Brazilian music legend dies at 83

Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes has died on the age of 83, his household has confirmed.

The bandleader and songwriter is greatest identified for the upbeat Latin pop track “Mas Que Nada,” and has added Brazilian touches to English-language songs similar to “The Look Of Love” and The Beatles’ “The Idiot On The Hill.” .

Mendes has recorded greater than 35 albums, lots of which have been licensed gold or platinum in the USA; in 2012, he was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing the track “Actual in Rio” from the animated movie Rio.

Mendes “handed away peacefully” on Thursday in Los Angeles, surrounded by his spouse and kids, his household stated in an announcement.

No official reason for dying was given, however Mendes’ household stated he had suffered from COVID-19 for a very long time, and the musician was reported to have been affected by the respiratory sickness since late 2023.

The household’s assertion stated Mendes “introduced the joyous sounds of his native Brazil to the world.”

“Mendes final carried out in November 2023 in sold-out venues in Paris, London and Barcelona,” the assertion continued.

“Over the previous few months, his well being has been challenged by the consequences of long-term COVID-19.”

The assertion concluded by saying that Mendes “has left us an unbelievable musical legacy by greater than six a long time of distinctive sound.”

The son of a health care provider, Mendes was born in Niterói, Brazil, the place he initially studied classical piano and aspired to grow to be a live performance pianist.

However his life modified in 1956, when he heard American musician Dave Brubeck’s first jazz file, “Take 5,” and gave up his research.

“For me, I’d say, that was one of many unbelievable moments of my life,” In 2014, he told NPR“As a result of once I heard the information, I did not know something about jazz or something.”

When the bossa nova craze took off, he started performing in nightclubs in Rio de Janeiro and started to immerse himself in that scene alongside different luminaries similar to Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto.

His first file, Dance Moderno, was launched in 1961 on Philips Data.

Three years later, he left Brazil for the USA to flee army dictatorship—but it surely was not a straightforward transition.

His Brazilian bandmates returned residence, forcing Mendes to kind a brand new band. It was known as Brasil ’66 and starred two American singers, Lani Corridor and Karen Philip.

Signed to A&M Data, they discovered a profitable formulation – combining jazzy renditions of Brazilian pop songs with samba-rich variations of present hits.

their first main success but nothinga sun-kissed cowl of Jorge Ben’s unique, filled with finger clicks, rocking rockers and impassioned choruses that sing out the urge to bounce.

Mendes later recalled, “There was one thing very magical in regards to the track.” “Folks everywhere in the world love this track.”

It was the primary Portuguese-language track to grow to be a worldwide hit; and propelled Brasil ’66’s self-titled debut album into the highest ten on the US charts.

Mendes perfected the mix of Western melodies and Brazilian rhythms on later recordings, together with Simon and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Honest” and Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay.”

When he covers Beatles songs fool on the mountain On the 1967 album Look Round, Paul McCartney wrote a letter to Mendes telling him it was his favourite model of the track.

Though his music was dismissed as “simple listening” on the time, he grew to become extraordinarily standard, touring usually and performing on the White Home for Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.

He regularly appeared on tv exhibits with artists similar to Perry Como, Jerry Lewis, Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra, with whom he developed shut friendships.

Within the Seventies he re-formed his personal band Brasil ’77, however his business fortunes progressively waned till his 1983 comeback album Sergio Mendes gave him the largest hit single of his profession – a canopy of Dionne Warwick’s basic songs Will never let you go.

The track’s success was virtually unintentional, as Mendes solely added the track to his repertoire on the final minute.

“Each different track on the album was very festive. I wanted a ballad on the album simply to vary the tempo just a little bit,” he advised Billboard’s Grownup Modern Scorching Songs chart.

In 1992 he gained a Grammy for the album Brasileiro, which included a number of tracks with the younger percussionist and singer Carlinhos Brown, now Grew to become one in all Brazil’s most well-known musicians.

Their collaboration consists of magalenha – a joyful track pushed by the energetic sounds of Bahian percussionists from the streets of Rio – rapidly grew to become a Latin normal.

Twenty years later, in 2012, the pair obtained an Oscar nomination for his or her rating for Rio.

In 1997, “Mas Que Nada” was included on the soundtrack of Mike Myers’ Austin Powers, introducing Mendes to an entire new viewers, and by the early 2000s, his massive hit A number of the previous titles have been re-released for brand spanking new followers.

Across the identical time, Mendes started incorporating parts of hip-hop into his sound, collaborating with the Black Eyed Peas on a brand new model of Mas Que Nada and recording songs with rappers similar to Widespread and Q-Tip.

Mendes additionally made a cameo in Pharrell Williams’ 24-hour “Completely satisfied”; and obtained a Lifetime Achievement Award on the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards.

Sergio Mendes within the movie of his life, Key to Pleasure – launched alongside a brand new album in 2020 – has solely just lately continued to play dwell, together with on the London Jazz Pageant final October.

Mendes sums up his musical philosophy once said: “After I consider Brazilian music, the primary phrases that come to my thoughts are pleasure, celebration, social gathering… I feel that is according to the overall spirit of the individuals.”

The musician is survived by his spouse Gracinha Leporace, who sang on lots of his recordings. He additionally has 5 kids.