Nelly was ranked #49 in Maxim's Hot 100 Women 2008. (edit) Nelly ranked #26 in Maxim's 2007 Hot 100 List. (edit) In July 2007, it was revealed Nelly and sound engineer Demacio 'Demo' Castellon were engaged, after Demo proposed to her following her 'Loose' tour. (edit) Nelly turned down an offer of $64,000 to pose nude for Playboy in 2006. (edit) Nelly won the award for World's Best Pop/Rock Artist at the 2006 World Music Awards. (edit) Nelly plays the trombone. (edit) Nelly was furious when a men's magazine digitally removed her clothes in order for the singer to appear in more revealing outfits. The singer insists that she would never pose in the sexy outfits. (edit) Nelly is currently desperate to raise funds for environmental group the Land Conservancy by auctioning a handmade patchwork quilt. While Nelly will work on the center square, she is asking fans to make their own creations for the rest of the project and as a reward for their donations to the craft, the participants who make it into the final quilt will earn an autographed picture of the singer. (edit) Nelly's Promiscuous was the biggest song on the charts of 2006, having a six week place at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100. (edit) Nelly’s song Promiscuous has been nominated for three 2006 MTV VMAs: Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, and Best Pop Video. (edit) Nelly brought her toddler Nevis along with her on tour because she believed her daughter would love the experience. (edit) Nelly started singing at age 4. (edit) Nelly made her acting debut on a film, Nobody's Hero, which was released in 2006. She played an American Muslim who's the love interest of a young soldier who has just returned from the Iraq War. (edit) Forca means "strength" in Portuguese. (edit) Childhood Dreams from Folklore is dedicated to Nelly's daughter. (edit) Nelly's daughter, Nevis, is named after a Caribbean island. (edit) Furtado landed a record deal with DreamWorks Records in 1999. (edit) At the Honey Jam 1997, Furtado performed and Gerald Eaton was impressed with her performance and asked her to write music with him. (edit) Furtado formed Nelstar in 1997 with Newkirk. (edit) In eleventh grade, Furtado met Plains of Fascination and recorded her vocals to their 1996 album Join the Ranks on the track Waitin' 4 the Streets. (edit) Furtado's influences include Amalia Rodrigues, Beck, Caetano Veloso, Cornershop, De La Soul, Digable Planets, Jeff Buckley, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Oasis, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, TLC, U2 and The Verve. (edit) Furtado worked as a maid with her mother, who was a housekeeper. (edit) Furtado is able to speak Spanish, Portuguese and Hindi. (edit) Furtado played in a Portuguese marching band as a teenager. (edit) Furtado began writing songs at age 12. (edit) Furtado won a Grammy Award for her debut single I'm Like a Bird. (edit) Furtado has an interest in different cultures. (edit) Furtado experiments with different vocal styles, languages, sounds, genres and instruments. (edit) Forca was the official anthem of the 2004 European Championship. (edit) Furtado is named after the Soviet gymnast, Nellie Kim. (edit) Furtado gave birth to her daughter, Nevis, on September 20, 2003 in Toronto, Canada. (edit) Furtado calls the genre of her third album "punk-hop". (edit) The father of Nelly’s daughter is DJ Jasper Gahunia aka Lil' Jaz. (edit) Following the release of her first album, Furtado headlined the Burn in the Spotlight tour and also appeared on Moby’s Area: One tour. (edit) The third album, Loose, was released on June 20, 2006. (edit) The second album, Folklore, didn't match the success of the first album, Whoa, Nelly!. (edit) Furtado started playing the trombone and ukulele at age 9. Later, she learned to play the guitar and keyboard. (edit) The debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, gained four Grammy nominations. Furtado won "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". (edit) The singles from the album Whoa, Nelly! are I'm Like A Bird and Turn Off the Lights. (edit) After only a few years together, Furtado is separating from her husband, also the father of Nevis. (edit) Furtado said that working in Miami influenced the sounds of her third album. (edit) Nelly said that she didn't really enjoy working with Timberland, saying that he got bored easily, and Nelly didn't feel like he was into it. Though she is happy with the product. (edit) Furtado shares the same birthday with Britney Spears and Canadian actress Cassie Steele. (edit) Discography: Whoa, Nelly! (2000), Folklore (2003), Loose (2006) (edit) Furtado's latest single is Promiscuous featuring Timbaland. (edit)

Nelly: Being a mother, I don't have time to go to clubs. So I put fake club scenes in my videos to make it look like I get out more. (edit) Nelly: (on her bottom) It’s nice to have something to hang on to. It’s just coming out of the woodwork, though, so it’s still shy - it doesn’t want too much spotlight. (edit) Nelly: I'm very in love with Gael Garcia Bernal, but I think he's with Natalie Portman. It's not fair! (edit) Nelly: (on the pressures of staying in shape and keeping fit.) Yeah, actually. It’s kinda good though, because it keeps you on your toes. With Maneater I worked hard. I danced a lot that week because I wanted to be able to do all the moves and stuff. It was my first time trying real actual set choreography and, God, my feet were in a sink of ice the night before the video because I’d been in high heels all week and they were really in pain. My feet have never felt that way in my life. But it was kind of like a rite of passage because the next day I had to dance in front of 50 of the best dancers in L.A.. But that was exciting for me – the challenge. I keep challenging myself, pushing my own buttons, you know? (edit) Nelly: I’m sick of pristine pop records – I wanted something more immediate and raw. Even my label tried to get me to change the final mix because they thought it was too edgy and they thought people weren’t used to that from me. (edit) Nelly: I’m from a small town in Victoria, Canada, and as a teenager I used to obsess about R&B and hip-hop stars. All their posters were on my walls. Being in Miami with Timbaland, I felt like I was on the pulse of hip-hop culture because he’s always really in tune with everything that’s going on. He always knows what the next wave’s going to be. He’s a trailblazer in music – whatever he comes out with ... (edit) Nelly (on recording in Miami): You’d see Paris Hilton, Ricky Martin, rappers, it was incredible, it really was. It was exhilarating – every day was something new. One moment there’d be Puff Daddy filming his reality show in the parking lot and the next day some guy would be bringing in a briefcase of cash for a Timbaland beat. I feed off energy like that. I felt like all my hip-hop dreams were coming true. (edit) Nelly (on motherhood): It’s just amazing, I’m so happy. Having the balance of a work life and a family life has been so good for me. And it’s made me appreciate my job so much more. I go, “Oh wow, I’m lucky to have a career and to be able to provide for someone else for the first time in my life.” When you have a child, you’re forced to get on the ground with them and their toys and feel life in a different way. I think that’s why my album has a youthful energy, because I was around her infectious two-year-old energy while I was recording.
I’m privileged that I’m an artist. My schedule’s not nine-to-five and I can travel with her most of the time and not feel like I’m missing out so much by being a working mother. It’s nice too because being an artist is one of the things you can do from home. I love writing songs. In the future I’d love to just be at home, packing lunches and writing songs for other artists. (edit) Nelly (on why her album ‘Loose‘ is a change of musical direction for her): You know, I think motherhood [to daughter Nevis, two]. Childbirth and feeling like a new woman – like more of a woman. I’ve kind of blossomed, I’m in the prime of my late 20s, and I’m expressing that a little more in my music. I think with each album an artist has to reveal another side of themselves. I think it adheres people to you because it shows that you’re vulnerable and that you’re willing to take new risks. I think it’s endearing. You have to evolve. And my musical history is so rich – my musical knowledge is so vast – that I feel like I have a lifetime of surprises up my sleeve. With each album I hope to unveil a new surprise. (edit) Nelly (on visiting Australia): I went to the zoo – that was fun! Us foreigners have to see at least one koala or kangaroo or we feel like we haven’t been to Australia. I loved watching the rugby because of the short shorts. We went for a sail through Sydney Harbour and I also did the Rove show, which was fun. (edit) Nelly: I like my body so much more now since having my baby. It's just kind of empowering when you become a mother. You just get overwhelmed with this new confidence and you feel really in control of your life. It's been beautiful.

-On becoming a mother (edit) Nelly: (about playing "nerdy" instruments) I always picked the weird things. I think life's like that - once you admit you're a big nerd it all becomes easier. (edit)