"Bonita" (meaning "Pretty" in English) is a bossa nova song composed by

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered as one of the great exponents of Brazilian ...

, with lyrics in English credited to

Gene Lees Frederick Eugene John Lees (February 8, 1928 – April 22, 2010) was a Canadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and journalist. Lees worked as a newspaper journalist in his native Canada before moving to the United States, where he was a musi ...

and

Ray Gilbert Ray Gilbert (September 5, 1912 – March 3, 1976) was an American lyricist. He grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. He married Janis Paige in 1962. Career Gilbert is best remembered for the lyrics to the Oscar-winning song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from ...

. According to Brazilian author

Ruy Castro Ruy Castro (born 26 February 1948, in Caratinga) is a Brazilian author and journalist. In 1996 he was a co-winner of the Prêmio Jabuti. He is known for his writings concerning Bossa nova and for his biographies, profiling figures such as Ga ...

, Jobim composed the song in 1963, after being inspired by "a young woman,

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards as the title character on '' Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also known for her role as Shirley Schmi ...

, whom he had the pleasure of meeting at the home of the president of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

Nesuhi Ertegun Nesuhi Ertegun ( Turkish spelling: Nesuhi Ertegün; November 26, 1917 – July 15, 1989) was a Turkish-American record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International. Early life Born in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, Nesuhi ...

. The pleasure, by the way, was mutual." Jobim made the first recording of the song in 1965, for his album, ''

The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

''. In 1969,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

performed the song with Jobim for their planned album ''SinatraJobim,'' but at the last minute, Sinatra stopped release of the record. Seven of the ten songs from those sessions were eventually released as Side A of '' Sinatra & Company'' (1971), but "Bonita" was not included. It finally appeared in 1977 on a Reprise UK album entitled, '' Portrait of Sinatra – Forty Songs from the Life of a Man'', and was later included on '' Sinatra–Jobim Sessions'' (1979) and '' Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings'' (2010).

, who had written several other English-language lyrics for Jobim, claims that "Jobim gave my lyric to ''Bonita'', which I had written in New York, to Ray Gilbert, who altered a phrase or two and put his name on it. If you look at the credits on the back of the album titled ''The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim'' ... you'll find that the writer credit on ''Bonita'' reads Jobim/Gilbert. Gilbert produced an album for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

in which he again used the song, again taking credit for the lyric.... I was furious at both records and took the matter up with the American Guild of Authors and Composers. A hearing was organized, with

Sheldon Harnick Sheldon Mayer Harnick (April 30, 1924 – June 23, 2023) was an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as '' Fiorello!'', '' She Loves Me'', and ''Fiddler on the Roof''. Ear ...

as its chairman, and I presented the evidence of my authorship. The committee ruled that it was indeed my lyric, solely or largely.... The contretemps over ''Bonita'' was one of the reasons I parted company with Jobim."

Recorded versions

- ''

'' (1965) and '' A Certain Mr. Jobim'' (1967) *

Sérgio Mendes Sérgio Santos Mendes (; 11 February 1941 – 5 September 2024) was a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his band Brasil '66. He released 35 albums and was known for playing bossa nova, often mixed with funk. He ...

- ''

The Great Arrival ''The Great Arrival'' is a 1966 instrumental album by Sérgio Mendes. Track listing #"The Great Arrival (Chegança)" (Edu Lobo, Oduvaldo Vianna Filho) 2:19 #"Monday, Monday" ( John Phillips) 2:32 #"Carnaval" (Clare Fischer) 2:40 #"Canção do Am ...

'' (1966) *

Sylvia Telles Silvia D'Atri Telles (; August 27, 1934 – December 17, 1966) was a Brazilian jazz Samba and Bossa Nova singer and composer of the 1950s and 1960s, considered one of the major artists of Bossa Nova and MPB. Most of her original recordings are o ...

- ''Sylvia Telles Sings The Wonderful Songs Of Antonio Carlos Jobim'' (1966) *

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- '' The Return of the Prodigal Son'' (rec. 1967, released 2008) *

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

- ''

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- '' Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings'' (rec. 1969, released 2010) *

Nara Leão Nara Lofego Leão (; January 19, 1942 – June 7, 1989) was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB (popular Brazilian music) singer and occasional actress. Leão was married twice, to Ruy Guerra and subsequently Carlos Diegues, both film directors. ...

- ''

Dez Anos Depois ''Dez Anos Depois'' () is a 1971 double album of bossa nova standards by Brazilian singer Nara Leão. The first LP is entirely acoustic. The arrangements and accompaniment, made by Brazilian guitarist Tuca, with occasional piano lines, were rec ...

'' (1971) *

Elis Regina Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 1982), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of Bossa nova, Música popular brasileira, MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and ...

- '' Elis & Tom: 30th Anniversary Edition'' (1974) - bonus track *

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- '' Copacabana (1979)'' *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

- ''

Ella Abraça Jobim ''Ella Abraça Jobim'' or ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook'' is a 1981 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, devoted to the songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim. It was reissued on CD in 1991, although the CD version does not incl ...

'' (1981) *

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- ''Brazilian Sunset'' (rec. 1992, released 1996) *

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- ''Gal Costa Canta Tom Jobim Ao Vivo'' (1999) *

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- ''Jobiniando'' (2001) *

Jaques Morelenbaum Jaques Morelenbaum (() born 18 May 1954) is a Brazilian instrumentalist, arranger, conductor, composer and music producer. Morelenbaum was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of conductor Henrique Morelenbaum and piano teacher Sarah Morelenbaum. Hi ...

Paula Morelenbaum Regina Paula Martins Morelenbaum (, born July 31, 1962) is a Brazilian singer, born in Rio de Janeiro. She and her husband Jaques Morelenbaum were in the band that toured with Antonio Carlos Jobim from 1984 to 1994. In addition to Jobim's group, ...

, and

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...

- ''Morelenbaum 2/Sakamoto: Casa'' (2001) *

Eliane Elias Eliane Elias (born 19 March 1960) is a Brazilian jazz pianist, singer, composer and arranger. Biography Elias was born in São Paulo, Brazil, on 19 March 1960. She started studying piano when she was seven, and at age twelve she was transcribing ...

- ''

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'' (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonita (Antonio Carlos Jobim song) 1963 songs Frank Sinatra songs Ella Fitzgerald songs Songs with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim Bossa nova songs Brazilian songs