Astrud Gilberto (Portuguese: [asˈtɾud ʒiwˈbɛʁtu]; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert; March 29, 1940 – June 5, 2023) was a Brazilian and American bossa nova and samba singer. She was the first wife of Brazilian bossa nova guitarist João Gilberto, whose surname she continued to use professionally after their divorce in 1964. She gained international attention in the mid-1960s following her vocal contribution to the song "The Girl from Ipanema", which was awarded a Grammy in 1965. Astrud Gilberto went on to be a popular bossa nova singer in the United States and internationally, being particularly popular in Japan. Although the best-known part of her career was from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, she had a singing career spanning over 30 years before retiring following the release of her last album in 2002. Because of her contributions to popularizing bossa nova, many of her fans have given her the nickname "Queen of Bossa Nova".
Astrud Gilberto was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert on March 29, 1940, in Salvador, Bahia. She was one of three daughters of a Brazilian mother, Evangelina Weinert (née Lobão), and a German immigrant father, Fritz Weinert. The naming of Astrud and her sisters Eda and Iduna were inspired by Germanic mythology. Her father was a language teacher and taught German and English, and she became fluent in several languages. He also had a minor reputation as a painter. Her mother played several instruments and ensured that Astrud was musically educated. In 1947, the family relocated to Rio de Janeiro, residing on the Avenida Atlântica in the Copacabana district. In her late teens, she studied at Rio's demanding Colégio de Aplicação.
By the late 1950s, she was part of a social circle of bohemian youths who made up the nascent bossa nova scene in Rio. In 1959, she met the Brazilian musician João Gilberto through a friend, the singer Nara Leão, though other versions of the story say that it was Ronaldo Bôscoli who introduced João to Astrud at Leão's apartment, in a deliberate attempt to play matchmaker. She was not impressed with him at first, but his singing and her own ambitions to become a singer won her over (not to mention that Astrud's mother was star-struck, considering him to be the greatest singer ever) and in early 1960 she married João. The couple settled in an apartment on Rua Visconde de Pirajá in Ipanema, where they soon awaited the birth of their son João Marcelo (b. 1960; full name João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira).
Astrud and João Gilberto frequently sang together at social gatherings, however, she had never performed on stage. Her debut public performance was at Brazil's watershed bossa nova music festival, A noite do amor, do sorriso e da flor (The Night of Love, the Smile, and the Flower), held on May 20, 1960. The festival took its name from João Gilberto's just-released album O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor, which in turn was taken from the lyrics of Antônio Carlos Jobim and Newton Mendonça's song "Meditação". The festival was held at the Faculdade de Arquitetura amphitheater (today the Teatro de Arena Carvalho Netto) on the UFRJ Praia Vermelha campus, and attracted an audience of 3000 people. The billing included numerous stars of the still-young bossa nova scene, with João Gilberto headlining. Astrud performed two songs alongside her husband, "Lamento" and "Brigas Nunca Mais", singing the lead vocals with João playing guitar and lending vocal harmonies. The performance was well received by the audience.
João Gilberto had begun touring in the United States in 1962. A landmark bossa nova concert at Carnegie Hall on November 21, 1962 led to an invitation for João and Antônio Carlos Jobim to record an album with Stan Getz in New York City for the Verve label. Astrud joined João on this trip, acting as his interpreter, as he spoke no English. The recording sessions took place on March 18-19, 1963. On the second day of the recording, Norman Gimbel handed producer Creed Taylor English-language lyrics for "The Girl from Ipanema", a rough translation of the lyrics for the Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes composition "Garota de Ipanema". After considering and dismissing the idea of recording the song separately as a Sarah Vaughan vehicle, Taylor settled on the idea of adding English-language vocals to the recording alongside João's Portuguese ones to enhance its marketability for an American audience.
Accounts vary as to exactly how Astrud was selected as vocalist on "The Girl from Ipanema". It is generally agreed that João was unable to sing in English and Getz was not interested in performing the vocals. According to Astrud Gilberto's own account, João said that he had a "surprise" in store for her during the session that day, and later had her sing the English lyrics during the first day's rehearsal, after which Stan Getz enthusiastically concurred on having her sing on the recording. However, according to the account given by bossa nova historian Ruy Castro, the idea was Astrud's, with João at first being hesitant about it, but warmed up to the idea after hearing her sing the lyrics. Other accounts claim Getz or Taylor had the idea to have Astrud sing, sometimes with the added claim that they had "discovered" her. Once the song was recorded, Taylor and Getz found Astrud's accented and somewhat naive-sounding delivery to fit the theme of the song perfectly, with Getz dramatically telling Astrud, "This song is going to make you famous".
Based on the success of this recording, Taylor also had Astrud sing the English-language passage on an additional track, "Corcovado". In spite of being pleased with the album they had just recorded, Taylor, perceiving a glut of new bossa nova albums on the American market, delayed release of the album. It would finally be released a year after it was recorded, in March 1964, under the title Getz/Gilberto.
In the interim between the recording and release of the album, Astrud and João's marriage began falling apart. After accompanying her husband for part of his European tour in the summer of 1963, she returned alone to Rio in October. João, who was suffering from a muscular atrophy in his right shoulder that was making it increasingly difficult to play guitar, traveled to Paris to consult with an acupuncturist there. While in Paris, he took up with Heloísa Buarque (known professionally as Miúcha), a Brazilian student and sometimes singer then living in France. Initially hiring Buarque as his secretary, their involvement soon became a full-blown affair, which led to the couple's formal separation.
Getz/Gilberto was released in March 1964, a year after it had been recorded, and was a major contributor to the already growing-popularity of bossa nova beyond Brazil. The production was financially successful for Stan Getz and João Gilberto: Getz made enough to buy a 20-room house, and João received $23,000 (about $240,000 in 2025 dollars) as his first royalties after the release in early 1964. However, Gene Lees relates in his memoir that Getz contacted producer Creed Taylor and demanded that Astrud was to be paid no royalties. She reportedly received a flat payment $120 for the recording (about $1250 in 2025 dollars), which was the usual fee for musicians for an evening's performance at the time. Astrud Gilberto, is mentioned by name only in the cover text, but not listed among the musicians.
Her whispery voice and steadfast approach to singing played a significant role in popularizing "The Girl from Ipanema", which earned the album a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Astrud Gilberto a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Performance by a Female. The 1964 edited single of "The Girl from Ipanema" omitted the Portuguese lyrics sung by João Gilberto, and established Astrud Gilberto as a bossa nova singer. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Unlike her billing on Getz/Gilberto as a guest vocalist, she was given full performer credits on the single.
Tour with Stan Getz and end of marriage