Astrud Gilberto.Photo:PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Astrud Gilberto, the singer who made “The Girl from Ipanema” a global hit, has died at the age of 83.
The musician’s granddaughter Sofia Gilbertoannounced the news of her deathon Instagram Monday, though she did not provide additional details.
“My grandma Astrud Gilberto made this song for me, it’s called Linda Sofia,” Sofia wrote in Portuguese. “She even wanted my name to be Linda Sofia.”
“Life is beautiful, as the song says, but I’m here to bring you the sad news that my grandmother became a star today,” she added. “[She] is next to my grandfather João Gilberto. Astrud was the true girl who took bossa nova from Ipanema to the world.”
Friend and frequent collaborator Paul Ricci also shared the newson Facebook.
Astrud Gilberto.Rowntree/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty
Rowntree/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty
“I just got word from her son Marcelo that we have lost Astrud Gilberto. He asked for this to be posted,” he wrote. “She was an important part of ALL that is Brazilian music in the world and she changed many lives with her energy. RIP from the “chief” as she called me. Thanks AG.”
Astrud was born in 1940 in Brazil’s Bahia and raised in Rio de Janeiro. She later married musician João Gilberto in 1959.
In 1963, her singing career had a serendipitous kick-start when she traveled to New York with her husband for a recording session with Stan Getz and fellow Brazilian bossa nova star Antônio Carlos Jobim.
The session producer wanted someone who could speak English to help “The Girl from Ipanema” reach an American audience, and Astrud — who had no prior recording experience — was the only person who could speak the language and volunteered.
“Astrud was in the control room when Norm came in with the English lyrics,” session supervisor Phil Ramone toldJazzWax in 2010. “Producer Creed Taylor said he wanted to get the song done right away and looked around the room.”
He explained, “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.”
That same year, she divorced João and toured the country with Stan Getz and his band.
When the song became a success, Getz and producer Creed Taylor described Astrud as a housewife they had discovered — which angered her.
“The Girl from Ipanema” was her only major hit — though she did release a series of jazz albums like 1965’sThe Astrud Gilberto Album, 1972’sAstrud Gilberto Nowand 1977’sThat Girl from Ipanema.
In the 1980s, she formed a group that featured her son Marcelo on bass and toured the world. However,she avoided Brazilbecause she felt like she wasn’t given proper recognition there.
She dedicated most of her later years tocampaigning against animal cruelty, though the legacy of “The Girl from Ipanema” lived on.
source: people.com
