About Jorge Ben
Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˌʒɔʁʒi ˈbẽj]). Performing in a samba style that also explored soul, funk, rock and bossa nova sounds, Ben has recorded such well-known songs as "Chove Chuva", "Mas Que Nada", "Ive Brussel" and "Balança Pema". His music has been covered by artists such as Caetano Veloso, Sérgio Mendes, Miriam Makeba, Soulfly and Marisa Monte. His musical work has been vastly sampled by music producers and DJs in a variety of genres such as jazz funk, disco, and acid jazz. Ben's broad-minded and original approach to samba led him through participation in some of Brazilian popular music's most important musical movements, such as bossa nova, Jovem Guarda, and Tropicália, with the latter period defined by his albums Jorge Ben (1969) and Fôrça Bruta (1970). He has been called "the father of samba rock", by Billboard magazine. According to American music critic Robert Christgau, Ben and his contemporary Gilberto Gil were "always ready to go further out on a beat than the other samba/bossa geniuses". In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked Ben's 1976 song "Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)" number 351 in their updated list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. 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. One week later, Jorge Ben's first single was released. Born Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes in Rio de Janeiro, he first took the stage name Jorge Ben after his mother's name (Sílvia Saint Ben Lima, Brazilian-born of Ethiopian origin) but in 1989 changed it to Jorge Ben Jor (commonly written Benjor).
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.