The singer-composer was known best as a pioneer of the bossa nova genre, which found international popularity in the 1960s. Reports say Gilberto died at home in Rio de Janeiro after a period of illness. His son confirmed the news of his death in a Saturday Facebook post.

"His fight was noble, he tried to maintain dignity," Marcelo Gilberto said. Born in the north-east state of Bahia in 1931, Gilberto began singing aged 18. His release of the record Chega de Saudade in the late 1950s was considered a game-changer for Brazilian music. Gilberto's style - mixing traditional and modern musical influences - inspired bossa nova, or new trend, music and many other artists after him.

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