The style of Ms. Gilberto — breathy tones and subtle expressions that fall like soft rain — is a perfect fit for the cool sophistication of bossa nova, which literally means new wave, which combines American jazz and the traditional Brazilian samba music . He didn’t describe “The Girl From Ipanema” as his favorite song, but said he was happy it gave the world a “dreamy distraction.”
She released more than 15 albums and compilations over four decades, with most of her work packed into the years after the release of “The Girl From Ipanema,” first on an album in 1964 and later as a single. His part in recording has become a fixture of music industry knowledge.
Her then-husband, bossa nova guitarist and singer João Gilberto, was working with American jazz saxophonist Stan Getz on a version of “The Girl From Ipanema.” The song, written by Antônio Carlos Jobim with Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes, is a sad ode to a young woman the songwriter often sees walking by the Veloso bar in Rio de Janeiro’s beachfront Ipanema neighborhood. The Portuguese-language release was a hit in Brazil and other parts of South America when Getz and Gilberto entered the studio.
The producer working on “Getz/Gilberto” album, Creed Taylor, suggested adding some verses in English to broaden the song’s international appeal. Ms. knows enough. Gilberto in English and he was invited to the recording studio.
“While they were in the middle of reading the song ‘The Girl From Ipanema,’ João suddenly asked me to come along, and sing a chorus in English, after he sang the first chorus in Portuguese,” Ms. Gilberto said in an interview in 2002 posted to him website. “So, I just did that.”
Getz is happy. The next day, they laid the track. The wife of Ms. Gilberto the Portuguese. Then he came in with a section which would become part of the 1960s canon: Tall and brown and young and lovely/ The girl from Ipanema walks/And when she passes/Everybody who passes goes “Ah.”
The song on the album was 5 minutes, 15 seconds — too long for AM radio play at the time. Taylor edited the Portuguese lyrics, shortened the song to 3:55, and released it as a single. The song become famous in No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July 1964, won a Grammy Award in 1965 for record of the year and eventually sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. (“Getz/Gilberto” won the album of the year Grammy in 1965.)
But the advance payment of Ms. Gilberto was only $120: the going rate at the time for a studio gig. He received no credit on the initial release of the “Getz/Gilberto” album, leaving him in the loop for LP royalties. (He did receive credit and pay for the single.)
Ms.’s reaction is always painful. Gilberto in accounts that suggest her career had more to do with luck — the chance collaboration with “The Girl From Ipanema” — than talent. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said in a 2002 interview. “I guessed [makes] they seem ‘important’ with the ‘wisdom’ to recognize the talent or ‘potential’ in my singing.”
However, the popularity of “Ipanema,” was never repeated. His first solo album of bossa nova tracks, “The Astrud Gilberto Album” (1965), failed to crack the top 40 in sales. His 1969 album “I Have Nothing Better To Do” Featured close-up shot of Ms. Gilberto with a tear in his left eye. One reviewer noted that he retained a “voice as smooth as butterscotch,” but public interest in bossa nova had waned.
Furthermore, his relationship with his homeland never fully recovered after he left for the United States in the mid-1960s. She said the Brazilian media had focused too much on her personal life, including a reported affair with Getz in the 1960s, and were unforgiving of her decision to emigrate. His last performance in Brazil was in 1965 at the height of his popularity.
“Isn’t there an ancient saying that says ‘There is no prophet in his own land?'” he said in 2002.
He added: “I have no doubts about Brazilians, and I enjoy myself a lot when I go to Brazil. Of course, I go there as an incognito visitor, and not as a performer.”
Astrud Evangelina Weinert was born in Salvador, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, on March 29, 1940. Her mother, who is Brazilian, is a singer, and her German-born father teaches languages and literature. Ms. Gilberto and his sisters, Eda and Iduna, are named for ancient Norse goddesses.
At 8, he moved with his family to Rio, where he attended Colégio de Aplicação and began singing in local clubs. Her future husband was among the musicians who led the bossa nova movement, using a style known as violão gago, or stammering guitar.
“Joao Gilberto and I did a duet,” recalled Ms. Gilberto in 2002, “or he will accompany me on the guitar. Friends always ask me to sing at these gatherings, as well as in our own home when they visit us.”
When their marriage dissolved in the 1960s, she moved to the United States and toured with Getz and, according to reports, had a romantic relationship. Movie producers also wanted some of his popularity. He appear in “Get Yourself a College Girl” (1964) and the TV movie “The man hanged” in the same year.
He left the band — and Getz — and began working on his albums, which included two released in 1966, “Look at the Rainbow” and “A Certain Smile, A Certain Sorrow.” He also worked with producers including Quincy Jones on “Who Needs Forever” for the soundtrack of the 1967 thriller “The Deadly Affair.”
He recorded a disco version of “The Girl From Ipanema” on a 1977 album, “That Girl From Ipanema.” That same year, he joined one of his idols, jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, on the song “Far Away” and called it “a dream come true, the highlight of my career.” In TV ads, he pitched Eastern Airlines.
In the early 1980s, he formed a group with his son Marcelo Gilberto, a bass player, and toured North America, Europe and Asia. His other son, Gregory Lasorsa, played guitar on the song “You’re beautiful” on his 1997 album “Temperance.” In 1996, he duet with singer George Michael on the bossa nova classic “Desafinado” for “Red Hot + Rio,” a charity album.
In the same year, he recorded a duet with French pop star Étienne Daho, “Les Bords de Seine,” on his “Eden” album. In 2002, he was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. He was “like a child of nature,” wrote James Gavin, a music journalist and author, “vulnerable yet unworldly.”
Ms. separated. Gilberto in a 2002 performance, took up causes including animal rights and focused on the visual arts. He is almost invisible to the public and rarely gives interviews.
Her marriage to João Gilberto and Nicholas Lasorsa ended in divorce. Survivors include his two sons, Marcelo from his first marriage and Gregory from his second; and two grandchildren.
When Rio hosted the 2016 Olympic Games, Ms. Gilberto the invitation to attend the Opening Ceremonies. “The Girl From Ipanema” was performed in Portuguese as supermodel Gisele Bündchen walked down the runway. Many people in the stadium joined in the singing.