Iconic Brazilian Singer Astrud Gilberto Dies at 83: A Tribute to the Queen of Bossa Nova

Her soft, languorous voice made you want to dance a samba on a beach. 83-year-old Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto died on June 5 at her home in Philadelphia, United States, according to the G1 news site. She gave, alongside Stan Getz and joao gilbertothe inimitable feminine touch to one of the world’s greatest hits, The Girl from Ipanema.

Astrud Weinert was born on March 30, 1949 in the Bahia region of Brazil. In 1959, her fate changed when she married guitarist Joao Gilberto. In 1963, this magical couple who dedicated their art to bossa nova decided to try their luck in the United States. It was there that they met the great American saxophonist Stan Getz. The three artists will record the English version of The Girl from Ipanema. Joao sings in Portuguese, Astrud in English, Stan Getz’s sax gives the vibrato of this magical recording which will sell more than twenty million copies. After this triumph she continued her career in the United States. She soon divorces Joao Gilberto to establish a relationship with Stan Getz which will also last a long time.

Read alsoJoao Gilberto: bossa nova loses its patriarch

The Girl from Ipanema by Astrud and Joao Gilberto, au saxophone Stan Getz

Duets with George Michael and Étienne Daho

After a relative crossing of the desert, which lasted twenty years from 1970 to 1990 where she nevertheless enjoyed great success in 1972 with Fly Me to the Moon in 1972 or with Far Awaysung in duet with Chet Baker, the idol of her adolescence, Astrud Gilberto will return to the front of the stage in the 1990s. At first we see her singing in duet in 1996 with George Michael on Out of tune. Then, the same year, it will be the turn of Étienne Daho, always ready to make nostalgia vibrate, to ask him to lend his voice to the pretty song The banks of the Seine.

Undeniable world star but discreet personality, Astrud Gilberto devoted his whole life to discovering bossa-nova and more generally authentic Brazilian melodies. And when we listened to it, by magic, we immediately projected ourselves onto the beautiful beach of Ipanema where “when she walked, she looked like a samba that sways so gently, so gently…”

The most important dates in the life of Astrud Gilberto

30 mars 1940 : birth in Salvador de Bahia (Nordeste) of Astrud Gilberto, born Weinert of a Brazilian mother and a German father, who then spent her youth in Rio de Janeiro.
1959 : she married the singer and guitarist Joao Gilberto and, four years later, they settled in the United States where she lived until her death.
1964 : she became famous with The Girl from Ipanema (La fille d’Ipanema) where with a few lines sung in English she won the Grammy Award for best album of the year. It was recorded in New York with Joao Gilberto and the American saxophonist Stan Getz for which she will leave her husband.
1972 : after the success of Fly Me to the Moonshe stands out as a composer with her album Astrud Gilberto Now.
1977 : Release Far Awaythe flagship title of his album That Girl from Ipanemawith words by Hal Shaper, sung in duet with Chet Baker, his idol in adolescence.
Early 1980s : tours in Europe, Japan, Canada and the United States with his group of musicians, in particular one of his two sons, Marcelo Gilberto, on bass.
1992 : winner of the Latin Jazz USA Lifetime Achievement Award.
2001 : last public appearance of Astrud Gilberto, who devotes herself to painting and defending animal rights.
2002 : inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in New York, theInternational Latin Music Hall of Fame».
2008 : Astrud Gilberto, who lived the last years of her life in Philadelphia, is rewarded with a Latin Grammy Award for her entire career.