The Brazilian musician was considered a "revolutionary" for launching a new genre that incorporated elements of jazz. Joao Gilberto is best known for his popular rendition of "The Girl from Ipanema."
Image: picture-alliance/M. Altaffer
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World-renowned Brazilian musician Joao Gilberto, considered the father of bossa nova music, died on Saturday at the age of 88.
"My father has passed," his son Marcelo Gilberto wrote on Facebook. "His fight was noble, he tried to maintain his dignity."
Born in a small town in Bahia state, he launched a new musical movement known as bossa nova when he released the record "Chega de Saudade" in 1959.
It wasn't until the 1960s that he became a renowned musical artist with his popular rendition of "The Girl from Ipanema," which he sang with his wife at the time.
He would go on to make albums with some of the greatest jazz musicians, including Herbie Hancock and Stan Getz. For many, his musical approach was "revolutionary."
"He was the first singer, at least in Brazil, to demonstrate that you don't need a big voice, that you can sing quietly, like in a whisper, while accompanied by virtuoso guitar," music critic Bernardo Araujo told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
Alone in the end
However, following his worldwide success, Gilberto eventually chose a life of seclusion. He created his last original album in 1989 and nearly two decades later, performed his last concert in 2008.
"In front of the microphone, he was a smashing success," said his biographer Ruy Castro last year. "But off-stage, it was the opposite."
In his later years, two of his children fought a protracted legal battle with Gilberto's third wife, Claudia Faissol, a journalist 40 years younger than him.
Due to towering debt, he lived his last years alone in a house loaned to him by Brazilian cinematographer Paula Lavigne.
God is Brazilian, God is samba! Brazil is celebrating a century of its most well-known musical style, and the world is dancing along. DW takes a closer look at the heartbeat of a nation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Simon
Samba is slavery
Slaves brought to Brazil from Angola took their songs and dances with them, which they called "semba" or "sàmba." Their dances celebrated fertility, but in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, where most slaves ended up, the dances developed into an integral part of religious ceremonies. The Brazilian samba originated in Rio de Janeiro, a mixture of African and European musical traditions.
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Samba by phone
The first samba, "Pelo Telefone" ("By Phone"), was officially registered on November 27, 1916, in Brazil's National Library. The carnival hit was attributed to Brazilian musician Ernesto Joaquim Maria dos Santos, known as Donga. The piano score, seen here, was written by Pixinguinha, the famous Brazilian saxophonist, singer and composer.
Image: Fundação Biblioteca Nacional
Samba is black pride
This 1925 oil painting, by well-known Brazilian artist Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, is entitled "Samba." Di Cavalcanti was seen as the leader of Brazilian Modernism, and his work expressed the self-confidence of black Brazilian art. This piece was destroyed by fire in August 2012.
Image: Emiliano Di Cavalcanti/FairUse
'Samba is a form of prayer'
Brazilian poet and diplomat Vinicius de Moraes (1913-1980) came up with perhaps one of the most beautiful definitions of samba. In "Samba da Benção," which he composed with guitarist Baden Powell, he sang: "A good samba is like a prayer. A good samba needs a bit of suffering, because suffering is always accompanied by a bit of hope."
Image: Gemeinfrei
Samba is melancholy
De Moraes was also behind the 1959 film "Orfeu Negro" ("Black Orpheus"), in which he transposed the ancient Greek drama of Orpheus and Eurydice to Rio's world-famous Carnival. The film, for which director Marcel Camus was awarded the top Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, features music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá, a classic soundscape of samba and bossa nova.
Image: cc-by-3.0/Helmuth Ellgaard
Samba is cliche
Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) was known for her tutti-frutti hat, but it was samba that made her famous. A milliner and the daughter of Portuguese immigrants, she came to prominence with her 1929 hit "Samba não vá sim'bora" ("Samba, Please Don't Go"), before heading to Hollywood a decade later. In film and on TV, she was known as the Brazilian Bombshell.
Image: Getty Images/Keystone
Samba, more than just Carnival
Martinho da Vila, a composer, singer and devoted member of the Unidos de Vila Isabel samba school in Rio de Janeiro, is considered one of the leading figures in the samba world. His 1974 song "Canta Canta, Minha Gente" ("Sing, Sing My People") was an international hit. At the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August, he performed along with his daughters at the closing ceremony.
Image: Getty Images/R. Dias
Samba brings people together
Every Monday, musicians meet for a round of samba music at the Pedra do Sal, a historical place in the center of Rio de Janeiro. Anyone can join in, and everyone is welcome. Samba is the common cultural denominator that brings the city's inhabitants together, even if they come from different social backgrounds.
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Samba is child's play
In this photo, children from Rio's poor district of Cantagalo rehearse at their samba school. The rhythms, lyrics and melodies of the famous samba schools characterize Rio's favela communities. Many children dream of a career in the samba business, making TV shows and traveling abroad.
Image: Getty Images/M. Tama
Samba is everywhere
From Brazil to the world: the global triumph of samba hasn't left Germany untouched. At the Berlin Carnival of Cultures, celebrated in the spring, Brazilian samba schools, with their supporters from different cultures and countries, are now a regular part of the parade.
