Gilberto Gil

Gilberto Gil began his musical journey in his home state of Bahia, and went on to become one of Brazil's most beloved and respected artists. Born in 1942, Gil forged a career through several eras of popular music, and was a leading pioneer of the rebellious tropicália movement before emerging as one of the country's most prolific recording and performing MPB stars. Known for his exploration of Afro-centric culture in his music, Gil's development of a Brazilian "roots music" revolution helped to propel the "re-Africanization" of Bahian music that lead to one of the country's most successful and popular periods.

Gil was exposed to a wide variety of music while growing up in the small town of Ituaçu, Bahia, and began playing accordion before switching to the guitar. His business administration studies at the University of Salvador lead to a brief stint in the corporate world, but he later devoted himself to a full-time career as a musician. It was during his days at the university that he met (and would later collaborate with) Caetano Veloso and Caetano's sister Maria Bethânia; their subsequent development of the revolutionary new tropicália sound would spark one of Brazil's most controversial and creative musical eras. Meanwhile, Gil's songwriting and recording career got off on the right foot upon singer Elis Regina's recording of his compositions. He also made several appearances on her television program O Fino da Bossa, demonstrating his charismatic performing style with national audiences.

But as the tropicália movement began to blossom in the late '60s, Gil was viewed by the dictatorial government as subversive and radical, prompting his arrest in 1969 (although he was never charged with any specific crime). Along with fellow tropicalista Caetano Veloso, Gil spent two years in exile in London before returning home in 1972, and began to explore his creative path as political tensions eased (and he was no longer seen as a threat).

Gil attended Nigeria's Festival of Black Art and Culture in 1977, an event that would profoundly affect and inform his musical creativity and passion. His subsequent recordings explored the wealth of African-derived traditions in Brazil within a more contemporary and socially charged sensibility, and he continued to experiment with everything from reggae to techno while popularizing the folk music of his home state of Bahia. His political aspirations began in the '80s, and since 2003 he served as Brazil's minister of culture. In 2005 Gil won the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm and the prestigious Légion d'Honneur from the government of France. He remains as one of his country's most creative artists. —Rebeca Mauleon