Nelly Furtado revealed that she is stepping away from live performances for the “foreseeable future” to focus on new creative and personal projects.
The 46-year-old Grammy winner shared the news in an Instagram post on Friday, reflecting on her career and recent experiences connecting with fans.
“I have decided to step away from performance for the foreseeable future and pursue some other creative and personal endeavors that I feel would better suit this next phase of my life,” Furtado wrote. “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.”
The announcement coincides with the 25th anniversary of her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which reached No. 24 on the Billboard 200 in January 2001. Furtado’s post included a throwback photo of herself at 20, just before her first professional performance at Lilith Fair in 1999, as well as a clip from a recent Berlin show where she expressed joy at seeing fans celebrate her music across generations.
“My music has reached a whole new generation of fans and I couldn’t be happier about that,” she wrote. “In the year 2000 I remember hoping some kid would dust off the Whoa, Nelly! vinyl one day and think it was cool or inspiring, so I never could have guessed there would be so many new ways to discover ‘old’ music in 2025!”
She added, "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."
Her most recent album, 7, arrived in 2024 and was created alongside her daughter Nevis. “The key for me, with this new album, is just getting back into the craft,” she told People. “It’s like a whole new me, who’s stronger, braver, more confident.”