Early life and career 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). Jorge is one of four brothers. His parents wanted him to either be a lawyer or pediatrician. 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 given to him by his mother. He was given the nickname "Babulina" after his enthusiastic pronunciation of
rockabilly singer
Ronnie Self's song "Bop-A-Lena". He was introduced to
Tim Maia by
Erasmo Carlos. Jorge also liked
Little Richard. It was in 1963 at one of those clubs in which he performed that Jorge's musical career took off; he 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. However, as that phase in Brazilian pop music history passed and bossa nova became better known throughout the world, Ben rose to prominence. Holdings both television programs O Fino da Bossa and Jovem Guarda from
Rede Record, after being reprimanded by the production of "O Fino da Bossa", chose to participate in the Jovem Guarda, soon after, joined the program Divino, Maravilhoso from
TV Tupi, presented by
Caetano Veloso and
Gilberto Gil. Jorge Ben's first public appearances were in small festivals organised by his friends, where bossa nova and rock and roll predominated. As with most musicians of the time, Ben was initially influenced by
João Gilberto even though he was quite innovative in his own right. Outside of Brazil, the song is better known in cover versions by
Sérgio Mendes and the
Tamba Trio. The song has also been reinterpreted by prominent jazz artists including
Ella Fitzgerald,
Oscar Peterson,
Dizzy Gillespie and
Al Jarreau; as well as other samba artists of the time, such as
Elza Soares. 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 composed the song "Mas, que Nada!" in 1963. Ben's 1963 debut album
Samba Esquema Novo was met with great acclaim from fans, and encouraged Philips to capitalize on the success with immediate follow-up albums. The label pressured Ben to hastily record songs imitative of his debut, along with
cover songs, resulting in the three albums within the span of 18 months and a strain on the singer's relationship with Philips. He left the label after his 1965 album
Big Ben.
Success In 1969, Jorge Ben released his
eponymous album amid the excitement of the cultural and musical
Tropicália movement. The album featured
Trio Mocotó as his backing band, who would go on to launch a successful career on the back of their association with Ben. The album was noted for
"País Tropical", one of his most famous compositions, although it would be
Wilson Simonal who would take his recording of the song to the top of the charts in Brazil that same year. Instead, the song "Charles, Anjo 45", also from the self-titled album, would become Ben's biggest self-performed chart hit of the year. Ben recorded "Taji Mahal" in 1972. Jorge Ben released his most esoteric and experimental albums in the 1970s, most notably
A Tábua de Esmeralda in 1974 and
Solta o Pavão in 1975. The following year he released one of his most popular albums,
África Brasil (1976), a fusion of funk and samba which relied more on the electric guitar than previous efforts. This album also features a remake of his previously released song "Taj Mahal." With its commercial success and sustained radio play, the melody made its way into the 1979 hit "
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by
Rod Stewart. Ben sued for plagiarism and Stewart settled the lawsuit and donated the single’s royalties to UNICEF. In 1989, Jorge changed his recording label as well as his artistic name, becoming Jorge Benjor (or Jorge Ben Jor). At the time, it was said that there were numerous reasons for his change in name; other sources say it was in response to an incident where some of his royalties accidentally went to American guitarist
George Benson. An estimated 3 million people attended Jorge's New Year's Eve open concert in 1993.
Recent career in 2007 In 2002, Jorge Ben contributed to the critically acclaimed
Red Hot + Riot, a compilation CD created by the
Red Hot Organization in tribute to the music and work of Nigerian musician
Fela Kuti, which raised money for various charities devoted to raising AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. He collaborated with hip-hop artists
Dead Prez,
Talib Kweli, and
Bilal to remake Fela Kuti's famous song "Shuffering and Shmiling" for the CD. Ben was presented with the
Lifetime Achievement Award by the
Latin Recording Academy in 2005. A year later, a remake of Ben's "Mas, que Nada!" became an international chart hit for
Sérgio Mendes with
The Black Eyed Peas after being used by
Nike in a global TV advertisement during the
2006 FIFA World Cup; this remake (the second time Mendes had covered the track) reached the Top 10 in several European countries, including the UK and Germany, in addition to reaching Number 1 in the Netherlands. Jorge Ben is also a big fan of
Flamengo, a Brazilian football club, located in
Rio de Janeiro, which counts
Zico,
Junior and
Leandro among their former star players. Ben's interest in football carries over to his music, as many of his songs deal with the subject, such as "Flamengo", "Camisa 10 da Gávea", "Ponta De Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)", "Zagueiro", "
Fio Maravilha", and "A Loba Comeu o Canário". On July 7, 2007, he performed at the
Brazilian leg of
Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro. In 2012, Jorge was included in an unranked list of Rolling Stone Brasil's of the 30 greatest guitarists of the country. Jorge was a participant in the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. In 2025, Jorge was ordered to pay 977,000 in Brazilian Real to a former collabrator. ==Personal life==