Music

Watch Nelly Furtado's career-spanning Tiny Desk session

Joined by some of her veteran collaborators, the Canadian pop icon performed an 11-song medley of her hits over the years.

The Canadian pop icon performed an 11-song medley of her hits

Nelly Furtado has had quite the comeback over the past year, and she's keeping that momentum going with a performance on NPR's Tiny Desk concert series. 

Furtado joins a long list of artists including Adele, Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, and Daniel Caesar, who have graced the compact space inside the NPR office in Washington, D.C. She brought her hits ("Maneater," I'm Like a Bird," "Promiscuous"), new releases ("Eat Your Man," "Love Bites") and deep cuts ("Get Ur Freak On (Remix)"). 

Furtado was backed by by Hrag Sanbalian (keyboard), Daniel Stone (percussion), William Lamoureux (violin), Brian West (guitar)Lionel Jarvis (bass), Jim Beanz (vocals), Anjulie Persaud (vocals), and DJ Lil' Jaz (DJ) — some of whom she's worked with for 25 years. 

"[They] joined her in organically re-creating her busy, glitchy pop sound without relying on backing tracks. That meant incorporating everything from a violin to cowbell to beatboxing to scratching courtesy of DJ Lil Jaz — Furtado and Lil Jaz have a daughter together, Nevis, who served as the set's creative director — in a performance that felt like a victory lap, a greatest-hits reel and a homecoming all at once," said NPR producer Stephen Thompson. 

The jam-packed set list included: 

  • "Say It Right"
  • "Explode"
  • "Powerless (Say What You Want)"
  • "Promiscuous"
  • "All Good Things (Come To An End)"
  • "I'm Like A Bird"
  • "Get Ur Freak On (Remix)"
  • "Love Bites"
  • "Eat Your Man"
  • "Give It To Me"
  • "Maneater"

Furtado recently released "Love Bites" with British producer SG Lewis and Swedish pop singer-songwriter Tove Lo. She's taking her songs on the road this summer, touring across Europe and the United States.