Aging is an inevitable part of life, and as people grow older, their appearance often changes.

While many accept these changes gracefully, some may find it harder to embrace.

This scenario is no different; a 2000s pop sensation is now under the spotlight simply for showing signs of aging.

Read on to discover what fans and critics alike are saying about this iconic performer. Canadian singer Nelly Furtado burst onto the music scene around the year 2000, and the media once celebrated her as one of Canada’s top musical talents. Her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, became a massive hit, and its success was both critical and commercial. The songs “I’m Like a Bird” and “Turn Off the Light” from the album climbed into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with “I’m Like a Bird” even earning her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Although everything seemed perfect at the time, Furtado later revealed in a recent interview that the reality behind the scenes was far different. She shared that her early days of fame were marked by struggles.

She opened up about the heavy airbrushing she experienced: “I have olive skin, and they’d kind of lighten my skin a lot in photos, and kind of take my hips down all the time — they would always cut off in editorials,” she said. In 2003, she released “Powerless” on her Folklore album, a song reflecting this experience. In the lyrics, she sings, “Paint my face in your magazines / Make it look whiter than it seems / Paint me over with your dreams / Shove away my ethnicity.”

Furtado, who has Portuguese roots, recently shared, “By my second album, I guess I was kind of angry about it.”

Despite these challenges, she holds no bitterness and expresses gratitude for her journey. She credits her strong family support and dedicated team for helping her cultivate assertiveness and providing her with the guidance necessary to navigate the industry.

At one point, she stepped away from the limelight to focus on her family

She has three children, with her eldest, Nevis Gahunia, now 21 years old.

After giving birth to her youngest two children just 14 months apart, she was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Furtado recognized symptoms in herself while caring for her children, which led to her official diagnosis.

She shares her two youngest children with rapper Jerry (Gerard Damien Long).

She had unknowingly managed ADHD all her life

Caring for two young children so close in age brought her symptoms into sharper focus.

She said, “When I was attending college, [I was like] ‘Boing, boing, boing, boing.’ I’ve had it my whole life. But when I had my two youngest in close proximity, it made me very aware of my ADHD.”

Since her diagnosis, Furtado has focused on staying present and grounded amid everyday distractions.

She prioritizes sleep, exercise, and routines, finding that her ADHD feels most balanced when she is in the dance studio.

Recently, Furtado returned to the music scene with her first album in seven years, putting her back in the public eye.

She has performed some of her new tracks live, sparking a new wave of conversations

One Facebook user commented on her look, “What a beautiful woman”.

While another noted, “She actually looks a whole [lot] better than what she looked like in 2006 [sic] thicker more voluptuous body after having kids. Perfect I love it.”

A fan expressed frustration with those criticizing her weight, saying, “So, she gained some weight. So, what! She still looks gorgeous. This obsession with weight is ridiculous.”

Another fan agreed, stating, “She looks better with the curves.”

On X (formerly known as Twitter), fans also reacted to her appearance, with one user posting, “Nelly Furtado so [expletive] thick.”

Another remarked, “She was skinny when she was younger…BUT NOT NOW!”