As every aspect of Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber’s relationship is dissected, we’ll admit we also got caught up in the excitement. During a search of Hailey’s family, we learned that the model and television personality is the daughter of Stephen Baldwin, brother of Alec, and Kennya Deodato Baldwin, a Brazilian graphic designer. On her mother’s side, Hailey’s also related to Eumir Deodato, a bossa nova legend.
Hailey’s avô – a pianist, composer, and record producer – was born in Rio de Janeiro. He started by playing the accordion, eventually moving to the piano. He played bossa nova in bands with Roberto Menescal and Durval Ferreira. With 16 albums, he not only had a successful recording career, he’s also made a name for himself as a producer and arranger, working on more than 450 albums. The Grammy-winning artist has collaborated with Frank Sinatra, Björk, and Kool and the Gang. As a matter of fact, Robert “Kool” Bell looks back fondly on the time he worked with Deodato.
“We thought that getting Deodato, he would take us in that [jazz] direction also, because of his background, but he said, ‘No, we gotta go in this direction.’ Now, ‘Ladies Night,’ my wife and I, we were hanging’ out in New York; every Friday night, Saturday night there was a Ladies Night. Studio 54, at Régine’s in New York,” Bell told Richmond Mag. “Studio 54, at Régine’s in New York. I went back to the guys and I said, ‘Hey, man, every weekend there’s a Ladies Night, we should write a song called ‘Ladies Night.’ That was our first big hit with Deodato. Same thing with ‘Celebration.’ There was a full orchestra on that record. Deodato had a full orchestra come in and play on ‘Celebration.’ And at the end of record, all of that went off, and all you had was the guitar in the front, which is signature now. I said, ‘What happened to all the music?’ He said, ‘That’s not the hit. This is the hit.’”
And if you’re wondering, Deodato has spoken about the Biebs’ work before. In an interview LA FM., where he explained he doesn’t get to see his granddaughter much because of her busy career, he said, “I know a little bit about his music. He has some interesting stuff. I’ve never had the opportunity to meet her boyfriend.”