Homeless in His Twenties, Then Brazil's Soulful Voice

Seu Jorge, the Brazilian singer and actor, grew up in a favela just outside Rio de Janeiro, the kind of neighbourhood shown in the film City of God. In an NPR interview in February 2016 he described a hard childhood with few opportunities: no jobs nearby and very poor schooling. His brother was killed in violent confrontations with police. He credits his own path to luck and hard work, and says it was his choice that set him apart from the film character he played, Mané Galinha, who turned to revenge and crime.

By his early twenties he was homeless. NPR's account of that period is brief, and it gives no places or dates for it. Even without a home he kept performing: he acted in a university play, sang at a bar in northern Rio and played in bands.

His break came when the rapper Marcelo D2 invited him to play drums with Planet Hemp. Seu Jorge said that D2 saved his life.

In 2001 his second album, Samba Esporte Fino, made him a household name in Brazil and was also his first international release, blending the funk he loved as a child with traditional Brazilian sounds. He played Mané Galinha in City of God, and in 2004 Wes Anderson asked him to record David Bowie songs in Portuguese for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, in which he also appeared. He said Bowie told him he would never have heard that new level of beauty in his songs without the Portuguese versions.

Looking ahead, Seu Jorge said he was trying to follow the same steps as Brazilian icons such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento.