The 266th Pontifex of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis I, was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in the Flores area of Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 17, 1936. He was elected on March 3, 2013, after previous papa, Benedict XVI, stepped down from duty. As a Jesuit (the first to be elected pope), he strove to be a voice for the common people, eschewing much of the Vatican glitz and amenities bestowed upon the head of the Catholic Church. That voice, so rousing and inspirational to many, was put to song in 2015 with the release of his album, Wake Up! Though not the first pope with a debut long player (John Paul II dropped Santo Subito! in 2007 and Benedict XVI unleashed Alma Mater: Songs from the Vatican in 2009), he may have been the first to employ electric guitar solos and prog rock (courtesy of Le Orme's Tony Pagliuca). Produced by Don Giulio Neroni (who, unsurprisingly, produced the two other papal albums) and featuring snippets of speeches from Vatican City, Korea, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, and Manila, Wake Up! brought Francis' compassionate and all-inclusive agenda to a wider audience of followers unable to hear his message in the flesh. ~ Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi