Gilberto Gil

Gilberto Gil (born June 26, 1942, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil) is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the leading names in Brazilian music and an originator of the movement known as Tropicália (or Tropicalismo).

Gil, who was the son of a doctor and an elementary-school teacher, grew up mostly in Ituaçu, a small town located near the Chapada Diamantina upland, in the eastern state of Bahia, until the age of nine. When it was time for him to enter secondary school, the family returned to Salvador. By that time Gil had learned to play the accordion as a result of his love for the music of the celebrated Northeastern performer Luiz Gonzaga, whose style of music (called baião) reflected the rhythms of the zabumba drum played in Pernambuco and Bahia states. When Gil was 18 years old and studying business administration at the Federal University of Bahia, in Salvador, he and others formed a music group, Os Desafinados (“The Tuneless”). Shortly after recording his first song (“Coça coça lacerdinha”), in 1962, he met and befriended other then-unknown Brazilian superstars Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, and Tom Zé. These and other songwriters and poets (such as Torquato Neto and Capinan) sought to transform the cultural landscape of the country. Gil, who was impressed with the music of older singer and guitarist João Gilberto, added the guitar to the list of instruments he had made his own.

In 1967 Gil released his first album, Louvação (“Worship”), after appearing on the television show O fino da bossa, conducted by singer Elis Regina. The following year Gil and his friends were swept up in the Tropicália movement, a hybridization of rock music, samba, funk, soul, and other styles that reflected the upheaval characteristic of the late 1960s. Gil’s song “Domingo no parque” (“Sunday in the Park”) was considered one of the seeds of Tropicália. In 1968 he participated in the album Tropicália; ou, panis et circensis, alongside Veloso, Costa, Neto, Os Mutantes, and others. With Veloso, Bethânia, and Costa, he later formed the group Doces Bárbaros (“Sweet Barbarians”). The military dictatorship then in power in Brazil found the Tropicália movement to be such a threat to the social order that it arrested and imprisoned Gil and Veloso in 1968, releasing them in February 1970 on the condition that they would leave the country.

Both moved to London, where Gil first came into contact with the reggae sound. Gil returned to Salvador in 1972. Over the course of his 50-year career, Gil released at least one record nearly every year and sometimes as many as three or even four in a year, experimenting with many different styles. By all accounts, he produced some of the most expressive examples of Brazilian pop music. Among his many hit songs were “Procissão” (“Procession”), “Sítio do pica-pau amarelo” (“Site of the Yellow Woodpecker”), “Realce” (“Highlight”), “Toda menina baiana” (“Every Bahian Girl”), “Andar com fé” (“Walking with Faith”), and “Vamos fugir” (“Let’s Run Away”). He won Grammy Awards for best world music album in 1998 (Quanta Live) and for best contemporary world music album in 2005 (Eletracústico), and he took home several Latin Grammys, including three (2001, 2002, 2010) for best Brazilian roots/regional album and one in 2010 for best Brazilian popular music album.

In addition to his music career, Gil was involved in politics from 1987. He worked as councilor in the municipality of Salvador for the Partido Verde (“Green Party”) and in various other positions and also worked with the agency Onda Azul (“Blue Wave”) to protect Brazil’s waters. Gil served as minister of culture in the government of Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–08). During his tenure as minister of culture, he promoted critical discussions. Principal among these was the one relating to digital freedom, which includes the use of free software and a new copyright model (Creative Commons), which placed Brazil in a prominent position in the debates on the subject.

Perhaps a more popular development of his late career was his release in 2014 of Gilbertos samba, a tribute album dedicated to João Gilberto. The album contained Gil’s versions of songs associated with Gilberto, and it also incorporated elements of earlier Bahian samba music and 1970s Tropicália. It was by many accounts—in the words of one critic—“an astonishing compendium of Brazilian music” and a consummate summary of that movement. In 2016 he and Veloso released the live album Dois amigos, um século de música (“Two Friends, One Century of Music”). Gil’s later albums included OK OK OK (2018).