The real Girl From Ipanema returns to the beaches of Rio: Brazilian who inspired the Sixties hit shows off her 63-year-old bikini body



HeloÌsa Pinheiro inspired the song 'Girl From Ipanema' in the early 1960s

The bossa nova song is 2nd most recorded song after the Beatles' yesterday



Writers Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes made millions

HeloÌsa never made a penny from the song

Is now a TV presenter and businesswoman

Has also appeared twice in Brazilian Playboy



HeloÌsa Pinheiro is the 'Girl From Ipanema', a Rio native whose daily strolls past the Veloso Bar in 1962 inspired a global hit and put Brazil on the map.

'Tall and tanned and young and lovely' Heloise, known as Helo, caught the eye of composer Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese poet Vinicius de Moraes who together penned one of the world's most recorded songs.

Now new pictures have revealed that the girl from Ipanema was still making the boys go 'aaaah' as she passed, well in to her sixties.

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HeloÌsa Pinheiro was the 'Girl from Ipanema', a Rio native whose daily strolls past the Veloso Bar in 1962 inspired a global hit and put Brazil on the map



In this shoot from 2006, Helo, age 63, returned to the beach that made her famous to show off a figure that many women half her age would kill for.

The original song was written in 1962 with English lyrics written later by Norman Gimbel and the bossa nova song became a worldwide hit after being performed in by Astrud Gilberto, along with Jo„o Gilberto and Stan Getz, from the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto.

And though the writers and their estates have made millions in royalties from the song, Helo never made a penny from it.



In fact when she tried to open a clothing boutique with the name 'The Girl from Ipanema' she was sued by the heirs to co-writers Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, but after much legal wrangling was able to keep the name of her shop.

Although the writers and their estates have made millions in royalties from the song, Helo never made a penny from it

When Helo tried to open a clothing boutique with the name 'The Girl from Ipanema' she was sued by the heirs to Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, but after much legal wrangling she was able to keep the name of her shop

Helo is a celebrity in Rio, and Brazil, regularly appearing at events and on TV shows. She became a Brazilian Playboy Playmate in 1987 and once again in 2003, when she did a pictorial along with her daughter.

Hero still claims to love the song and told the Guardian : 'It's eternal. Whenever I listen, I remember my past, my younger days. Ipanema in 1962 was a great place. You never saw aggression. Everyone wanted to fall in love. It was the spirit of bossa nova – tranquil and romantic Today, you don't see composers in the bars and restaurants. There isn't the same inspiration.'

In this shoot from 2006, Helo, age 63, returned to the beach that made her famous to show off a figure that many women half her age would kill for

Hero is a celebrity in Brazil, and especially Rio where she is constantly mobbed for pictures. Her website has details of her TV appearances and magazine shoots



