Legendary Brazilian footballer and sporting icon Pelé passed away today at age 82, and while he is recognized globally for his ability to score on the field — potting a world record 1,279 goals in 1,363 matches across his playing career — it was also a talent he carried into recording studios.
Throughout his life, the soccer star — who was jointly named the FIFA Player of the Century with late musically-inclined peer Diego Maradona in 2000 — was known to play guitar and sing when not playing "the beautiful game," artistic pursuits that eventually led him to compose original music for a documentary about his life and career.
For the original motion picture soundtrack of Pelé, a 1977 documentary film from director François Reichenbach, Pelé worked alongside producer and arranger Sérgio Mendes — the founder of seminal bossa nova quartet Brasil '66 — on material that would mark his debut as a singer-songwriter.
On the album, the athlete contributes vocals to the film's main theme, "Meu Mundo É uma Bola (My World Is a Ball)" and "Cidade Grande (Big City)," leading a band that also featured guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, vocalists Gracinha Leporace and Carol Rogers, and storied session drummer Jim Keltner.
Compared to fellow athletes who got into the game of cutting records, this effort was more than a novelty. Pelé would make his proper solo debut in 2006 with Pelé Ginga, an album on which he is joined by Tropicália figureheads Gilberto Gil and Elis Regina, and samba rap progenitor Rappin' Hood.
To mark the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Pelé recorded and released single "Esperança." Its accompanying music video, which you can view below, cuts together footage of himself and Mendes tracking the song in-studio with clips of him playing guitar in his youth.
Throughout his life, the soccer star — who was jointly named the FIFA Player of the Century with late musically-inclined peer Diego Maradona in 2000 — was known to play guitar and sing when not playing "the beautiful game," artistic pursuits that eventually led him to compose original music for a documentary about his life and career.
For the original motion picture soundtrack of Pelé, a 1977 documentary film from director François Reichenbach, Pelé worked alongside producer and arranger Sérgio Mendes — the founder of seminal bossa nova quartet Brasil '66 — on material that would mark his debut as a singer-songwriter.
On the album, the athlete contributes vocals to the film's main theme, "Meu Mundo É uma Bola (My World Is a Ball)" and "Cidade Grande (Big City)," leading a band that also featured guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, vocalists Gracinha Leporace and Carol Rogers, and storied session drummer Jim Keltner.
Compared to fellow athletes who got into the game of cutting records, this effort was more than a novelty. Pelé would make his proper solo debut in 2006 with Pelé Ginga, an album on which he is joined by Tropicália figureheads Gilberto Gil and Elis Regina, and samba rap progenitor Rappin' Hood.
To mark the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Pelé recorded and released single "Esperança." Its accompanying music video, which you can view below, cuts together footage of himself and Mendes tracking the song in-studio with clips of him playing guitar in his youth.
