The Girl from Ipanema was first recorded in 1962 and became known worldwide. It became the second most recorded song in the world, after the Beatles' Yesterday. Astrud Gilberto became a superstar when she sang this song at the age of 22.
This song, a bossa nova classic, reached fifth place in the US charts and twenty-ninth place in the UK charts. In 1965, it received the Grammy Award for "Record of the Year". Many names have sung the song, from Frank Sinatra to Madonna, from Nat King Cole to Amy Winehouse. It became the second most recorded song in the world, after the Beatles' Yesterday.
In 2004, it became one of the fifty songs selected by the United States Library of Congress as one of the recordings that must be preserved.
Astrud Gilberto (March 29, 1940 – June 5, 2023) was a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer and songwriter. She gained international attention in the mid-1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema".
Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes wrote this song, inspired by a young girl named Heloisa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto, who lives in Ipanema, the stylish neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, famous for its beach. At that time, the duo were regulars at Veloso, a very famous cafe in the neighborhood, and this young girl, who sauntered past them every day and walked towards the beach, inspired them.
Jobim and Moraes were working on a musical comedy. They wrote the song Menina que Passa (The Girl Passing By), about a Martian who lands in Rio in the middle of the carnival and is admired for her beauty. At the press conference, Moraes explained that Heloisa's hip sway defied spatial geometry and that even Einstein could not grasp it.
“She was a golden young girl, full of light and grace, a mixture of flower and mermaid, but also sad.”
While Moraes's extraterrestrial comedy was never successful, Menina que Passa resonated around the world as The Girl from Ipanema, from the voice of Astrud Gilberto. Astrud Gilberto, who recorded the song at the age of 22, which can be called a child, became a superstar after performing this song.
Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz
Astrud Gilberto, born Astrud Evangelina Weinert on March 29, 1940, appeared on her first album completely by chance. Her involvement in the music world began with her marriage to Joao Gilberto at the age of 19. She was at A&R Studios in Manhattan to accompany her husband, the famous guitarist who made great contributions to bossa nova music. Joao was recording the album Getz/Gilberto with pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim and famous jazz saxophonist Stan Getz.
Getz served time in a Los Angeles prison for heroin possession in 1954 after an attempt to rob a Seattle pharmacy. He had a reputation in the jazz world as someone who was used to bullying his colleagues. He often boasted that he had made Astrud Gilberto famous, and went out of his way to keep her from receiving her share of the royalties. Her husband, Joao Gilberto, did not support Astrud either. Astrud divorced Joao Gilberto in 1964.
João Gilberto and Astrud Gilberto
Brazil never acknowledged Astrud's success. They portrayed her not as talented but as a lucky person who was in the right place at the right time. According to Brazilian history professor Bryan McCann, Brazil turned its back on her. She rose to fame abroad at a time when she was betrayed by her country's press. She was quite popular in Asia, even releasing albums in Japan. She admitted that she was very hurt by the harsh criticism she received from Brazilian reporters, and after a concert in 1965, she never sang in Brazil again.
In 2002, the year she was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame, she announced that she would not be performing publicly after four decades of playing in clubs and festivals. Astrud Gilberto, who passed away on June 5, 2023, lived in privacy in Philadelphia until the end of her life. She devoted herself to philosophy, and painting and became an animal rights activist.