Nelly Furtado has made a major announcement about her career – she’s taking a break from live shows and touring.
In a lengthy Instagram post shared with her 1.9 million followers on October 23, the “I’m Like a Bird” singer writes, “25 years ago today my first album ‘Whoa, Nelly!’ was released… 25 years later my music has reached a whole new generation of fans and I couldn’t be happier about that… To have so many people rediscovering my music has been surreal and joyful. It’s been so fun embracing this opportunity, getting out on stages again and seeing up close, the true lasting power of good music. It’s made me really believe in magic.”
The 46-year-old artist continues,”All this aside, I have decided to step away from performance for the foreseeable future and pursue some other creative and personal endeavours that I feel would better suit this next phase of my life. I have enjoyed my career immensely, and I still love writing music as I have always seen it as a hobby I was lucky enough to make into a career. I’ll identify as a songwriter forever.”
Nelly said she feels grateful for the years of “fun, community and wonder” performing has brought her.
“Endless gratitude to anyone who has ever listened and vibrated with my music and attended any of my shows. I love you and your open hearts.”
Does this mean the iconic voice of the 2000s is stepping away from music forever?
It sounds like an indefinite break and the hopeful amongst us are interpreting Nelly’s message as open ended given she’s stepping away for the “foreseeable future” only and not for eternity.
Right? RIGHT?
She ends her message thanking her collaborators and wishing the next generation of artists “many years of fruitful and passionate performance.”
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Nelly, who is a mother-of-three, released what many of us thought might be her last studio album, The Ride, back in 2017. She kept a relatively low profile until 2023 when she started performing again. And then last year, she delighted fans around the world by releasing her seventh studio album, titled 7.
In an interview with Billboard, she revealed she’d been working with nonprofit Free the Children while she was out of the spotlight:
“We do youth engagements, community partnerships, empowerment in different places and workshops with girls — I’ve been going on a lot of trips to Kenya.”
(Feature Image Credit: Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com)
