Sergio Mendes, Grammy-winning Brazilian music legend, dies at 83
Sergio Mendes, the Grammy-winning Brazilian musician whose 1966 hit “Mas Que Nada” made him a global superstar, has died after months battling the effects of long COVID
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Sergio Mendes, the celebrated Brazilian musician whose 1966 hit “Mas Que Nada” made him a global superstar and helped launched a long, Grammy-winning career, has died after months battling the effects of long COVID. He was 83.
The death Thursday of the Brazilian pianist, songwriter and arranger was confirmed in a statement by his family.
“His wife and musical partner for the past 54 years, Gracinha Leporace Mendes, was by his side, as were his loving children,” the statement Friday said. “Mendes last performed in November 2023 to sold out and wildly enthusiastic houses in Paris, London and Barcelona.”
Mendes was born in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro’s sister city, and studied classical music at a conservatory before joining jazz groups. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began playing Bossa Nova as the genre was heating up in Rio’s nightclub scene with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto and others.
