As Fox News Digital has learned, Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes has died.
Mendes died peacefully in Los Angeles on September 5, surrounded by his wife Gracinha Leporace Mendes and his children, a spokesman for the singer confirmed.
“Over the past few months, his health has been compromised by the effects of long-term COVID illness,” the family said in a statement.
The family is still processing the loss of Mendes and plans to announce funeral and memorial details at a later date.
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Sergio Mendes died on September 5, Fox News Digital confirmed. (Team of Sergio Mendes)
Mendes won the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 1992 for “Brasileiro” and two Latin Grammy Awards. He also received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song in 2012 for “Real in Rio” from the animated film “Rio.”
Mendes composed the soundtrack for the film “Pelé” with saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and produced an album by the legendary Brazilian football player.
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Sergio Mendes began his career with Brazil in 1966. (Sergio Mendes Team)
The international musician’s song “Mas que Nada” helped make Bossa Nova, a Brazilian music genre, popular worldwide in the 1960s.
The Black Eyed Peas later released a version of the song that topped the charts in the US.
The song appeared on Mendes’ album “Timeless” and was produced by Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake and the Black Eyed Peas. The song was produced by will.i.am.
Mendes was also mentioned in an episode of “Seinfeld” when Kramer, played by Michael Richards, decides to make money by selling used records. He brings a stack of vinyls to Bleeker Bob’s Records, where the guy offers $5 for the set.
“Sergio Mendes has cult status,” Kramer said in the episode, defending the Brazilian musician. “He can’t go out on the streets in South America.”
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Sergio Mendes will perform at the Masters Festival of Arts Pageant “A Night Of Magic” benefit gala on August 26, 2023. (Getty Images)
According to his family, Mendes last performed to sold-out audiences in Paris, London and Barcelona in November 2023.
The musician began his career as part of the band Brasil ’66.
“It was totally different from anything else and definitely totally different from rock ‘n’ roll,” Leila Cobo, a Latin music expert, said in the 2020 HBO documentary “Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy,” according to the New York Times. “But that shows how confident Sergio was in that sound. He wasn’t trying to imitate what was going on.”
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Larry Fink of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
