Ivan Lins was born on June 16, 1945 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He began studies at the Military College in Rio, received an industrial chemical engineering degree from the Federal University and spending several years in Boston, Massachusetts with his naval engineer father, he continued his graduate studies at M.I.T. He considered a career in volleyball before discovering his considerable musical talent.

As a pianist Luiz Eça and João Donato influenced Lins. While in college he performed in a jazz-bossa trio. In 1970 Ivan started his music career by winning second place in…