Gil gilberto

Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , known as Gilberto Gil , born June 26, 1942 in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), is a musician (guitar), singer and songwriter Brazilian. He was Minister of Culture (en) of the government Lula da Silva from January 2, 2003 to July 30, 2008>.

Graduate in management, he gets his first job in the company Gessy Lever (current Unilever) in São Paulo. But it is the music that makes him famous in the 1960s, within the tropicalist movement.

Gil began his career as a bossa nova musician, but soon began to compose songs centered on political and social engagement with his comrade Caetano Veloso. In the 1970s, Gil enriched his music with new elements, inspired by African and North American music. Continuing his career, he also wrote for other artists like João Gilberto with Eu Vim Da Bahia.

In 1969, after the promulgation of the AI-5 by the Brazilian military regime established in 1964, Gil and Veloso, whose importance in Brazil was of some form comparable to that of John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the English-speaking world are charged with subversion and imprisoned. It is in prison that Gil begins to take an interest in Eastern religions and becomes a vegetarian >>>. Once released, Gil and Veloso are both exiled to London. Gil plays with the bands Yes, Pink Floyd and Incredible String Band, while continuing his solo career.