Sue Jorge
*Sue Jorge was born on this date in 1970. He is an Afro Brazilian musical artist, songwriter, and actor.
Jorge Mário da Silva (his birth name) was the firstborn of four children in Belford Roxo, Rio de Janeiro. According to a DNA test, Seu Jorge is 85.1% African, 12.9% European, and 2% Amerindian. He belongs to haplogroup R1b, suggesting that his paternal lineage probably derives from Western Europe.
He dreamt of becoming a musician, and in adolescence, he would frequent samba circles and funk parties with his dad and brothers and early on started to professionalize singing. When he was ten years old, he started working in a tire shop, the first of various occupations such as courier, joiner, and potato peeler in a bar. Served the Brazilian Army from 1989 to 1990 in Rio de Janeiro but was discharged in 1990.
Also, in 1990, the slaughtering of his brother Vitório tore his family apart, and Jorge became homeless for almost three years. The turnaround happened when Gabriel Moura invited him to participate in The flour saga (known in Portuguese as A saga da Farinha). He sang and acted in over 20 shows with the Companhia de Teatro TUERJ. Jorge slept in the theater between 1993 and 1997, when he joined the band Farofa Carioca. Jorge appeared in the 2002 film City of God, and was Pelé dos Santos in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and provided much of the soundtrack.
In 2006, he performed at the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee, and the Festival Sudoeste TMN in Portugal. He also performed in 2006 at the Bluesfest and the Harbourfront in Toronto, Ontario. Jorge's performances are known for their Samba genre and for moving the crowd. In 2010 he performed with Thievery Corporation at the Austin City Limits. His album 'América Brasil' had a limited Brazilian release in 2007 under Cafuné Gravadora, distributed in the U.K. by Proper Music Distribution.
In 2011, he collaborated with Beck on the Mario C. remix of "Tropicália" for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." In 2012, he collaborated with American fashion designer Rachel Roy on a line of sportswear, footwear, jewelry, and handbags. In 2015, he was nominated for the 16th Latin Grammy Awards in the Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album category. He performed after lighting the cauldron in the 2016 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. In 2019, he had the lead acting role in the drama film Marighella.
