'Blame it on the Bossa Nova' singer Eydie Gorme dies at 84

Eydie Gorme, a popular nightclub and television singer, has died aged 84. (AP)

Eydie Gorme, a pop singer who, along with her husband Steve Lawrence, became a top American nightclub and television act, later finding success on her own with hits like "Blame it on the Bossa Nova," died on Saturday at the age of 84.

The Grammy-winning Gorme died in a Las Vegas hospital following a brief illness, said publicist Howard Bragman.

Born in New York to a Sephardic Jewish family, Gorme married Lawrence in 1957 and together they became a staple on American late-night and variety television programmes.

Their playful husband-and-wife banter was a distinctive element of their performances over the decades.

"Eydie has been my partner on stage and in life for more than 55 years. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing," Lawrence said in a statement.

We Got Us, the first album from the duo that came to be known as Steve & Eydie, won a Grammy in 1960.

Recording on her own, Gorme's biggest hit was 1963's bopping dance tune "Blame It on the Bossa Nova," but she won a Grammy in 1967 for "If He Walked into My Life."

Gorme also became a star in the Spanish-speaking world in the mid-1960s by recording romantic ballads and boleros with Mexican trio Los Panchos, including the album "Amor."

Gorme and Lawrence collaborated over the years with contemporaries like Frank Sinatra and performed as a couple until recent years with an emphasis on American songwriters like Irving Berlin and George and Ira Gershwin

Gorme is survived by Lawrence and a son.

Reuters