by DAVID BILLER and GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA The Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Sergio Mendes, the 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 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 read.
Mendes was born in Niterói 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.
In 1962, they traveled to New York for a Bossa Nova festival at Carnegie Hall. During the trip, Cannonball Adderley invited Mendes to collaborate on the album "Cannonball Adderley and The Bossa Rio Sextet," leading to his first American record, "The Swinger from Rio," after signing with Atlantic Records.
Two years later, Mendes moved to California and formed Brazil '64, which evolved into Brazil '66 after he added two female vocalists.
"I put a band together called Brasil '66," he told The Guardian in 2019. "I'd always had instrumental groups, but when I added the two female singers -- Lani Hall and Bibi Vogel -- it made a different kind of sound."
The group's debut album, produced by Herb Alpert, featured "Mas Que Nada."
Sung entirely in Portuguese, "Mas Que Nada" was a mid-tempo Samba number originally released in 1963 by composer Jorge Ben Sor and updated three years later by Mendes, who gave it a jazzier feel.
Mendes' version was a worldwide hit that helped perpetuate the Brazilian music boom of the 1960s. In 2006, a modern version of the song, performed by Black Eyed Peas, topped U.S. charts.
Mendes' other hits were an eclectic blend ranging from covers of the Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill" and "With a Little Help from My Friends," to his own Brazilian chant, "Magalenha." Mendes also composed the soundtrack for the film "Pelé," featuring saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, and even produced an album recorded by the Brazilian soccer player.
Mendes won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for "Brasileiro" and two Latin Grammy Awards. He also received an Oscar nomination in 2012 for Best Original Song for "Real in Rio" from the animated film "Rio."
His family said they will provide details regarding funeral and memorial services at a later date.
FILE - Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes sits for a portrait at home in Los Angeles, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - Sergio Mendes performs with his wife, Gracinha Leporace, center, at the Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, July 20, 2016, as part of the Festival Napa Valley. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
FILE - Sergio Mendes stands for a portrait in Los Angeles on Aug. 27, 2014. (Photo by Omar Vega/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Bossa Nova piano maestro Sergio Mendes sits for a portrait at his home in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Feb. 7, 2006. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes poses for a portrait at home, Tuesday, May 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. The documentary "Sergio Mendes & Friends: A Celebration" will be airing on PBS in June. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)