‘Girl From Ipanema’ singer dead: Astrud Gilberto was 83

nypost.com:

The Independent reported.“She was an important part of ALL that is Brazilian music in the world and she changed many lives with her energy,” he said. “RIP from ‘the chief’, as she called me.

Thanks AG.”As of yet, Gilberto’s cause of death has not been disclosed. Born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Salvador, Bahia, on March 29, 1940, the vocalist’s path to stardom began serendipitously in 1963 after she accompanied husband and musician João Gilberto on a trip to New York to record alongside saxophonist Stan Getz and fellow Brazilian bossa nova star Antônio Carlos Jobim.Jobim, along with Vinícius de Moraes, had penned “Garota de Ipanema,” which was inspired by the duo’s infatuation with a teenage girl named Heloísa Pinheiro who used to stroll past their local bar near Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro.Session supervisor Phil Ramone had wanted an English singer to help the song, whose lyrics were translated from Portuguese to English by Norman Gimbel, appeal to American audiences.

As Astrud was the only one who spoke English, she offered to sing it despite having no prior recording experience.“Astrud was in the control room when Norm came in with the English lyrics,” Ramone told JazzWax 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 track, now viewed as the unofficial cultural anthem of Brazil, would sell more than five million copies worldwide and earn Astrud the 1964 Grammy for song of the year and a nod for best vocal performance by a female.