As three year old boy, Gilberto Gil was already playing drums and telling his family and neighbours,"I want to be a musician".

Born Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira on June 29, 1942, in the coastal town of Salvador, Gil spent his boyhood in the rural interior of Bahia, listening to Ari Barroso's programs on the radio and absorbing the Afro-Caribbean music that flourishes in that region of Brazil. He watched the blind guitarists busking in the local market, and was always entranced when the city band paraded thorugh the streets of his village. When he was seven, his family took him to Salvador to celebrate Carnival, and he was dazzled by the first electric band he saw, a trio, playing on the Rua Sete de Setembro. By then, he could play a samba beat on his drums and was teaching himself to play the trumpet from the music of Bob Nelson which he heard on the radio.
The family returned to Salvador in 1950 where Gil picked up the accordion, the instrument of his then-current hero Luiz Gonzaga. He was in high school and playing accordion at the local dances with a group that called itself "Os Desafinados" ("the out-of-tunes") when he heard Joao Gilberto singing "Chega de Saudade" on the radio. He quickly obtained a guitar and taught himself to play the bossa nova. At University in 1960, the business administration student composed his first song "Felicidade Vem Depois" a bossa nova. He began to fill his extracurricular time with composing, recording advertising jingles and singing on local television programs.
In 1963, as the bossa nova movement began to infiltrate music all over the world, Gil met Maria Bethania and her brother Caetano Veloso, a philosphy student at Gil's university and a fan of Joao Gilberto as well. In July of 1964, they met Gal Costa and Tom Zé and inaugurated the Vihla Vehla Theatre in Salvador with a concert of bossa nova and traditional Brazilian songs entitled "Nos, Por Exemplo" ("We, For example").
Still intent on a career in business management, Gil graduated and travelled to São Paulo to compete for a job at (the giant Swiss conglomerate) Gessy-Lever. During his ten day stay, he went out to the clubs to mix with the pop music people and ended up singing in the Joao Sebastiao Bar at a show to honor the composer Chico Buarque de Hollanda.
Six months later he married and took his wife back to São Paulo. Gil went to work for Gessy-Lever, but continued to spend time at the television studio helping with the "Opiniao" ("Opinion") program. Caetano, Gal and Tom Zé and they did "Arena Canta Bahia" a show directed by Augusto Boal and then "Tempo de Guerra (Time Of War)" at the Teatro Oficina. In 1966, Elis Regina recorded his first hit single "Louvacao" and Gil began to dedicate himself exclusively to music, singing on television and doing shows with Vinicius de Moraes and Maria Bethania. He went to Rio de Janeiro to record his first record, for the Philips label. The influence of the Beatles and the urban enviroment, in São Paulo pushed his songwriting in a new direction, away from the traditional Brazilian sounds - "Ele Falava Nisso Todo Dia" ("He Talked About it Every Day"), is about a person preoccupied with the security of life. In 1967, however, he did a show in Recife and heard the Caruaru Pipe Band. He was struck by their traditional, regional approach and returned to Rio with a new perspective. He wrote "Domingo No Parque" ("Sunday in the Park") which was featured in a pop music festival. Caetano Veloso's song, "Alegria, Alegria" was also featured and the "Tropicalista" movement began. The Tropicalista movement, the Brazialian equivalent of America's folk-rock movement, was a musical and cultural movement whose exponents were Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Tom Ze, Mutantes, the composer Rogerio Duprat, the poets Torquato Neto and Luis Carlos Capinam, and manager figure Guilherme Araujo.
Through 1968, Gil and other Tropicalistas were featured in a weekly program on TV Tupi, called "Divino Maravilhoso" as well as in festivals all over Brazil. The next year he composed "Aquele Abraco" and the samba composition became one of his biggest hits. He made one more record and then moved to London. Exploring the foreign cultures of Europe, he worked on developing his guitar technique, performed in theatre productions, television shows, and recorded his first record with English lyrics.
In 1972, he returned to Brazil in search of his musical roots and immersed himself in the traditional music of Brazil. He explored music as an expression of the forces of nature, voicing the experiences of the poor living in Brazil's notorious urban slums. He recorded Expresso 2222 - resulting in the hit singles "Back In Bahia" and "Oriente" which he performed on a tour of Brazil's universities.
In January 1973 Gil and Gal Costa represented Brazil at the Midem Festival in Cannes. That year, he continued to build his repertoire of hit singles and recorded concerts for release. Gil also collaborated with Jorge Ben to record a double album Gil and Jorge. Producers Perinho Albuquerque and Paulinho Tapajos captured the relaxed atmosphere of the mostly improvised sessions, and the union of these two giants of Afro-Brazilian music is considered a watermark record. In September 1975 he released one of his most successful records. Rafazenda (Refarming) he said at the time "is everything I want to live, to form, to go backwards". On this record Gil, producer Mazola, and arranger Perinho Albuquerque explored the power of simplicity, using rustic instrumentals and dense poetic lyrics, to subtle effect - utilizing disguises and ambiguities, Gil surprised his audience.
He promoted Rafazenda through more than sixty Brazilian cities, and spent a year, returning to reprise the concert in Rio. On the heels of that epic tour, he and fellow superstars Caetano, Gal and Maria Bethania toured as "Doces Barbaros" ("Sweet Barbarians"). The four Baianos kicked off in São Paulo and travelled through the South and Northeast with great success. In 1977, he went to Nigeria to partecipate in an international festival celebrating the artistic achievements of black people all over the world. The experience led Gil to deeply consider his African heritage. He recorded Refavela which was greeted with both critical and public success, and he did a nationwide tour to promote the album.
Later that year, he began a recording relationship with WEA Brazil and started aiming his music at the American market. Nightingale was released in 1979, and from March to May, Gil travelled across the United States, playing in colleges. The college students responded to the Gil's music by buying out all available supplies of his records. Simultaneously, WEA released a double live album in Brazil, Gil em Montreux recorded at the famous Swiss jazz festival. They quickly followed it with a studio release, Realce and yet another successful tour of Brazil.
In 1980, he took another step toward promoting an international music community - he invited Jimmy Cliff to tour with him in Brazil, playing for huge audiences in football stadiums and recorded a Brazilian version of the Bob Marley song "No Woman, No Cry" which hit number one in Brazil, selling 700,000 copies. A Gente Precisa Ver o Luar (We Have To Watch The Moonlight) released in March 1981 was considered one of the most important albums in Gil's multi-acclaimed career, spawning five hit singles. Jom Tob Azulay, an important Brazilian film director, shot the 1981 tour. Coracoes a Mil, the film, saw wide release in Brazil and is still running. The success of that record led to another appearance at Montreux Jazz Festival, and this time, not on the Brazilian bill - on a reggae evening, with Jimmy Cliff. For Gil, it signaled the crossing of a major influence all over the world. He continued on from Montreux to Holland, France, and Italy, playing to his many European fans.
In addition to these successful European appearances, he did two very different tours in Brazil: a solo show with only his guitar playing to small audiences, and the "Um Band Um" tour with the complete band. The last date on this tour took place at Ibirapuera Park more than 100,000 people listened intently to his performance which would later air on American cable television.
Gil spent then the next few years expanding his success across the world - playing to larger audiences and reaching out to new places: Spain, Portugal, England, Belgium, Israel and the Scandinavian countries. He produced two televison specials for TV Globo, each one earning an award as the best TV musical of the year. Despite the recessed market in Brazil, his record sales continued to increase.
In 1985 Gil called on his reggae friends, the Wailers, to record some songs in English and increase his visibility in the states. He appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York and in the international music festival called "Rock in Rio" which also featured Al Jarreau, James Taylor, George Benson, among others.
In 1986 Gil and Band played in Japan for the first time, making 17 appearances in 30 days. These concerts were recorded on video and digital audio, to be transformed later into the Gil Live in Tokyo compact disc. This same year Gil played at the Montreux Jazz and shot a video of the performance. They went on to Europe and Israel and returned to play 40 Brazilian cities.
In 1987, Gil, his old friend Jorge Mautner, and percussionist Repolho, did a series of concerts aimed at conveying a more intimate mood. These concerts gave birth to Gil em Concerto, recorded live and featuring Gil's guitar work. Gil also prepared a album recorded at the famous Nas Nuvens studio which was released only outside Brazil. That same year, Gil stepped firmly into the Brazilian political scene, elected president of the Gregorio de Mattos Foundation and Culture Secretary of his home state, Bahia. The video, "Bahia, Switzerland and Japan", tracking the highlights of his world tour, was released through Manchete video. 
In 1988, as a candidate for City Alderman, Gil appeared in popular concerts with Jorge Ben, Sandra Sa, Chico Buarque, and many other artists from Bahia: Luiz Caldas, Armandinho, Margareth Menezes, Olodum and more. Gil toured the states to promote the release of Soy Loco por ti America (I'm Crazy For You America) and Gil Live in Tokyo.
1989 has brought the elected City Alderman in Salvador a first time tour of Venezuela, playing in Caracas, Maracibo and Porto Ordaz. 

Biography courtesy of Saudades Tourneen