Astrud Gilberto, the smooth-voiced Brazilian singer whose version of “The Girl From Ipanema” introduced bossa nova to much of the world and is likely one of the most recognized popular hits of all time, has died, according to the Guardian. No cause of death has been reported; she was 83.
The daughter of a German father and a Brazilian mother, the singer was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Bahia in 1940 and mostly raised in Rio de Janeiro. She married bossa nova pioneer/ singer-guitarist João Gilberto in 1959, and although the marriage lasted only a few years, but she kept his name.
In 1963, she joined him on a trip to New York to record the “Getz/Gilberto” album with jazz saxophonist Stan Getz. She ended up singing “Girl From Ipanema” inadvertently: Producer Creed Taylor had wanted to record an English version of the Brazilian song “Garota De Ipanema” and Astrud, whose father taught languages, was the only Brazilian at the session who spoke English. It was the first song she’d ever recorded, but her un-studied, lighthearted take on the song’s unforgettable melody turned it into a monumental international hit, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy for Song Of the Year.
She was reportedly not paid for recording the song, but its success led to many other opportunities, including a long-term deal with Verve Records, a role in the film “The Hanged Man.” After her divorce, she toured with Getz, collaborated with Chet Baker and released some 16 studio albums over the following decades, with her last arriving in 2002. In 1996, she and George Michael duetted on the Brazilian song “Desafinado” for “Red Hot + Rio” in the Red Hot AIDS benefit album series. She received a lifetime achievement award from the Latin Recording Academy in 2008.
“She was an important part of ALL that is Brazilian music in the world and she changed many lives with her energy,” her collaborator Paul Ricci wrote in a social media post announcing her death.