艾斯楚德·吉尔伯托

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".

Early life

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.