Brazilian bossa nova pioneer Joao Gilberto dies aged 88
- Singer, songwriter and musician’s importance has been described as ‘incalculable’
Joao Gilberto, the legendary Brazilian musician and songwriter who was a pioneer of the lilting, melodious music known as bossa nova, has died, his son Joao Marcelo announced on Saturday.
He was 88. The cause of death was not immediately known.
“My father has passed,” the son, who lives in the US, wrote on Facebook. “His fight was noble, he tried to maintain dignity in light of losing his sovereignty.”
Gilberto, whose soft voice singing The Girl From Ipanema in the 1960s made him world famous, was living alone in a borrowed house at the end, deeply in debt in Rio de Janeiro.
Known both for his smooth singing voice and his guitar playing, Gilberto brought the sounds of bossa nova – meaning “new trend” or “new wave” – to jazz festivals and concert halls around the world, putting Brazilian music on the map.
Bernardo Araujo, a music critic for the daily O Globo newspaper, said last year Gilberto’s importance was “incalculable”.
