The Girl from Ipanema

"Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was very popular in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel. It was first sung by Astrud Gilberto. 

Background
The song is about 17 year old Heloísa Pinheiro. Songwriters Jobim and de Moraes saw her walking to the beach in Ipanema, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro.

In the US, the single peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and went to number one for two weeks on the Easy Listening chart.

Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald recorded covers of the song.

Legal issues
In 2001, the song's copyright owners sued Pinheiro for using the title of the song as the name of her boutique (Garota de Ipanema). In their complaint, they said that her status as The Girl from Ipanema did not give her the right to use the name that legally belonged to them. The court ruled in favor of Pinheiro.

Popularity
It is believed to be the second-most recorded pop song in history, after "Yesterday" by The Beatles.

In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. 

2016 Olympics
The song became popular during the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics which were held in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympic and Paralympic mascots were named Vinicius and Tom after the song's co-writers by a public vote. The opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics was themed around the song and the architecture of Oscar Niemeyer. Spotify said that the song had been streamed 40,000 times per day in the days after the ceremony.

References

Category:1964 songs
Category:Grammy Award-winning songs