Astrud Gilberto dies: Girl From Ipanema singer passes away age 83
The Girl From Ipanema singer Astrud Gilberto has died at the age of 83.
Gilberto’s son Marcelo confirmed to The Independent that she died on 5 June. The cause of her death was not disclosed.
Composer Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese poet Vinicius de Moraes penned The Girl From Ipanema in 1962.
It wasn’t until 1964 that English lyrics written by American Norman Gimbel propelled the song to international fame and turned it into one of the world’s most recorded songs.
Astrud Gilberto sang the English words on the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto as her first professional gig, going on to record 16 studio albums over the course of her career.
The Girl From Ipanema singer Astrud Gilberto has died at the age of 83, it was confirmed by her son on Tuesday
Astrud Gilberto sang the English words on the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto as her first professional gig, going on to record 16 studio albums over the course of her career
Born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Salvador, Bahia, on 29 March 1940, Gilberto never set out to sing for a living but came from a musical family.
Her vocals on The Girl from Ipanema occurred by accident.
American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto first recorded the English version of the song which was inspired by Jobim and de Moraes’s lust for Heloísa Pinheiro – a Rio native who took daily strolls past the Veloso Bar.
Astrud offered to sing on the English version of the track after heading to the studio to watch her husband João at work.
A&R engineer Phil Ramone recalled to JazzWax in 2010: ‘Astrud was in the control room when Norm came in with the English lyrics. Producer Creed Taylor said he wanted to get the song done right away and looked around the room.’
‘Astrud volunteered, saying she could sing in English. Creed said, ‘Great.’ Astrud wasn’t a professional singer, but she was the only victim sitting there that night.’
The track went on to sell more than five million copies worldwide while bossa nova music soon became known across the globe. The song won a Grammy for Song of the Year while Gilberto earned herself a nomination for Best Vocal Performance.
Despite the accolades, Astrud’s work on The Girl from Ipanema earned her just $120 in session fees.
Born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Salvador, Bahia, on 29 March 1940, Gilberto never set out to sing for a living but came from a musical family
Her vocals on The Girl from Ipanema occurred by accident after she headed to the studio to watch her husband, Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, work on the track
Gilberto’s granddaughter Sofia, also a musician, paid tribute on Instagram, writing: ‘My grandma Astrud Gilberto made this song for me, it’s called ‘Linda Sofia’. She even wanted my name to be Linda Sofia!’
She continued: ‘Life is beautiful, as the song says, but I’m here to bring you the sad news that my grandmother became a star today, and is next to my grandfather João Gilberto.
‘Astrud was the true girl who took bossa nova from Ipanema to the world. She was a pioneer and the best. At the age of 22, she gave voice to the English version of ‘Girl from Ipanema’ and gained international fame.
‘The song, a bossa nova anthem, became the second most played in the world mainly because of her. I love and will love Astrud forever and she was the face and voice of bossa nova in most parts of the planet. Astrud will forever be in our hearts, and right now we have to celebrate Astrud.’
Astrud and João welcomed their only child, son Marcelo before they divorced in the mid-1960s. João died in 2019 aged 88.
She has another son from a second marriage, Gregory Lasorsa, with both her sons performing in their mother’s band over the years.
The track went on to sell more than five million copies worldwide while bossa nova music soon became known across the globe
Gilberto’s granddaughter Sofia, also a musician, paid tribute on Instagram, writing: ‘Astrud was the true girl who took bossa nova from Ipanema to the world’
Astrud emigrated to the United States in 1963 shortly after achieving fame with The Girl.
Her first solo album arrived shortly after her move – 1965’s The Astrud Gilberto Album. She went on to record other solo compositions throughout the 1970s in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese.
In 1964, Gilberto appeared in the films Get Yourself a College Girl and The Hanged Man.
Gilberto received the Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1992 and was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2002, shortly after which she annouced that she was taking ‘indefinite time off’ from public performances.
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