With help from Mr. Gimbel, “The Girl From Ipanema” went on to drive the bossa nova craze in the United States and beyond, introducing millions of listeners to Brazil’s “new wave” fusion of samba and jazz. Alternately celebrated and mocked, with its ubiquitous instrumental covers derided as innocuous Muzak, versions of the song were used as elevator music in a scene from “The Blues Brothers” and as a soundtrack to the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Yet the tune was just one of many hits for Mr. Gimbel, an Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist who co-wrote the theme songs to “Happy Days” and “Laverne & Shirley,” as well as the chart-topping ballad “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” He was 91 when he died Dec. 19 at his home in Montecito, Calif. His son Tony Gimbel confirmed the death but did not give a cause.
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