Astrud Gilberto

Astrud Gilberto (born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, 29 March 1940 - 5 June 2023) was a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Astrud Gilberto was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, the daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. She was raised in Rio de Janeiro. Her father was a language professor, and she became fluent in several languages. She married João Gilberto in 1959 and had a son, João Marcelo Gilberto, who later joined her band. Astrud and João divorced in the mid-1960s. She has another son from a second marriage, Gregory Lasorsa, who also played with his mother. Later she began a relationship with her husband's musical collaborator, American jazz saxophone player Stan Getz. She immigrated to the United States in 1963, residing in the U.S. from that time. She sang on two tracks on the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto featuring João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Antônio Carlos Jobim. While it was her first professional recording, Astrud "wasn’t a complete novice. She grew up steeped in music (her mother Evangelina Neves Lobo Weinert played multiple instruments) and sang regularly with her husband in Brazil, including in a concert at the Faculdade de Arquitetura, part of one of Rio de Janeiro’s top universities." Her "beguiling, whispery voice" and steadfast approach to singing played a significant role in popularizing "The Girl from Ipane…