Tim Maia was a Brazilian musician, songwriter and businessman known for his iconoclastic, ironic, outspoken, and humorous musical style. Maia contributed to Brazilian music within a wide variety of musical genres, including soul, funk, bossa nova, disco, romantic ballads, pop, rock, jazz, baião and MPB. He introduced the soul style on the Brazilian musical scene. Along with Jorge Ben, Maia pioneered MPB's samba rock genre, combining samba, soul, and funk. He is internationally recognized as one of the biggest icons of the Brazilian music.
Tim Maia recorded numerous albums and toured extensively in a long career. After his early death in 1998, his recorded oeuvre has shown enduring popularity. A theatrical retrospective of his career, the popular musical Vale Tudo, was first staged in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.