The decision comes as she reflects on how fans have reconnected with her music in recent years.
“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 on Instagram. “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’s carousel post opened with a throwback photo of herself at 20, just before her first professional performance at Lilith Fair in 1999. The next slide jumped to a video from her recent show in Berlin, where she shared that she “finally understanding what receiving flowers means” as the crowd repeatedly chanted her name.
25 years ago today my first album Whoa, Nelly! was released.
In the first slide I am 20 years old, about to play my first show as a professional artist at Lilith Fair . I went down to a store called “Original” on Queen West in Toronto and shopped for that pink dress and some sparkly platform shoes to perform in . It was so meaningful and my artist self felt so actualized.
25 years later., my music has reached a whole new generation of fans and I couldn’t be happier about that .
In the year 2000 I remember feeling purpose in 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!
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.
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 .
