Gilberto Gil

Gil started in the '50s, inspired by Luiz Gonzaga and later by bossa nova pioneers. In 1963, with Caetano Veloso, he co-founded Tropicália, impacting Brazilian arts globally, despite dictatorship exile. Influenced in London by the Beatles and Hendrix, he returned to Brazil, continuing his musical output with nearly 60 albums and around 4 million sales. Gil won 9 Grammys, was named UNESCO's Artist of Peace, Brazil's Minister of Culture, and received multiple international honors, including an honorary doctorate from Berklee and a seat at the Brazilian Academy of Letters.