Caetano Veloso

• Genre: Brazilian Pop
• Caetano Veloso Website

About

With a massive outpouring of songs, poems and lyrics since his career launched more than 30 years ago, Caetano Veloso is one of the greats -- if not the great -- of Brazilian pop. With Gilberto Gil, Veloso helped define Tropicalismo, Brazil's hybridized, political pop music that drew on Bossa Nova, jazz and art rock for inspiration and changed the face of Brazilian pop forever. A staunch leftist, Veloso has had a rocky relationship with the Brazilian government, but his status as a phenomenally beloved musician never waned. It's not hard to see why: his voice wraps itself around your ears like a cashmere sweater, while his spot-on songwriting doesn't miss a beat -- or a chance to keep up the changing tempo with the times.

- Sarah Bardeen