Sergio Santos Mendes was born in February 1941 in Niteroi, Brazil, and, armed with an interest in jazz, he started playing in nightclubs in the late 1950s, just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was taking off. Mendes played with Antonio Carlos Jobim, who he regarded as a mentor, and many US jazz musicians who toured Brazil. Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded “Dance Moderno” in 1961, going on to tour the US and Europe and recording albums with Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann.

In 1964, Mendes moved to the US, and produced 2 albums under the Brasil '65 group name with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records. However, in reaction to a slowdown in sales, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda de Sa with Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes’ Portuguese material phonetically), switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label and released “Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66”, which went platinum, driven by the success of single "Mas Que Nada" (a Jorge Ben cover). Brasil '66’s original line up was Mendes (piano), vocalists Lani Hall and Janis Hansen, Bob Matthews (bass), Jose Soares (percussion) and Joao Palma (drums), with John Pisano guesting as guitarist. This line-up recorded 3 albums between 1966 and 1968, including “Look Around”. Brasil ‘66’s version of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David song "The Look of Love" peaked at number 4 in 1968, eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of “Casino Royale”. For fourth album “Fool on the Hill”, Karen Philipp replaced Hansen as the second vocalist, drummer Dom Um Romao teamed with Rubens Bassini to look after percussion, Sebastiao Neto took over bass, and Oscar Castro-Neves was employed as guitarist. 2 singles released from the album, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair", were consecutive Top 10 and Top 20 hits.

Mendes’ career in the US went quiet in the mid 1970s, despite recording 2 albums with Bell Records, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 onwards. However, he began to collaborate with artists such as Stevie Wonder (who wrote "The Real Thing"). In 1983, he rejoined A&M records, releasing a self-titled album and achieving success with the single "Never Gonna Let You Go", featuring vocals by Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller, which reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and spent 4 weeks on top of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Mendes released Grammy winning album “Brasileiro” in 1992, and the late 1990s lounge music revival brought renewed interest in his Brasil '66 albums.

2006’s ”Timeless” features a number of guest artists, for example The Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, Black Thought, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, India.Arie, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip, Stevie Wonder and Pharoahe Monch. The re-recorded version of "Mas que Nada" (with The Black Eyed Peas) entered the UK Singles chart at number 29, rising to number 6.

Sergio Mendes has released over 35 albums, and is married to Gracinha Leporace, who regularly sings backing vocals on his material.