Singer Astrud Gilberto, who voiced the English version of “The Girl from Ipanema” and the first Brazilian woman to win a Grammy, died Monday at the age of 83, her family announced on social media.
The Brazilian press reported the death of the singer via Instagram of her granddaughter Sofia Gilberto Oliveira, while the British newspaper The Independent sent a confirmation to Facebook of the guitarist Paul Ricci, who worked with the artist, and mentioned her son Joao Marcelo Gilberto.
Astrud Evangeline Weinert was born on March 29, 1940 in Salvador, Bahia, to a German father and a Brazilian mother. She grew up in Rio de Janeiro before moving to the United States, where she lived the rest of her life, as you can read on the singer’s website.
Astrud became known throughout the world for voicing Stan Getz’s “The Girl from Ipanema” in 1963 and João Gilberto, her husband at the time.
The popularity achieved and the work done were not retribution: he did not receive credit for the original vinyl of the “Getz/Gilberto” album and, according to several reports collected by journalist Martin Chilton in The Independent, in 2022 Astrud received only $ 120 for days of work, despite to something that almost by mutual agreement was the main reason for the success of the album.
“She believed in people and trusted them. They took advantage of her character, her confidence and her desire to create music,” her son Joao Marcelo Gilberto told the Independent newspaper last year, which recalls that Astrud Gilberto did not return to perform. in Brazil after 1965
After divorcing Gilberto in 1964, she released her self-titled debut album a year later, with Antonio Carlos Jobim on guitar. Also in 1965, he edited The Shadow of Your Smile.
This was followed by more than 10 albums, many of which became bestsellers, including collaborations with his idols such as Chet Baker, with whom he sang the theme “Far”, on the album “That Girl from Ipanema” and a version of “Fly Me to Moon”.
He later sang “Desafinado” with George Michael, demonstrating his connection to music for decades, also in 1996 he collaborated with Frenchman Étienne Dahot on the theme “Les Bords de Seine”.
Grammy winner in 1965 for the song “The Girl from Ipanema”, Astrud Gilberto was recognized in 1992 with a career award for her contribution to the world of Latin American jazz. In 2008, he received a Latin Grammy for his career.
A strong advocate for animal rights, she has written about the need to protect wildlife and campaigned for organizations such as PETA.