Brazilian bossa nova singer Astrud Gilberto – famed for her model of ‘The Woman from Ipanema’ – has died aged 83.
The singer-songwriter was certainly one of Brazil’s greatest stars of the ‘60s and ‘70s, recognised as one of many main artists who helped popularise the bossa nova style and identified for working with the likes of Quincy Jones, George Michael and extra.
Information of her loss of life was damaged by her granddaughter, Sofia, who introduced the replace with a put up on Instagram. “I’m right here to carry you the unhappy information that my grandmother turned a star as we speak, and is subsequent to my grandfather João Gilberto,” she wrote (as translated from Portuguese).
“She was a pioneer and the very best. On the age of twenty-two, she gave voice to the English model of ‘Woman from Ipanema’ and gained worldwide fame.”
New York-based guitarist and collaborator Paul Ricci additionally confirmed the information on Fb. “I simply received phrase from her son Marcelo that we’ve got misplaced Astrud Gilberto,” he stated within the replace. “He requested for this to be posted.”
“She was an necessary a part of ALL that’s Brazilian music on this planet and he or she modified many lives together with her power. RIP from ‘the chief’, as she known as me.”
Born in Bahia as Astrud Evangelina Weinert, the singer moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age and found a gaggle of associates she would describe as her “musical clan” as a young person. This included guitarist João Gilberto and singer Nara Leao, who would later be thought to be pioneers of bossa nova.
Astrud and João married inside months of assembly, and it was upon accompanying her husband to a New York recording studio in 1963 that she started her profession as knowledgeable musician.
It was whereas right here {that a} band got here to document the English lyrics for ‘The Woman From Ipanema’, and Astrud volunteered to contribute the vocals. She was solely paid the usual $120 session payment for her efficiency and her title was not credited on the monitor — which went on to be a worldwide hit and received a Grammy award for document of the yr.
Whereas the monitor proceeded to be lined by Frank Sinatra, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, Nat King Cole and extra, the music additionally acted as a catalyst for her solo profession, which noticed her collaborate with the likes of jazz guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim, jazz trumpeter Chet Baker and legendary producer Quincy Jones.
Later in her profession, she additionally teamed up with former Wham! frontman George Michael for a duet of ‘Desafinado’ — a monitor first made standard by Stan Getz and João Gilberto in 1962. The collaboration arrived on the charity album ‘Purple Scorching + Rio’, which was launched in 1996.
Her closing album, ‘Jungle’, arrived in 2002 after she took an in depth hiatus from public performances and reside exhibits. The ultimate years of her life, nevertheless, noticed her dedicate a lot of her time to campaigning towards animal cruelty.
