather than albums. Songs such as "Heartbreak Hotel", "Johnny B. Goode", and "Tutti Frutti" only appeared later on album compilations of singles. Even through the 1960s, leading rock artists such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones issued songs such as "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane," "Good Vibrations", "Positively 4th Street", and "Honky Tonk Women" as singles apart from any contemporary albums.

This changed in the 1970s as the popular music industry shifted to the album as its main profit center. Singles became advertisements for an album, the lead single conceptually defined as a foretaste of the album to come. On average a lead single will appear approximately one month before the album's release date. "Go Your Own Way" from Rumours, "Miss You" from Some Girls, and "The Girl Is Mine" from Thriller all roughly follow this pattern. This has become a common practice through the twenty-first century for album-oriented recording artists.

Lead singles are often a deciding factor for consumers debating purchase of a still unissued album, and the choosing of which track from an album to be issued as the lead single can be crucial to the album's commercial success. The standard rejoinder for record company executives, when presented with an album of dubious commercial potential, is "I don't hear the single."

In the 2000s, a common trend developed to release a lead single months in advance of the album release date. It has equally become common for a second lead single to be also released before the release of the album. Usher issued the lead single "Love in this Club" four months prior to the May 29 release of Here I Stand. The second single "Love in This Club, Pt. II" was released one month before the album release date. This has precedents in the past, however: "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" by Elton John appeared three months ahead of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Rock bands tend to release a lead single one month prior to the release of an album.

Currently, in the US as well as many other countries, artists will choose songs that are more up-tempo as lead singles. Such songs are often catchier and attract attention, although the subsequent lead single might be slower in tempo to demonstrate the range of the album. Female vocalists like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera often maintain a formula of an up-tempo first lead single with a slow ballad follow-up. This was a successful practice of 1980s heavy metal bands. However, not all artists decide to choose their lead single with the up-tempo criteria. Artists may release a lead single that has a message they want to convey to listeners over a song with more commercial potential, such as Fall Out Boy's choice to release "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" over the radio friendly "Thnks fr th Mmrs".

Japanese artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro and B'z release may release four to eight singles prior to their albums in order to achieve record-breaking debut-week sales. The lead singles in Japan are very heavily advertised and promoted, in some cases even more than the album itself. With album sales declining year after year, record labels are taking advantage of a booming singles market, online retail stores iTunes and others encouraging record labels to release singles in advance as they are available to consumers in the United States for the small investment of only 99 cents. This trend has become increasingly popular in many markets.

Melody Gardot
Gardot in Berlin, Germany (2010)
Background information
Born	(1985-02-02) February 2, 1985 (age 27), New Jersey
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres	Jazz, acoustic, blues
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar
Years active	2005–present
Labels	UCJ/Verve (2009–present)
Website	www.melodygardot.com

Melody Gardot /ɡɑrˈdoʊ/ (born February 2, 1985) is a Grammy-nominated American singer, writer and musician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, though she considers herself a "citizen of the world".^[1] She has been influenced by such blues and jazz artists as Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz and George Gershwin as well as Latin music artists such as Caetano Veloso.^[2] Her music has been compared to that of Nina Simone.^[3]

Gardot follows the teachings of Buddhism,^[4][5] is a macrobiotic cook^[6] and humanitarian who often speaks about the benefits of music therapy. She has visited various universities and hospitals to speak about its ability to help reconnect neural pathways in the brain, improve speech ability, and lift general spirits. In a recent interview she was rumored^{[citation needed]} to be working closely in a university in the United States to help develop a program for music therapy and the management of pain, something she has spoken about establishing in the future on her own.^{[citation needed]}

Early life and education[link]

Gardot was born in New Jersey and was largely brought up by her grandparents. Her grandmother was a Polish immigrant and her mother a photographer who worked and traveled frequently. They moved around often and as a consequence had very few possessions, often living out of suitcases.^[7] Because of Gardot’s career, she does not stay in one place for long and she finds herself living out of three suit cases, as she did when she was a child.^[8]

Gardot studied fashion at the Community College of Philadelphia.^[9]

Accident and therapy[link]

While cycling in Philadelphia in November 2003^[10] she was hit by a Jeep Cherokee whose driver had ignored a red traffic light. In the accident she suffered serious head and spinal injuries and her pelvis was broken in two places. Because of these severe injuries she was confined to her hospital bed for a year and had to remain lying on her back. As a further consequence of her injuries she had to re-learn simple tasks such as brushing her teeth and walking. The most noticeable effect of the neural injuries she suffered is that she was left hyper-sensitive to both light and sound, therefore requiring her to wear dark sunglasses at nearly all times to shield her eyes.^[7] The accident also resulted in both long and short term memory problems and difficulty with her sense of time. Gardot has described coping with this as like "climbing Mount Everest every day" as she often wakes with no memory of what she has to do that day.^[4]

Initially prompted by an attending physician who believed music would help her brain injury drastically improve, Gardot began writing music after her accident^[11] and since then often speaks and advocates in favour of using music for therapy. The accident had damaged the neural pathways between the brain's two cortexes which control perception and higher mental function, and made Gardot (in her own words) "a bit of a vegetable."^[12] As well as making it very hard for her to speak or communicate properly, she found it difficult to recall the right words to express her feelings.

Music involving listening and making a verbal attempt to sing or hum is thought^[who?] to help the brain form new pathways.^{[citation needed]} At first, Gardot learned to hum and was eventually able to sing into a tape recorder. She made good progress and was eventually able to write original songs that sometimes referred to her rehabilitation.^[12]

Gardot's doctor at the University of Medicine of New Jersey, Richard Jermyn, compared her condition to a computer. The computer was still intact and the memory was there but she could not access it. “That's what a brain injury does - It takes your ability to access that away”, Jermyn stated.^[13]

For several years after the accident Gardot traveled with a physiotherapist and carried a TENS machine strapped to her waist which released pain reducing impulses.^[7] While onstage Gardot explains, "the first maybe half a dozen times experiencing this, that was the only 30 minutes in my life that I did not feel pain for that moment. And it was addictive." And so from her accident to her first performances, her music career was born. “It was a most unusual start, but when you come from a place where things are tough it makes it that much easier to appreciate the times when life is easy”, she said.^[14]

After her accident, Gardot could not listen to the music she had listened to before, as she could not tolerate anything above a whisper. Because of this, she had to find quieter, more soothing music to listen to. She recalls that while on the treadmill learning to walk again, she would listen to Stan Getz's The Bossa Nova Years album.^[15] Because Gardot could not sit comfortably at a piano, she learned to play guitar on her back while in the hospital and shortly after began to write her own music.^[16] During her recovery, she wrote material that later became part of a five song EP, “Some Lessons: The Bedroom Sessions” that Gardot produced herself.^[17] Gardot was reluctant to record her songs at first, stating that they were too private for the public to hear. However she soon relented and her songs were soon being played on a Philadelphia radio station.^[18]

She was introduced to macrobiotics by a friend who lent her a book on its benefits. She began to experiment and cook for several hours a day. As well as reducing her pain levels, she believes that macrobiotics helped her mental ability to cope with pain, helping her relax as the routine of cooking helped take her mind off her physical condition and she also found that she was able to sleep more easily.^[19]

Music career[link]

Gardot started music lessons at the age of nine^[20] and began playing piano in Philadelphia bars at the age of sixteen on Fridays and Saturdays for four hours a night. She insisted on only playing music she liked, ranging from standards from The Mamas & the Papas to Duke Ellington and modern groups such as Radiohead.^[21]

During her time in hospital she learned how to play the guitar and began writing songs, which were made available as downloads in iTunes and released in Some Lessons: The Bedroom Sessions in 2005. She began to play these songs at venues in Philadelphia and was spotted by the radio station WXPN, operated by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, which helped to launch Norah Jones. As well as playing her songs, WXPN encouraged her to assemble a demo, which was quickly picked up by Universal Records.^[7]

Released in 2006 and then re-released by Verve Records in 2008, her first full-length album was entitled Worrisome Heart. After meeting her in New York City in 2008, producer Larry Klein began working with Gardot and they released her second album, My One and Only Thrill, on April 28, 2009. From this album, the song "Who Will Comfort Me?" became a top 10 hit at Smooth Jazz radio. Also in 2009, Gardot released a live EP, Live from SoHo. Gardot is a recipient of the 2007 VSA International Young Soloists Award.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

• "Worrisome Heart" (2008)
• "Goodnite" (2008)
• "Quiet Fire" (2008)
• "Who Will Comfort Me" (2009) (#6 on Jazz Songs)
• "Baby I'm a Fool" (2009) (#28 on Jazz Songs)
• "Your Heart Is As Black As Night" (2011)
• "Mira" (2012)
• "Amalia" (2012)

Collaborations[link]

Gardot appears on the following songs, on vocals and occasionally piano or guitar, by other artists:

Bluer Than A Midnight Sky – Beaucoup Blue – Free To Fall

High Night (Alta Noite) – Till Brönner – RIO

If I'm Lucky – Charlie Haden Quartet West – Sophisticated Ladies

My Sweet Darling – Seth Kallen & The Reaction – Exhibit A

A Meditation On War And The Fight For Love – Phil Roy – The Great Longing

Derrière L'arc-En-Ciel/Over the Rainbow – Eddy Mitchell – Grand Ecran

Under My Skin - A 30 second Frank Sinatra cover used in the 2008 Chevy Malibu commercials

Sous Les Ponts de Paris (Under The Bridges Of Paris) - Juliette Gréco - Ça Se Traverse et C'est Beau (released Feb 21, 2012)

Covers of songs by other songwriters[link]

As she is usually considered a jazz singer, Gardot is unusual in her output of original songs so early in her career. Nearly all of the songs on her recordings are original work, although some were co-written with Jesse Harris. She has, however, performed covers of songs by some well-known songwriters:

• Fever – Cooley/Blackwell, Peggy Lee (live performance during 2007 London Jazz Festival Ella Fitzgerald tribute concert)
• Over the Rainbow – Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg (My One and Only Thrill; numerous live performances during 2008-2010)
• Ain't No Sunshine – Bill Withers (My One and Only Thrill, Deluxe Edition; several live performances during 2008-2009)
• Blue Motel Room – Joni Mitchell (performed live in Philadelphia in 2006)
• Edith and the Kingpin – Joni Mitchell (performed on Live From Abbey Road in 2008, with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter)
• La Chanson des Vieux Amants – Jacques Brel (performed live in Paris in 2009, with David Preston on guitar)
• Because – The Beatles (performed on Live from Abbey Road in 2009, with David Preston on guitar)
• Get Out of Town – Cole Porter (performed live in Paris in 2010 in two different arrangements, and on BBC Four Sessions 2010)
• Someday My Prince Will Come – Larry Morey (lyrics) & Frank Churchill (performed on BBC Four Sessions 2010)
• Summertime – DuBose Heyward (lyrics) & George Gershwin (numerous live performances in 2010 summer tour, often in medley with 'Fever')

References[link]

External links[link]

• Melody Gardot official website
• Melody Gardot at Verve Records website

Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado at the red carpet receiving a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Nelly Kim Furtado
Born	(1978-12-02) December 2, 1978 (age 33)
Origin	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Pop, rock, folk, R&B, Latin pop, hip hop, dance pop, world music
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, ukulele, trombone
Years active	1996–present
Labels	DreamWorks, Geffen, MMG, Universal Music Latino
Website	NellyFurtado.com

Nelly Kim Furtado (born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. 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. Her second studio album, Folklore, was released. It was less commercially successful in the US but produced three international singles: "Powerless (Say What You Want)", "Try", and "Força" (the theme of the 2004 European Football Championship). Her third studio album, Loose was her biggest success 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, she released her first full-length Spanish album, Mi Plan. For Mi Plan, Furtado received the Latin Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. Furtado's fourth English-language studio album, The Spirit Indestructible, is set for release on September 18, 2012.

Biography[link]

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Furtado was born on December 2, 1978, in Victoria, British Columbia, to Portuguese parents, Maria Manuela and António José Furtado, both immigrants from the Azores.^[1] She was named after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim.^[2] Her parents were born on São Miguel Island and emigrated to Canada in the late 1960s.^[3] Her siblings are Michael Anthony and Lisa Anne. She was raised in a Roman Catholic home.^[2][4] At age four, she began performing and singing in Portuguese.^[1][3] 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,^[2] and as a teenager, she performed in a Portuguese marching band.^[3] 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.^[5] She has stated that coming from a working class background has shaped her identity in a positive way.

During a visit with her sister Lisa Anne in Toronto, the summer after eleventh grade, Furtado met Tallis Newkirk, member of the hip hop group Plains of Fascination. She contributed vocals to their 1996 album, Join the Ranks, on the track "Waitin' 4 The Streets".^[6] After graduating from Mount Douglas Secondary School in 1996, she moved to Toronto to reside with her sister Lisa Anne. The following year, she formed Nelstar, a trip hop duo with Newkirk. Ultimately, Furtado felt the trip-hop style of the duo was "too segregated", and believed it did not represent her personality or allow her to showcase her vocal ability.^[6] She left the group and planned to move back home. In 1997, she performed at the Honey Jam talent show.^[6][7] 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.^[8] Furtado's first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", was released that year on the Brokedown Palace: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

[edit] 2000–05: Whoa, Nelly!, motherhood and Folklore

Furtado continued the collaboration with Eaton and West, who co-produced her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which was released in October 2000. 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".^[9] 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".^[10] According to Maclean's magazine, Whoa, Nelly! had sold six million copies worldwide as of August 2006.^[11] Portions of the song "Scared of You" are in Portuguese, while "Onde Estás" is entirely in Portuguese, reflecting Furtado's Portuguese heritage.^[3] Following the release of the album, Furtado headlined the "Burn in the Spotlight Tour" and also appeared on Moby's Area:One tour.

In 2002, Furtado appeared on the song "Thin Line", on underground hip hop group Jurassic 5's album Power in Numbers.^[12] 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.^[13] In 2003, in Toronto, Furtado gave birth to a daughter, Nevis Chetan Furtado, whose father is Jasper Gahunia. Furtado and Gahunia, who had been good friends for several years, remained together for four years until their breakup in 2005. Furtado told Blender magazine that they continue to be good friends and jointly share responsibility of raising Nevis.^[14]

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.^[15] 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,^[16] 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.^[17]

[edit] 2006–09: Loose and marriage

Furtado performing live in Nuremberg, in 2006

Furtado's third album, named Loose, after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album, was released in June 2006.^[18][19] In this album, primarily produced by Timbaland, Furtado experiments with sounds from R&B, hip hop, and 1980s music.^[20] Furtado herself describes the album's sound as punk-hop, described as "modern, poppy, spooky" and as having "a mysterious, after-midnight vibe... extremely visceral".^[18] She attributed the youthful sound of the album to the presence of her two-year-old daughter.^[20] The album received generally positive reviews from critics,^[21] with some citing the "revitalising" effect of Timbaland on Furtado's music,^[22][23] and others calling it "slick, smart and surprising".^[24] Some have labeled her a "sellout" for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favour of hip hop and R&B, while others have accused her of attempting to "sex up" her music and appearance to sell more records.^[25][26] 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.

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".^[27] Some considered this an announcement of bisexuality,^[28] but in August 2006, she stated that she was "straight, but very open-minded".^[29] In November 2006, Furtado revealed that she once turned down $500,000 to pose fully clothed in Playboy.^[30] 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.^[31] After the tour, she released her first live DVD/CD named Loose the Concert.^[32] 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",^[33] 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^[34] and peaked at No.2 on the UK Singles Chart in early January. 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. Furtado made a guest appearance on Flo Rida's new album, R.O.O.T.S..^[35] Furtado also made a guest appearance on Divine Brown's Love Chronicles, co-writing and singing on the background of the song "Sunglasses". Furtado married Cuban sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellón, with whom she had worked on the Loose album, on July 19, 2008.^[36][37]

[edit] 2009–2012: Mi Plan and greatest hits

Furtado's debut Spanish album, Mi Plan was released with the first single, "Manos Al Aire" ("Hands in the Air").^[38] She had formed her own record label, Nelstar, in conjunction with Canadian independent label group Last Gang Labels. The first act signed to Nelstar is Fritz Helder & the Phantoms.^[39] "Manos al Aire" was released on the new label.^[40] The second, third and fourth singles were "Más", "Mi Plan" and "Bajo Otra Luz" respectively. 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 also recorded "Manos al Aire" in Simlish for the new Sims 3 expansion, World Adventures.^[41] Lifestyle, her planned fourth English studio album, was not released during the summer of 2010 in favor a second leg of her Mi Plan Tour. 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. Furtado participated in the live DVD recording of the Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo in Madison Square Garden on September 4, 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 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 also made a guest appearance on Tiësto's single "Who Wants to Be Alone"^[42] on his new album Kaleidoscope. 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). 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. Furtado was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in October 2010.^[43]

Furtado released her first greatest hits album titled The Best of Nelly Furtado on November 16, 2010. Three new songs were included on the greatest hits album, including "Night Is Young", "Girlfriend in the City", and the Lester Mendez produced track, left over from the Loose sessions, "Stars". The album's first single, "Night Is Young",^[44] was released on October 12, 2010.^[45] Furtado had previously sang two of the new songs: "Girlfriend in the City" and "Night Is Young" at her concert in Warsaw, Poland.^[46] Furtado was one of several celebrities who have come under fire 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 Muammar Gaddafi. She promised to donate to charity the $1 million she received for a 2007 concert,^[47] which ended up going to Free the Children.^[48]

Furtado publicly endorsed Green Party leader Elizabeth May in Saanich-Gulf Islands during the federal election in 2011.^[49] Furtado was featured on one of the Game's The R.E.D. Album tracks, titled "Mamma Knows" (produced by The Neptunes).^[50] 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.^[51][52] Furtado collaborated with recording artist Alex Cuba and K'naan once again. The duet with K'naan "Is Anybody Out There", was released as the first single from his extended play More Beautiful than Silence.^[53][54]

[edit] 2012–present: The Spirit Indestructible

The Spirit Indestructible will be released in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2012 and a day later in the US.^[55] Furtado proclaims that The Spirit Indestructible would be most like her 2000 debut Whoa, Nelly!, but containing elements from urban, alternative, and reggae.^[56][57] The influences for the album range from Janelle Monae, The xx, to Florence + the Machine.^[58] The album has attracted producers such as The Neptunes, Tiësto, Timbaland, Rick Nowels, Ryan Tedder and Rodney Jerkins.^{[59][60][61][62]} The first single from The Spirit Indestructable, "Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)", was released digitally on April 17, 2012^[63] and was sent to North American radio stations on May 1, 2012.^[64] Furtado continued to collaborate with hip-hop producer Salaam Remi, who previously worked on the 2010 single "Night Is Young", on "The Edge". The lyrics for the Salaam Remi produced track are reported to be influenced by the Tiger Woods cheating scandal, in which was originally referred to as "Elin's Song".^[65] On July 2, 2011 Furtado performed a new track, an acoustic ballad titled "Mystery", from her upcoming studio album. Furtado intends on promoting the album for at least two years while embarking on a tour.^[66][67]

Furtado has simultaneously begun work on a full-length Portuguese album, as a follow-up to her Spanish effort, Mi Plan.^[68]

Philanthropy[link]

For World AIDS Day in 2006, Furtado took part in an AIDS awareness concert in South Africa hosted by MTV, BET, and Nike; fellow performers included Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson.^[69] Furtado also hosted a program about AIDS on MTV, which also featured guests Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake.^[69] On September 27, 2011, Furtado announced during Free the Children's WeDay Toronto, that she was giving $1,000,000 to Free the Children's effort to build girls' schools in the Maasai region of Kenya.^[48]

Artistry[link]

Influences[link]

During her pre-teenage to teenage years, Furtado embraced many musical genres, listening heavily to mainstream R&B, hip hop, alternative hip hop, drum and bass, trip hop, world music (including Portuguese fado, Brazilian bossa nova and Indian music), and a variety of others.^[2] Her biggest influence when growing up was Ani DiFranco, she explained that "[w]hen I was a teenager, I wanted to be (the feminist punk-folk singer) Ani DiFranco. I never wanted to be part of corporate music."^[70] She cites diverse influences, which include soul-trip/hip hop artists such as De La Soul, TLC, world music artists Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Amalia Rodrigues, as well as Caetano Veloso, Juanes, Jeff Buckley, Esthero, Björk, Cornershop, Oasis, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins and Beck.^[2][8] 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.

Discography[link]

• Whoa, Nelly! (2000)
• Folklore (2003)
• Loose (2006)
• Mi Plan (2009)
• The Spirit Indestructible (2012)

Tours[link]

• Burn in the Spotlight Tour (2001)
• Come as You Are Tour (2004)
• Get Loose Tour (2007-2008)
• Mi Plan Tour (2010)

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of awards and nominations received by Nelly Furtado

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nelly Furtado

• Official website
• Nelly Furtado at the Internet Movie Database

Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne during a performance in Italy, September 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Avril Ramona Lavigne
Born	(1984-09-27) 27 September 1984 (age 27) Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Napanee, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Pop rock, power pop, pop punk
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Fashion Designer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, drums
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Epic, RCA, Arista
Associated acts	Evan Taubenfeld, Deryck Whibley
Website	www.avrillavigne.com
Notable instruments
Squier Signature Telecaster model guitar

Avril Ramona Lavigne (pronunciation: /ˈævrɨl ləˈviːn/; AV-ril lə-VEEN; born 27 September 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $2 million. In 2002, when she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album Let Go.

Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach No. 1 in the UK, and the album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. By 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated", peaked at No. 1 in many countries around the world, as did the album Let Go. Her second album, Under My Skin, was released in 2004 and was her first album to peak at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007, becoming her third No. 1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featuring her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, "Girlfriend". Lavigne has scored six number-one singles worldwide, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm with You", "My Happy Ending", "Nobody's Home", and "Girlfriend". With more than 30 million copies of her albums sold worldwide, Lavigne is one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S., with over 10.25 million copies certified by the RIAA. Her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, was released in March 2011. Goodbye Lullaby gave Lavigne her fourth top 10 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart and her third No. 1 album in both Japan and Australia. Three months after the release of Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne began work on her fifth album, which will be released on Epic Records following her departure from RCA Records.

Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes. She voiced a character in the animated film, Over the Hedge, in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation. In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, and in 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, which was followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose, in 2010 and her third perfume, Wild Rose, in 2011. In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne continued to work together, with Whibley producing her fourth album, as well as Lavigne's single, "Alice", written for Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland.

Early life[link]

Avril Ramona Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario. Her father, Jean-Claude Lavigne, named her "Avril" after the French word for the month of April. At the age of two, she began singing church songs with her mother,^[1] Judith-Rosanne "Judy" (née Loshaw). Judy recognized her two-year-old daughter's talents after hearing her sing "Jesus Loves Me" in church.^[2] Lavigne has an older brother, Matthew, and a younger sister, Michelle,^[3] both of whom teased her when she sang. "My brother used to knock on the wall because I used to sing myself to sleep and he thought it was really annoying."^[2]

When Lavigne was five years old, the family moved to Napanee, Ontario,^[1] a town with a population of approximately 5,000.^[4][5][6] Although she struggled to pay attention in school, sometimes being kicked out of class for misbehaving, her parents supported her singing. Her father bought her a microphone, a drum kit, a keyboard, and several guitars, and converted their basement into a studio. When Lavigne was 14, her parents would take her to karaoke sessions.^[7] Lavigne also performed at country fairs, singing songs by Garth Brooks, The Dixie Chicks, and Shania Twain. She also began writing her own songs. Her first song was called "Can't Stop Thinking About You", about a teenage crush, which she described as "cheesy cute".^[8]

In 1999,^[9] Lavigne won a radio contest to perform with fellow Canadian singer Shania Twain at the Corel Centre (now Scotiabank Place) in Ottawa, before an audience of 20,000 people.^[1][4] Twain and Lavigne sang "What Made You Say That",^[1] and Lavigne told Twain that she was going to be "a famous singer".^[4] During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was spotted by local folksinger Stephen Medd. He invited her to contribute vocals on his song, "Touch the Sky", for his 1999 album, Quinte Spirit. She later sang on "Temple of Life" and "Two Rivers" for his follow-up album, My Window to You, in 2000. In December 1999, Lavigne was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario.^[1][4] Fabri sent out VHS tapes of Lavigne's home performances to several industry prospects, and Lavigne was visited by several executives.^[10] Mark Jowett, co-founder of the Canadian management firm Nettwerk, received a copy of Lavigne's karaoke performances recorded in her parents' basement.^[11] Jowett arranged for Lavigne to work with Peter Zizzo during the summer of 2000 in New York, where she wrote the song "Why". Lavigne was noticed by Arista Records on a subsequent trip to New York.^[10]

Lavigne would go on to sell more than 30 million copies of her albums worldwide,^[12] becoming one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S., with over 10.25 million copies certified by the RIAA.^[13] In 2009, Billboard named Lavigne the No. 10 pop artist in the "Best of the 2000s" chart.^[14] She was listed as the 28th overall best act of the decade based on album and single chart performance in the U.S.^[15]

Music career[link]

[edit] 2000–03: Let Go

In November 2000,^[5] Ken Krongard, an A&R representative, invited Antonio "L.A." Reid, then head of Arista Records, to producer Peter Zizzo's Manhattan studio to hear Lavigne sing. Her 15-minute audition "so impressed" Reid that he immediately signed her to Arista with a deal worth $1.25 million for two albums and an extra $900,000 for a publishing advance.^[6][1] By this time, Lavigne had found that she fit in naturally with her hometown high school's skater clique, an image that carried through to her first album, but although she enjoyed skateboarding, school left her feeling insecure. Armed with a record deal, she dropped out to focus on her music career,^[5] but she still had to inform her parents of her decision. "I wasn't going to turn [the record deal] down. It's been my dream all my life. They knew how much I wanted this and how much I've put into it."^[16][8]

Reid gave A&R Joshua Sarubin the responsibility for overseeing Lavigne's development and the recording of her debut album.^[17] They spent several months in New York working with different co-writers trying to forge an individual sound for her. Sarubin told HitQuarters that for while they struggled finding her sound and although early collaborations with songwriter-producers including Sabelle Breer, Curt Frasca and Peter Zizzo resulted in some good songs, they didn't match her and her voice.^[17] It was only when Lavigne then went to Los Angeles in May 2001 and created two songs with The Matrix production team – including "Complicated" – that the record company felt she had made a major breakthrough.^[17] Lavigne then worked further with The Matrix and also with singer-songwriter Cliff Magness. Recording finished in January 2002.^[17]

Lavigne released her debut album, Let Go, on 4 June 2002 in the U.S., where it reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It peaked at No. 1 on the Australian, Canadian, and UK charts. This made Lavigne, at 17 years old, the youngest female soloist to have a No. 1 album in the UK until that time.^[18] By the end of 2002, the album was certified four-times platinum by the RIAA, making her the bestselling female artist of 2002 and Let Go the top-selling debut of the year.^[19] By May 2003, Let Go had accumulated over 1,000,000 sales in Canada, receiving a diamond certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association.^[20] As of 2009, the album has sold over 16 million units worldwide,^[21] and the RIAA has certified the album six-times platinum, denoting shipments of over six million units in the U.S.^[22]

Lavigne's debut single and the album's lead single, "Complicated", peaked at No. 1 in Australia and No. 2 in the U.S. "Complicated" was one of the bestselling Canadian singles of 2002, and it was also featured on the teen television show, Dawson's Creek. "Complicated" later ranked on the Hot 100 Singles of the Decade list at No. 83.^[23]