He was minister for a few years, but Gilberto Gil remains an icon of the counterculture and music, the art that made him famous five decades ago. "My music is my language", said the Brazilian composer a long time ago as a member of the Government of his country, from where he also tried to promote his small revolts against the establishment. Activist against the military dictatorship, forced exile and also political, Gilberto Gil is one of the musical legends of Brazil. The black skin singer, who turns 75 on June 26, is essential to explain the universal success of Brazilian rhythms in the last half century. Along with Caetano Veloso, Gil became known in the 60's, before turning 30, as one of the parents of "tropicalismo", the avant-garde that fused Brazilian popular music and bossa nova with modern sounds Of rock and pop. Meanwhile, more than 50 multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning albums surpass four million sales.
His single, Aquele abraço , published in 1969 when Gil left in exile, became a symbol of the struggle against the dictatorship (1964-1985). The declaration of love for the metropolis of Rio - "Rio de Janeiro continues to be beautiful," says its first stanza - seemed to express at the same time the hopes and melancholy of the artist who was leaving for forced exile. Gil and Caetano Veloso had been held for months because of the critical vocation of their music. Both took refuge in London. The Anglo-Saxon exile served Gil to enrich his repertoire with new influences thanks to the contact with the Beatles and the psychedelic guitar chords of Jimmy Hendrix. The composer returned to Brazil in 1972. Later he also embraced Bob Marley's reggae, whose hit "No Woman, No Cry" made a famous Portuguese version ("Nao Chore Mais"), sprinkled with the classic Brazilian samba. Gilberto Gil was born in 1942 in the interior of the state of Bahia, in the northeast, the region marked by the heritage of the ancient African slaves where the musical heart of the rich Brazilian tradition beats. In Bahia also began in the other activity that marked his biography: politics.
In 1988 he was elected municipal councilor in Salvador de Bahia. When he expired his term a few years later announced his political retirement, but in the new century could not resist the temptation and accepted the call of the president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to become its minister of Culture. Already from the institutions, the artist tried to continue fomenting the cultural expressions of the periphery, mainly with a little orthodox positions in favor of flexibilizar the copyright in the age of Internet. Hackers "are militants of the counterculture who see in the computer a fantastic tool of communication", assured once in an interview the veteran tropicalist. As a minister he also openly advocated the decriminalization of drugs and a different approach to treating addiction as a public health problem. "I do not smoke anymore," said the musician, who was arrested some time ago, for marijuana. "I left her when I turned 50." Gil left the Ministry of Culture in 2008 and since then is again fully dedicated to music. In 2016, it closed, in a certain way, another symbolic circle in Rio de Janeiro, dressed in an unblemished white as a guest of honor in the Maracaná stadium. His Carioca anthem "That embrace" was the theme in charge of opening the first South American Olympic Games.
Since September last year, when he was hospitalized for a problem of arterial hypertension, the Bahian musician, father of eight children with three different women, has some health problems. "I'm ready, out of respect for my children," he said in May regarding his will. "The end is something we have to deal with."
