Gil, who also happens to be Brazil's Minister of Culture, continues to support his latest studio album, "Gil Luminoso," which surfaced in the US in March 2007. Last year's North American jaunt behind the record marked the performer's first since taking office in 2003, according to the Toronto Star.

The 65-year-old singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and his friend/collaborator Caetano Veloso are credited with pioneering the Tropicalia movement of the late '60s. The music's protest themes angered Brazil's military dictatorship, and both artists were thrown in prison and then exiled to England. Gil recorded several albums there in the early '70s before returning to his homeland.

In his role as Minister of Culture, Gil has become a major player in the search for more flexible forms of distributing artistic work and alternatives to the traditional copyright system, according to the New York Times. He recently won a seven-year court battle to regain rights to his own 400-plus-song catalog.

Gil plans to resign his political post this year to treat a polyp on his vocal cords, according to various reports.