Astrud Gilberto

Astrud Gilberto (born March 29, 1940, Salvador, Brazil—died June 5, 2023, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.) was a Brazilian singer who became a star overnight with the international hit “The Girl from Ipanema.” The single propelled the bossa nova movement—a musical style that combines Brazilian samba rhythms and jazz—to the international stage.

Gilberto was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, in Salvador, Brazil, to a German father, Fritz Weinert, and a Brazilian mother, Evangelina Weinert, both of whom were educators. In her youth Astrud Weinert and her family, which included two elder sisters, Eda and Iduna, moved to Rio de Janeiro. As a teen, Weinert became friends with a group of musicians that included João Gilberto—a singer, guitarist, and composer who worked with Antônio Carlos Jobim on developing bossa nova. At age 19 Weinert married Gilberto and took his name.

In 1963 the American jazz musician Stan Getz, who was interested in the sound of bossa nova, invited João Gilberto and Jobim to record with him. One of their tracks, “The Girl from Ipanema,” required a vocalist who could sing in English. Astrud Gilberto, who had only sung among friends but was conversant in Portuguese and English, tried the lyrics, and her soft, even voice and low-key style fit the song. “The Girl from Ipanema” earned a 1964 Grammy Award for record of the year, and the album, Getz/Gilberto, which also included “Corcovado,” another song featuring Astrud Gilberto’s vocals, was honored as best album. The single went on to become a classic and is one of the most-covered pop songs in history.

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Following the success of her debut song, Gilberto toured with Getz, and their collaboration was chronicled on the 1964 album Getz Au Go Go. During this time Gilberto’s marriage ended, but her solo career was just beginning. In 1965 she released the albums The Astrud Gilberto Album and The Shadow of Your Smile. In addition, she appeared on a variety of television shows throughout the world and recorded with Quincy Jones the soundtrack for the film The Deadly Affair (1967). Gilberto turned to songwriting in the 1970s and won an award at the Tokyo Music Festival in 1976 for “Live Today.”

Gilberto formed a band that included her son from her marriage to João Gilberto, Marcelo Gilberto, playing bass. They toured extensively in the 1980s and ’90s. With her two sons—the second, Gregory LaSorsa, from another relationship—she created Gregmar Productions, Inc., which released Astrud Gilberto—Live in New York in 1996. Her last album, Jungle, came out in 2002, the same year that she was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. Also that year Gilberto announced that she was taking an indefinite break from performing. She devoted the rest of her life to animal rights campaigns and making art. In 2008 Gilberto received a Latin Grammy for lifetime achievement.