52 Facts About Gilberto Gil

Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism.

Gilberto Gil started to play music as a child and was a teenager when he joined his first band.

Gilberto Gil began his career as a bossa nova musician and grew to write songs that reflected a focus on political awareness and social activism.

Gilberto Gil was a key figure in the Musica popular brasileira and tropicalia movements of the 1960s, alongside artists such as longtime collaborator Caetano Veloso.

Gilberto Gil moved to London, but returned to Bahia in 1972 and continued his musical career, as well as worked as a politician and environmental advocate.

Gilberto Gil was born in Salvador and spent much of his childhood in Ituacu.

Gilberto Gil's father, Jose Gil Moreira, was a doctor; his mother, Claudina Passos Gil Moreira, an elementary school teacher.

Gilberto Gil remained in Ituacu until he was nine years old, returning to Salvador for secondary school.

Gilberto Gil grew up listening to the forro music of his native northeast, and took an interest in the street performers of Salvador.

Gilberto Gil's mother was the "chief supporter" in his musical ambitions; she bought him an accordion and, when he was ten years old, sent him to music school in Salvador which he attended for four years.

Gilberto Gil was particularly influenced by singer and accordion player Luiz Gonzaga; he began to sing and play the accordion in an emulation of Gonzaga's recordings.

Gilberto Gil has noted that he grew to identify with Gonzaga "because he sang about the world around [him], the world that [he] encountered".

In 1950 Gilberto Gil moved back to Salvador with his family.

Gilberto Gil met guitarist and singer Caetano Veloso at the Universidade Federal da Bahia in 1963.

Gilberto Gil collaborated again with members of this collective on the landmark 1968 album Tropicalia: ou Panis et Circenses, whose style was influenced by The Beatles' Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album Gilberto Gil listened to constantly.

Gilberto Gil describes Tropicalia: ou Panis et Circenses as the birth of the tropicalia movement.

Early on in the 1960s, Gilberto Gil earned income primarily from selling bananas in a shopping mall and composing jingles for television advertisements; he was briefly employed by the Brazilian division of Unilever, Gessy-Lever.

Gilberto Gil moved to Sao Paulo in 1965 and had a hit single when his song "Louvacao" was released by Elis Regina.

Gilberto Gil's first hit as a solo artist was the 1969 song "Aquele Abraco".

Gilberto Gil performed on several television programs throughout the 1960s, which often included other "tropicalistas", members of the Tropicalismo movement.

Gilberto Gil composed four songs during his imprisonment, among them "Cerebro Electronico", which first appeared on his 1969 album Gilberto Gil 1969, and later on his 2006 album Gil Luminoso.

Gilberto Gil was involved in the organisation of the 1971 Glastonbury Free Festival and was exposed to reggae while living in London; he recalls listening to Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, and Burning Spear.

Gilberto Gil was heavily influenced by and involved with the city's rock scene as well, performing with Yes, Pink Floyd, and the Incredible String Band.

When he went back to Bahia in 1972, Gilberto Gil focused on his musical career and environmental advocacy work.

Gilberto Gil released Expresso 2222 the same year, from which two popular singles were released.

Gilberto Gil toured the United States and recorded an English-language album as well, continuing to release a steady stream of albums throughout the 1970s, including Realce and Refazenda.

Gilberto Gil recorded a song titled "Patuscada de Gandhi" written about the Filhos de Gandhi that appeared on his 1977 album Refavela.

Greater attention was paid to afoxe groups in Carnaval because of the publicity that Gilberto Gil had provided to them through his involvement; the groups increased in size as well.

Gilberto Gil worked with Jimmy Cliff and released a cover of "No Woman, No Cry" with him in 1980, a number one hit that introduced reggae to Brazil.

In 1996, Gilberto Gil contributed "Refazenda" to the AIDS-Benefit Album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 2013, Gilberto Gil plays his own role as a singer and promoter of cultural diversity in a long feature documentary shot around the southern hemisphere by Swiss filmmaker Pierre-Yves Borgeaud, Viramundo: a musical journey with Gilberto Gil, distributed worldwide.

In 1990, Gilberto Gil left the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and joined the Green Party.

Gilberto Gil maintained a full-time musical career at the same time, and withdrew temporarily from politics in 1992, following the release Parabolicamara, considered to be one of his most successful efforts.

On October 16,2001 Gilberto Gil accepted his nomination to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, having promoted the organization before his appointment.

The appointment was controversial among political and artistic figures and the Brazilian press; a remark Gilberto Gil made about difficulties with his salary received particular criticism.

Gilberto Gil had not been a member of Lula's Workers' Party and had not participated in creating its cultural program.

Shortly after becoming Minister, Gilberto Gil began a partnership between Brazil and Creative Commons.

In November 2007 Gilberto Gil announced his intention to resign from his post due to a vocal cord polyp.

Lula said on this occasion that Gilberto Gil was "going back to being a great artist, going back to giving priority to what is most important" to him.

Gilberto Gil had two daughters Nara and Marilia, with first wife Belina Aguiar.

Gilberto Gil was then married to famous singer Nana Caymmi, they had no children.

Gilberto Gil has been open about the fact that he has smoked marijuana for much of his life.

Gilberto Gil has said he believes "that drugs should be treated like pharmaceuticals, legalized, although under the same regulations and monitoring as medicines".

Gilberto Gil's lyrics are on subjects that range from philosophy to religion, folktales, and word play.

Gilberto Gil described the genre as "a form of democratizing, internationalizing, speaking a new language, a Heideggerian form of passing along fundamental messages".

Gilberto Gil became inspired by African music and later integrated some of the styles he had heard in Africa, such as juju and highlife, into his own recordings.

When Gilberto Gil returned to Brazil after the visit, he focused on Afro-Brazilian culture, becoming a member of the Carnaval afoxe group Filhos de Gandhi.

However, Gilberto Gil says that his 1994 album Acoustic was not such a new direction, as he had previously performed unplugged with Caetano Veloso.

Gilberto Gil describes the method of playing as easier than other types of performance, as the energy of acoustic playing is simple and influenced by its roots.

Gilberto Gil has been criticized for a conflicting involvement in both authentic Brazilian music and the worldwide musical arena.

Gilberto Gil has had to walk a fine line, simultaneously remaining true to traditional Bahian styles and engaging with commercial markets.