Brazilian popular music legend Gal Costa dead at 77

Brazilian singer Gal Costa, whose crystalline voice and transgressive sensuality made her the muse of the groundbreaking "Tropicalia" movement in the 1960s, died Wednesday, her public relations agency said. She was 77.

With her mane of brown curls and seductive smile, Costa sang with some of the biggest names on Brazil's booming popular music scene in the 1960s and immortalized many of their songs, including by Tom Jobim, Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento and her close friend Caetano Veloso.

"Unfortunately, we confirm" that Costa died, a spokeswoman for Costa's PR firm told AFP, saying she could not give further details.