Sergio Mendes, Brazilian Bossa Nova star, dies at the age of 83

Sergio Mendes, the Brazilian singer, composer, bandleader and keyboardist who became an international sensation after moving to the United States in the 1960s, died in Los Angeles on September 5. According to a statement from the Mendes family, the musician's health had been “compromised by the effects of long-term COVID illness.” Mendes was 83.

Born in the Brazilian city of Niterói in the early 1940s, the young Mendes studied piano at the local conservatory before playing in nightclubs and touring Brazil with various bands. He released his debut album Dance Modernoas the bossa nova movement gained momentum in 1961. Tours of North America and Europe led to collaborations with Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann, followed by a move to the United States, where he formed Sergio Mendes & Brasil '65. Despite continued success in South America, the bossa nova band's first two albums sold poorly in North America, and on the advice of producer Richard Adler, Mendes hired two American singers and sang some songs in English. Nonetheless, it was the breakthrough Portuguese-language single “Mas Que Nada,” written by samba legend Jorge Ben, that gave Mendes and the band – then called Brasil '66 and soon after Brasil '77 – their breakthrough in the U.S.

In a previously skeptical industry, “Mas Que Nada” and the parent album Herb Alpert presents: Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66 gave Mendes a reputation that peaked in 1968, when he played a cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's “The Look of Love” at the Academy Awards. The band played increasingly bigger shows – including showcases for Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon and one at the 1970 Olympics – that added rock-like weight to a live setup carried by his frenetic keyboard work and raucous percussionists.

The momentum waned, but Mendes continued to explore modern and traditional styles in the decades that followed, including the Bahia-influenced 1992 album Brazilian—Winner of the 1993 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album—and the 2010 album of modernized Brazilian classics Bom Tempo. He co-produced the James Bond theme song “Never Say Never Again” by Lani Hall, the singer from Brazil who sang in 1966, and worked with superstars such as Stevie Wonder, Milton Nascimento and Seu Jorge. He also worked with contemporary artists such as John Legend on the Oscar-nominated “Real in Rio” and the Black Eyed Peas on a “Mas Que Nada” remix. Will.i.am produced the mother album of this unusual collaboration, Timelesswhere Mendes performed alongside Eyrkah Badu, Jill Scott, Justin Timberlake and many others. He released his last album, In the key of joyin 2019, combined with a documentary about his life.