Astrud Gilberto was born Astrud Weinert, the daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. She was raised in Rio de Janeiro. She married João Gilberto in 1959 and immigrated to the United States in 1963. Astrud and João divorced in the mid-1960s and she began a relationship with her musical partner, American jazz saxophone player Stan Getz.

Gilberto sang on the influential album Getz/Gilberto featuring João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Antonio Carlos Jobim, despite having never sung professionally before this recording. Gilberto's recording of "The Girl from Ipanema" established her as a Bossa Nova singer. It sold over one million copies. Upon moving to the United States, she went on tour with Getz. Beginning as a singer of Bossa Nova and American jazz standards, Gilberto started to record her own compositions in the 1970s. Her repertoire includes "The Shadow of Your Smile", "It Might as Well Be Spring", "Love Story", "Fly Me to the Moon", "Day by Day", "Here's That Rainy Day", and "Look to the Rainbow". She has recorded songs in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese.

In 1982, Gilberto's son Marcelo joined her group, touring with her for more than a decade as bassist. In addition, he collaborated as co-producer of the albums “Live in New York” (1996) and “Temperance” (1997). Her son Gregory Lasorsa played guitar on the Temperance album on the song "Beautiful You", which features singer Michael Franks.

Although she did not officially retire, Gilberto announced in 2002, that she was taking "indefinite time off" from public performances.