Jorge Ben Jor
| Jorge Ben Jor | |
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Jorge Ben Jor
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jorge Duilio Lima Menezes |
| Born | March 22, 1942 |
| Origin | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Genres | MPB, tropicália, samba rock, samba funk, bossa nova, funk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Website | jorgebenjor |
Jorge Duilio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1945), known originally as Jorge Ben and later as Jorge Ben Jor, is a Brazilian popular musician. His characteristic style fuses samba, funk, rock and bossa nova with lyrics that blend humor and satire with often esoteric subject matter. Some of his hits include "Chove Chuva," "Mas Que Nada," "Ive Brussel," "Balança Pena," among others, and have been interpreted by artists such as Caetano Veloso, Sergio Mendes, Miriam Makeba, and Marisa Monte.
Born Jorge Duilio Lima Menezes in Rio de Janeiro, he first took the stage name Jorge Ben after his mother's name (of Ethiopian origin) but in the 1980s changed it to Jorge Ben Jor (commonly written Benjor).
Jorge Ben obtained his first pandeiro (Brazil's most popular type of tambourine) when he was thirteen, and two years later, was singing in a church choir. He also took part as a pandeiro player in the blocos of Carnaval, and from eighteen years of age, he began performing at parties and nightclubs with the guitar that his mother gifted him. He received the nickname "Babulina", after their enthusiastic pronunciation of Ronnie Self's song "Bop-A-Lena". Was presented to Tim Maia by Erasmo Carlos, soon discovered that Maia was also known for the same reason. It was at one of those clubs in which he performed that his musical career took off. In 1963, Jorge came on stage and sang "Mas Que Nada" to a small crowd that happened to include an executive from the recording company, Philips. One week later, Jorge Ben's first single was released.
The hybrid rhythms that Jorge employed brought him some problems at the start of his career, when Brazilian music was split between the rockier sounds of the Jovem Guarda and traditional samba with its complex lyrics. But as that phase in Brazilian pop music history passed, and bossa nova became better known throughout the world, Ben rose to prominence.
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