Legendary musician who was battling long COVID dead at 83

Sergio Mendes died Friday in Los Angeles, and it doesn’t take long scanning the stories about him to know the guy was a legend.

Words like “innovative” and “influential,” dot the pieces worked up in the hours after his death.

Mendes’ death was announced by his family. He was 83. No cause of death was given, but he has reportedly been battling long COVID.

“His wife and musical partner for the past 54 years, Gracinha Leporace Mendes, was by his side, as were his loving children,” a statement from his family reportedly said.

Variety wrote that Mendes “defined how American audiences heard and digested Brazillian music” for decades.

The site said that following his creative peak in the 1960s, he “remained a titan of Brazllian pop/jazz sound.”

He is credited with releasing a whopping 55 albums with the first, “Dance Moderno (Philips) coming in 1961, and the last, “In the Key of Joy (Concord),” coming in 2020.

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He won a Grammy in 1993 for his album “Brasileiro,” which won the Best World Music Album award. He also won a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Latin Grammy Awards in 2005.