Astrud Gilberto, “The Girl From Ipanema” singer who helped make bossa nova a sensation in the 1960s, died at 83 on Monday (June 5).
Paul Ricci, a friend and former collaborator of Gilberto’s, confirmed the news of the Brazilian singer’s death on social media at the request of her son Marcelo. “She was an important part of ALL that is Brazilian music in the world and she changed many lives with her energy,” he said in statement via Facebook.
Gilberto’s “The Girl From Ipanema” came about in a serendipitous way. The track was originally recorded by her then-husband, João Gilberto, also known as the the father of bossa nova. In 1963, the couple traveled to New York City to record with Stan Getz and fellow Brazilian bossa nova star Antônio Carlos Jobim, and during one of the sessions, Astrud was asked to join in despite having no recording experience.
“While rehearsing with Stan in the song ‘The Girl From Ipanema,’ João casually asked me to join in and sing a chorus in English after he had just sung the first chorus in Portuguese,” the late singer shared in a 2002 interview with for her official website, according to The New York Times. “Stan was very receptive. I’ll never forget that while we were listening back to the just recorded version, Stan said to me, ‘This song is going to make you famous.’”
Getz was right — a solo version of “The Girl From Impanema” without João’s Portuguese lyrics and featuring only Astrud was released in 1964. In the United States, the track peaked at No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, and later won the Grammy Award for record of the year in 1964.
Though Gilberto would not have another major hit, later in her career she received the Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1992 and was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2002. Gilberto was also nominated for best new artist of 1964, but lost to The Beatles. She was nominated for best vocal performance — female in both 1964 and 1965, but lost to Barbra Streisand both years.
Revisit “The Girl From Ipanema” below.
