Sergio Mendes, Brazilian Pop Innovator, Dies at 83



Sergio Mendes, the innovative and influential pianist, composer and arranger who was one of Brazil’s earliest contemporary crossover artists, died Friday in Los Angeles, his family has confirmed. No cause of death was announced, although he recently suffered from long-term Covid; he was 83.



Mendes “passed away peacefully” in his hometown of Los Angeles, according to a statement from his family cited in the Guardian. “His wife and musical partner for the past 54 years, Gracinha Leporace Mendes, was by his side, as were his loving children. Mendes last performed in November 2023 to sold out and wildly enthusiastic houses in Paris, London and Barcelona,” they said. “For the last several months, his health had been challenged by the effects of long term Covid.”

His longtime friend and collaborator Herb Alpert wrote on social media, “Sergio Mendes was my brother from another country. He was a true friend and extremely gifted musician who brought Brazilian music in all its iterations to the entire world with elegance [and] joy.”

 For decades, Mendes defined how American audiences heard and digested Brazilian music, first as part of influential bossa nova guitarist-composer’s Antônio Carlos Jobim’s band, then with his own Brasil ’66. With his delicate feel for samba, jazz and the cosmopolitan pop of contemporary (and A&M Records labelmate Burt Bacharach), Mendes created a battery of hits such as “Goin’ Out of My Head” ad covers of the Beatles’ ”Fool on the Hill” and “Mas que Nada.”

After his creative peak in the 1960s and into the present, Mendes remained a titan of Brazilian pop/jazz sound, with everything from his production and arrangement of vocalist Sarah Vaughn’s acclaimed “Brazilian Romance” and animated films about his homeland, such as 2011’s “Rio.”

More to come…