Nelly Furtado announces hiatus from performing to pursue other creative endeavors

Singer Nelly Furtado, 46, announced Friday, October 24, she is putting performing on hold "for the foreseeable future [to] pursue some other creative and personal endeavours that I feel would better suit this next phase of my life."

The announcement came via social media statement including a two-photo carousel. The first image showed Furtado at age 20 before her first professional performance at Lilith Fair. The second slide featured video from her Berlin performance in summer 2025.

Furtado's statement marked the 25th anniversary of her debut album "Whoa, Nelly!" The "Maneater" singer noted her music has reached a new generation of fans in 2025.


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"25 years later, my music has reached a whole new generation of fans and I couldn't be happier about that," she wrote.

Furtado recalled purchasing a pink dress from Original on Queen West in Toronto and sparkly platform shoes for her Lilith Fair debut. "It was so meaningful and my artist self felt so actualized," she wrote.

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The singer stated her original wish was "hoping some kid would dust off the Whoa, Nelly! vinyl one day in a record shop and think it was cool or inspiring."

"So I never could have guessed that there would be so many new ways to discover 'old' music in 2025!" Furtado said.

Singer addresses new generation of fans

The "Promiscuous Girl" and "Say It Right" singer expressed gratitude for audiences rediscovering her catalog, calling the experience "surreal and joyful." She noted seeing fans "up close" has "made me really believe in magic."

"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," Furtado stated.

In a September 2024 interview with PEOPLE, Furtado discussed performing in Australia, noting "the Gen Z's singing all the words blew my brain."

"I went, 'Whoa, this is real. This is not just a fun app. This is my music reconnecting. This is a big deal,'" she said.

Recent album release and collaborations

Furtado released "7," her first album in seven years, in September 2024. She recorded the album with her daughter Nevis Gahunia, 22.

"I'd been given this opportunity to connect with my teenager in this way. It just felt like the greatest gift in the world," Furtado told PEOPLE of the recording process. "What a blessing."

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The Grammy winner thanked "anyone who has ever listened and vibrated with my music and attended any of my shows" as well as "those who have worked so hard to help me make my pop dreams come true."

"I also wish, to the new generation of artists, many years of fruitful and passionate performance," she wrote.

Furtado did not specify a timeline for her return to performing or detail the creative and personal projects she plans to pursue during the hiatus.