‘The Girl from Ipanema’ singer Astrud Gilberto dies, aged 83
nme.comQuincy Jones, George Michael and more.News of her death was broken by her granddaughter, Sofia, who announced the update with a post on Instagram. “I’m here to bring you the sad news that my grandmother became a star today, and is next to my grandfather João Gilberto,” she wrote (as translated from Portuguese).“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.”New York-based guitarist and collaborator Paul Ricci also confirmed the news on Facebook. “I just got word from her son Marcelo that we have lost Astrud Gilberto,” he said in the update. “He asked for this to be posted.”“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.”Born in Bahia as Astrud Evangelina Weinert, the singer moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age and discovered a group of friends she would describe as her “musical clan” as a teenager.
This included guitarist João Gilberto and singer Nara Leao, who would later be regarded as pioneers of bossa nova.Astrud and João married within months of meeting, and it was upon accompanying her husband to a New York recording studio in 1963 that she began her career as a professional musician.It was while here that a band came to record the English lyrics for ‘The Girl From Ipanema’, and Astrud volunteered to contribute the vocals.
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