Sérgio Mendes, the Brazilian-born musician who brought bossa nova music to a global audience in the 1960s, died Thursday, Sept. 5, at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 83 years old.
The famous musician’s family announced his death in a statement on his social media channels. His family said his death was caused by the effects of prolonged Covid.
“His wife and musical partner of the past 54 years, Gracinha Leporace Mendes, was by his side, as were his beloved children,” the statement said. “Mendes performed for the last time in November 2023 in front of sold-out and enthusiastic halls in Paris, London and Barcelona.”
During his six-decade career, Mendes recorded more than 35 albums, but he is best known for popularizing Brazilian music on the global scene beginning in the 1960s, beginning with his composition “Mas Que Nada.”
“It was completely different from anything and definitely completely different from rock ‘n’ roll,” Latin music scholar Leila Cobo said in a 2020 HBO documentary. Sergio Mendes in The Key to Joy. “But that tells you how confident Sérgio was in that sound. He didn’t try to imitate what was going on.”
Sérgio Mendes performs in Chicago in March 1979.
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Mendes was born in Niteroi, Brazil in 1941. According to his website, he studied classical music in his youth and developed an affinity for jazz after hearing Dave Brubeck Quartet’s record “Take Five”.
He soon began playing in local trios and quartets before moving to the United States in 1962 with his group Brasil ’66. Their 1966 Portuguese-language single “Mas Que Nada” and their 1967 hit “The Look of Love” brought them recognition.
As his career progressed, he collaborated with several superstar musicians, from Herb Albert, Frank Sinatra and Quincy Jones to Burt Bacharach and Stevie Wonder. Some of his other memorable songs include “Scarborough Fair”, “Night and Day” and “Never Gonna Let You Go”.
Albert shared a tribute to his late friend on his Facebook page: “He was a true friend and an extremely gifted musician who brought Brazilian music in all its iterations to the whole world with elegance and pleasure…”
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Sergio Mendes on “American Bandstand” in April 1984.
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In 1992, he released an album Brasileirowhich brought him back to his Brazilian roots and won him a Grammy for the best world music album. Over the next decade, he collaborated with even more artists, including the Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, John Legend, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams.
A little over a decade later, in 2005, he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement. Five years later, his album Bom Tempo it won him another Grammy for Brazilian contemporary pop album.
In addition to lending his Brazilian bossa nueva music to contemporary artists, he also lent his talent to film music. In 2012, he received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for “Real in Rio” from the animated film Rio.
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Sérgio Mendes in Laguna Beach in August 2023.
Harmony Gerber/Getty
He left behind his wife Gracinha Leporace, 50 years his junior, their two children, Tiago and Gustav, three older children from his first marriage, Bernard, Rodrigo and Isabella, and seven grandchildren.
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