Bossa nova icon Sérgio Mendes dies

A Brazilian musician who popularized the bossa nova has died.

Sérgio Mendes was 83.

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His family said he died peacefully on Thursday in Los Angeles surrounded by his wife and children, the Los Angeles Times reported.

An official cause of death was not released, but his family said in a statement that his health “had been challenged by the effects of long term COVID.”

They said he “leaves us with an incredible musical legacy from more than six decades of a unique sound.”

Variety called him “the innovative and influential pianist, composer and arranger who was one of Brazil’s earliest contemporary crossover artists.”

Mendes first joined Antônio Carlos Jobim’s band but then started his own - Brazil ‘66 performing samba, jazz and contemporary pop music.

He had hits with “Goin’ Out of My Head” and covers of “Fool on the Hill” and “Mas Que Nada.”

Mendes made the world of music his own.

“It was completely different from anything, and definitely completely different from rock ‘n’ roll,” Leila Cobo, a Latin music scholar said in the 2020 HBO documentary “Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy.” “But that speaks to how certain Sergio was of that sound. He didn’t try to imitate what was going on.”

Mendes career peaked in the ‘60s, Variety said, but he continued performing and writing through the present era producing an arrangement for Sara Vaughn’s “Brazilian Romance,” and creating music for animated films including 2011′s “Rio.”

Over the years, he released almost 35 albums, won three Grammys and was nominated for an Oscar in 2012 for “Real in Rio” which he wrote for the aforementioned film, The New York Times reported.

Alpert remembered his friend online, calling him “my brother from another country.”

Variety said he last performed in November 2023 to sold-out crowds in Paris, London and Barcelona.

Mendes leaves behind his wife of 50 years, Gracinha Leporace, their two children, three children from a previous marriage and seven grandchildren, The New York Times reported.