Astrud Gilberto, the bossa nova singer known for her instantly recognisable recording of "The Girl from Ipanema", 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. Born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Salvador, Bahia, on 29 March 1940, Gilberto recorded 16 studio albums and two live records over the course of her career, which began in the Sixties.
Gilberto's version of "Garota de Ipanema" - originally composed in 1962 by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes happened by complete coincidence. Recorded in English under the title "The Girl from Ipanema" by the American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist Joao Gilberto on 18 March 1963, the song was inspired by Jobim and de Moraes's lust for Heloísa Pinheiro, the teenage girl who used to walk past their local bar near Ipanema beach.
The A&R engineer Phil Ramone, who was overseeing recording in New York in 1962, said Astrud Gilberto was the one who offered to sing on the track, after it was mooted that Joao, whom she had married in 1959, perform the lyrics translated from Portuguese to English by Norman Gimbel.
This story is from the June 07, 2023 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the June 07, 2023 edition of The Independent.
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