Brazilian singer and songwriter João Donatoone of the bossa nova pioneers He died this Monday at the age of 88 in Rio de Janeiro, as announced by his environment.
“Today, the composer’s paradise woke up happier: Joao Donato went there to play his magnificent melodies,” reads a statement posted on the musician’s official Instagram account.
The statement did not specify the cause of death, but the singer had recently been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia and had been intubated since last week, according to local media.
Singer, composer, pianist, accordionist and musical arranger, Joao Donato was less in the limelight than other icons such as Joao Gilberto or Tom Jobim, but he was a benchmark for a large number of Brazilian artists.
The wake will take place at the Municipal Theater in Rio de Janeiro, the city where he grew up, after having moved with his family as a child from his hometown of Rio Branco, in the Amazonian state of Acre (north).