Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian bossa nova icon, dead at 83

Sérgio Mendes, one of the icons of bossa nova and ’60s tropicalia, died at his home in Los Angeles on Friday. According to his family, he had been suffering lasting effects from long-term Covid. He was 83.

“His wife and musical partner for the past 54 years, Gracinha Leporace Mendes, was by his side, as were his loving children. Mendes last performed in November 2023 to sold out and wildly enthusiastic houses in Paris, London and Barcelona,” Mendes’ family said in a statement. “For the last several months, his health had been challenged by the effects of long term Covid.”

Born in Niterói, Brasil on February 11, 1941, Mendes had an affinity for jazz and rose up through clubs in the 50s with the burgeoning bossa nova scene. It was with his group Brasil ’66, and their Herb Alpert-produced debut, that he helped break bossa nova worldwide with their versions Jorge Ben’s “Mas que Nada.” They would go on to have US hits with groovy covers of The Beatles’ “The Fool on the Hill” and Dusty Springfield’s “The Look of Love.” Over the years Mendes collaborated with everyone from Henry Mancini and Stevie Wonder to Erykah Badu and Black Thought.

Mendes won a Latin Grammys Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and was nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar in 2012 for “Real in Rio” from the animated film Rio.

Rest in peace, Sérgio.

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