Astrud Gilberto, 'The Girl from Ipanema' and Bossa Nova Singer, Dead at 83

Astrud Gilberto, the singer who made "The Girl from Ipanema" a global hit, has died at the age of 83.

The musician's granddaughter Sofia Gilberto announced the news of her death on Instagram Monday, though she did not provide additional details.

"My grandma Astrud Gilberto made this song for me, it's called Linda Sofia," Sofia wrote in Portuguese. "She even wanted my name to be Linda Sofia."

"Life is beautiful, as the song says, but I'm here to bring you the sad news that my grandmother became a star today," she added. "[She] is next to my grandfather João Gilberto. Astrud was the true girl who took bossa nova from Ipanema to the world."

Friend and frequent collaborator Paul Ricci also shared the news on Facebook.

"I just got word from her son Marcelo that we have lost Astrud Gilberto. He asked for this to be posted," he wrote. "She was an important part of ALL that is Brazilian music in the world and she changed many lives with her energy. RIP from the "chief” as she called me. Thanks AG."

Astrud was born in 1940 in Brazil's Bahia and raised in Rio de Janeiro. She later married musician João Gilberto in 1959.

In 1963, her singing career had a serendipitous kick-start when she traveled to New York with her husband for a recording session with Stan Getz and fellow Brazilian bossa nova star Antônio Carlos Jobim. 

The session producer wanted someone who could speak English to help "The Girl from Ipanema" reach an American audience, and Astrud — who had no prior recording experience — was the only person who could speak the language and volunteered.

"Astrud was in the control room when Norm came in with the English lyrics," session supervisor Phil Ramone told JazzWax in 2010. "Producer Creed Taylor said he wanted to get the song done right away and looked around the room."

He explained, "Astrud volunteered, saying she could sing in English. Creed said, 'Great.' Astrud wasn't a professional singer, but she was the only victim sitting there that night."

The original version of the song was a duet with her husband and she was not credited on the track — though it was later re-edited without his Portuguese vocals as a solo single and it became a sensation. The song ended up earning the Grammy for song of the year and Astrud was nominated for best vocal performance by a female.

That same year, she divorced João and toured the country with Stan Getz and his band.

When the song became a success, Getz and producer Creed Taylor described Astrud as a housewife they had discovered — which angered her.

"Nothing is further from the truth," she wrote on her website. "I guess it may them look 'important' to have been the one that had the 'wisdom' to recognize talent or 'potential' in my singing… I suppose I should feel flattered by the importance that they lend to this, but I can't help but to feel annoyed at the fact that they resorted to lying!"

"The Girl from Ipanema" was her only major hit — though she did release a series of jazz albums like 1965's The Astrud Gilberto Album, 1972's Astrud Gilberto Now and 1977's That Girl from Ipanema.

In the 1980s, she formed a group that featured her son Marcelo on bass and toured the world. However, she avoided Brazil because she felt like she wasn't given proper recognition there.

She recorded her final album in 2002 titled Jungle and later announced an indefinite hiatus from public performances. That same year, she was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. In 2008, she was given a lifetime achievement award by the Latin Grammys.

She dedicated most of her later years to campaigning against animal cruelty, though the legacy of "The Girl from Ipanema" lived on.

In addition to Marcelo Gilberto, her son from her first marriage, Astrud is survived by another son, Gregory Lasorsa, from her second marriage to Nicholas Lasorsa, which ended in divorce,