Wonder Woman of the Week: Astrud Gilberto
- Jul 6, 2022
- 1 min read
Our Wonder Woman this week may have been the voice of the birth of Bossa Nova- Brazil's most iconic contribution to music history. Astrud Gilberto was married to Joao Gilberto when she provided the English language vocals to her husband's new track "The Girl from Ipanema." Although the song was nothing new (it's original recording from a separate artist released two years prior), the Gilbertos' version became internationally famous and launched Astrud's music career. Bossa Nova historians note the genre began with Joao Gilberto's soundtracks to 1950's Brazilian films, but Astrud Gilberto's English language contribution to her husband's work made the genre an instant international success. With all that success though, Astrud received no pay for her contribution.
To further capitalize on Astrud Gilberto's success, her producer took her on tour to the United States where the adoring crowds (and promises of actually getting paid) convinced Gilberto to drop her producer, divorce her husband, and begin a new life in the US. While there, Gilberto used the skills her linguist father taught her to record songs in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese- helping to further expand the international reach of the increasingly popular Bossa Nova genre. Gilberto would later earn countless awards for her contribution to music- especially in the Latin music and jazz music circles. Gilberto retired from music in 2002 after a lifetime of fighting to earn the praise and pay she deserved from day one of her music career- setting a standard for the acknowledgement of women's contribution to music and inspiring countless women to pursue careers as Bossa Nova singers.
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