Gilberto Gil - Music — Google Arts & Culture

A man of many beats

Experimenting in many different genres, there is a Gil for every kind of music lover

Track 1

Rock

The artist has always been connected to the music of the world, which turns hard to picture where the rocker ends or begins.

Track 2

Acoustic

In his acoustic phase, Gilberto Gil formed a trio with his son and guitar player Bem Gil, cellist Jaques Morelenbaum, and toured the world.

Track 3

Samba

Since the time of the Tropicália movement, Gil has worked with Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Maria Bethânia, as well as with less well-known artists such as Milton Nascimento.

Track 4

Reggae

The musician visited Bob Marley's Jamaica twice: the first time to record the track Vamos Fugir, and the second to make his album Kaya N'Gan Daya.

This is Gilberto Gil

Discover Gil's most listened songs

Celebrate his birthday listening to a playlist with his most famous songs

Learn More

It wouldn't be Carnival without Gil

Online Exhibit

Doces Bárbaros in Green and Pink

In 1994, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia, and Gal Costa saw the Doces Bárbaros history being tied to the Mangueira samba school.

Online Exhibit

The music truck Trio Expresso 2222 and the musical encounters in the Carnaval of Bahia

Always featuring famous guests, the Gilberto Gil act dragged thousands of partygoers through the streets of Salvador

Online Exhibit

Gilberto Gil at Carnival

As well as having his own Carnival viewing box, known as Expresso 2222, the musician has been celebrated by the afoxé music group Filhos de Gandhy, and samba schools from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Online Exhibit

From Bahia to São Paulo through the hands of Vai-Vai

Gilberto Gil left Salvador to be honored by the samba school with the themed samba “Sambar com fé eu vou,” in the 2018 Carnaval.

Online Exhibit

The Camarote Expresso 2222 and the encounters in Bahia’s Carnaval

Gilberto Gil’s manager and wife, Flora Gil affectionately dubbed the place in Salvador as “Gil’s Carnaval house.”

Soy Loco Por Ti, Gil

Gil's music travels across Latin America

Online Exhibit

The Poet Capinan and Soy Loco por Ti America

José Carlos Capinan and Gilberto Gil wrote of the song that became a Latin America anthem in Brazil.

Online Exhibit

Ministry of Culture and “la locura” for Latin America

The story by the writer of “Soy loco por ti America” with the continent after Gilberto Gil was minister in Brazil.

A Full Shelf

Throughout his career, Gil's talents have been recognized through many awards

The instruments

Gil’s early talent for music was his ticket to the world

The Accordion

The instrument that set the beat to the musician's musical career

The Guitar

Learn about how Gil created his unique own beat with the guitar

From page to stage

Learn how a Gilberto Gil hit comes to life

Step 5

The Stage

Now sing out loud

Step 1

The Words

Grab pen and paper

Step 2

The Studio

Put on your headphones

Step 3

The Tools

Tune the instruments

Step 4

The Band

Follow the beat

Adapting to the new world stage

Gil's work during the pandemic

ReVisiting the Re albums

Gilberto Gil brought energy and improvisation on stage to his Refazenda, Refavela, and Realce albums. In 2021, he revived this vibe with the music video Refloresta.

Livestreaming and connecting online

During the Covid-19 lockdowns, Gil remained involved in all his career-long activities

Pick a song

Click and learn the story behind Gil's lyrics

Online Exhibit

"Aquele Abraço": Pain Turned into Happiness, Forgiveness and Samba

Gilberto Gil wrote one of his biggest hits inspired by injustice, but leaving for exile deprived him of seeing his goodbye song become a hit.

Online Exhibit

"Domingo no Parque": Love, Jealousy and Death in 3 Acts

An analysis of the Gilberto Gil’s composition performed in the festival of 1967, when it caused controversy for mixing Brazilian elements to electric guitar.

Online Exhibit

“Amarra o teu arado a uma estrela”: hope and disappointment in a song

At a time when Brazil was going under redemocratization, Gilberto Gil proposed the rural workers to focus on their dreams; this was a theme song for a soap.

Online Exhibit

Expresso 2222 and the accordion mood promoted by the acoustic guitar

Gilberto Gil composed the title track for the 1972 LP using strings, but took inspiration on the cadence of the typically Northeastern instrument.

Online Exhibit

The size of the “parabolicamará” antenna

Time, space, technology, and humanity find their measure in the song-manifest wrote by Gilberto Gil to thin about tradition x contemporaneity.

80 years of talent

How he has changed over his life

The effects of time in the life and works of Gilberto Gil

Subjects such as aging and death are recurrent in the compositions by the artist, as well as family values.

View

“I knew that music was my language, really. That music would take me to know the world, it would take me to other lands. Because I thought I had the music of the earth and the music of the sky.”Becoming Gilberto Gil

Words of Wisdom

Online Exhibit

The journey from musical poetry...

Learn the lingo

Online Exhibit

A man of many beats

Experimenting in many different genres, there is a Gil for every kind of music lover

Rock

The artist has always been connected to the music of the world, which turns hard to picture where the rocker ends or begins.

Acoustic

In his acoustic phase, Gilberto Gil formed a trio with his son and guitar player Bem Gil, cellist Jaques Morelenbaum, and toured the world.

Samba

Since the time of the Tropicália movement, Gil has worked with Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Maria Bethânia, as well as with less well-known artists such as Milton Nascimento.

Reggae

The musician visited Bob Marley's Jamaica twice: the first time to record the track Vamos Fugir, and the second to make his album Kaya N'Gan Daya.

This is Gilberto Gil

Discover Gil's most listened songs

Celebrate his birthday listening to a playlist with his most famous songs

It wouldn't be Carnival without Gil

Doces Bárbaros in Green and Pink

In 1994, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia, and Gal Costa saw the Doces Bárbaros history being tied to the Mangueira samba school.

The music truck Trio Expresso 2222 and the musical encounters in the Carnaval of Bahia

Always featuring famous guests, the Gilberto Gil act dragged thousands of partygoers through the streets of Salvador

Gilberto Gil at Carnival

As well as having his own Carnival viewing box, known as Expresso 2222, the musician has been celebrated by the afoxé music group Filhos de Gandhy, and samba schools from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

From Bahia to São Paulo through the hands of Vai-Vai

Gilberto Gil left Salvador to be honored by the samba school with the themed samba “Sambar com fé eu vou,” in the 2018 Carnaval.

The Camarote Expresso 2222 and the encounters in Bahia’s Carnaval

Gilberto Gil’s manager and wife, Flora Gil affectionately dubbed the place in Salvador as “Gil’s Carnaval house.”

Soy Loco Por Ti, Gil

Gil's music travels across Latin America

The Poet Capinan and Soy Loco por Ti America

José Carlos Capinan and Gilberto Gil wrote of the song that became a Latin America anthem in Brazil.

Ministry of Culture and “la locura” for Latin America

The story by the writer of “Soy loco por ti America” with the continent after Gilberto Gil was minister in Brazil.

A Full Shelf

Throughout his career, Gil's talents have been recognized through many awards

The instruments

Gil’s early talent for music was his ticket to the world

The Accordion

The instrument that set the beat to the musician's musical career

The Guitar

Learn about how Gil created his unique own beat with the guitar

From page to stage

Learn how a Gilberto Gil hit comes to life

The Stage

Now sing out loud

The Words

Grab pen and paper

The Studio

Put on your headphones

The Tools

Tune the instruments

The Band

Follow the beat

Adapting to the new world stage

Gil's work during the pandemic

ReVisiting the Re albums

Gilberto Gil brought energy and improvisation on stage to his Refazenda, Refavela, and Realce albums. In 2021, he revived this vibe with the music video Refloresta.

Livestreaming and connecting online

During the Covid-19 lockdowns, Gil remained involved in all his career-long activities

Pick a song

Click and learn the story behind Gil's lyrics

"Aquele Abraço": Pain Turned into Happiness, Forgiveness and Samba

Gilberto Gil wrote one of his biggest hits inspired by injustice, but leaving for exile deprived him of seeing his goodbye song become a hit.

"Domingo no Parque": Love, Jealousy and Death in 3 Acts

An analysis of the Gilberto Gil’s composition performed in the festival of 1967, when it caused controversy for mixing Brazilian elements to electric guitar.

“Amarra o teu arado a uma estrela”: hope and disappointment in a song

At a time when Brazil was going under redemocratization, Gilberto Gil proposed the rural workers to focus on their dreams; this was a theme song for a soap.

Expresso 2222 and the accordion mood promoted by the acoustic guitar

Gilberto Gil composed the title track for the 1972 LP using strings, but took inspiration on the cadence of the typically Northeastern instrument.

The size of the “parabolicamará” antenna

Time, space, technology, and humanity find their measure in the song-manifest wrote by Gilberto Gil to thin about tradition x contemporaneity.

80 years of talent

How he has changed over his life

The effects of time in the life and works of Gilberto Gil

Subjects such as aging and death are recurrent in the compositions by the artist, as well as family values.

Words of Wisdom

The journey from musical poetry...

Learn the lingo

...to becoming immortal

Gil receives the highest honor in Brazilian Literature

In his own words

Be a part of history and join Gil in his Brazilian Academy of Letters inauguration

African connection