Rita Lee, Queen of Brazilian Rock, Dies at 75; remember career
Rita Lee, one of the greatest singers and songwriters in the history of Brazilian music, died this Monday (8) at the age of 75. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 and had been undergoing treatments for the disease.
The singer’s family released a statement on their social networks: “We announce the death of Rita Lee at her residence in the capital, São Paulo, late at night, surrounded by all the love of her family as she always wanted.” The Vigil will be open to the public on Wednesday (10th) from 10am to 5pm at the Planetarium in Ibirapuera Park.
Rita, the patroness of liberty
1 of 4 Rita Lee in a photo taken in March 1969 — Photo: Esstadão Content/Archive Rita Lee in a photo taken in March 1969 — Photo: Esstadão Content/Archive
Rita helped integrate the rock revolution into the creative explosion of Tropentum, founded the most revered Brazilian rock band in the world, Os Mutantes, and in her solo career created songs with enormous popularity without losing her freedom and irreverence.
Always modern, Rita has been a reference for female creativity and independence throughout her nearly 60year career. The title “Queen of Brazilian Rock” almost came naturally, but found her “cheesy” she preferred “patron saint of freedom”.
Rita Lee Jones was born on December 31, 1947 in Sao Paulo. Her father, Charles Jones, was a dentist and the son of US immigrants. Her mother, Italian Romilda Padula, was a pianist and encouraged her daughter to learn the instrument and sing with her sisters.
At the age of 16, Rita joined a trio of female singers, the Teenage Singers, and performed at school festivals as an amateur. Singer and producer Tony Campello spotted the singers and asked them to take part in recordings as backing vocals.
The mutants
2 of 4 Os Mutantes, a group formed by Arnaldo Baptista, Rita Lee and Sergio Dias, with Gilberto Gil in a photo taken in March 1972 — Photo: Acervo Esstadão Synopsis Os Mutantes, a group formed by Arnaldo Baptista, Rita Lee and Sergio Dias founded group , with Gilberto Gil in a photo taken in March 1972 — Photo: Esstadão Content Collection
In 1964 she joined a rock group called the Six Sided Rockers, which, after some lineup and name changes, became Mutantes in 1966. The group was originally formed by Rita Lee, Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Dias.
Fundamental to tropicalismo, fusing psychedelia with local rhythms, they became the most critically acclaimed Brazilian group among rock musicians in the world, worshiped by Kurt Cobain, David Byrne, Jack White, Beck and others.
The trio accompanied Gilberto Gil in “Domingo no parque” at Record’s 3rd Festival de Música Popular Brasileira in 1967 and Caetano Veloso in “É forbidden to prohibit” at Globo’s 3rd Festival Internacional da Canção in 1968, two milestones of tropicalalia.
Os Mutantes also participated in the 1968 album Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis, the foundational recording of the movement.
She was part of Mutantes during the band’s most relevant and creative period, from 1966 to 1972. She recorded “Os Mutantes” (68), “Mutantes” (69), “A Divina Comédia ou Ando Meio Disligado” (70), ” Jardim Electric” (71) and “Mutants and their comets in the land of Bauretz” (72).
The end of the relationship with Arnaldo Baptista coincided with her departure from Mutantes. The first solo album was Build up, even before she left the band, in 1970. She also released Hoje é o Primeiro Dia do Resto da Sua Vida in 1972, still recorded with the group.
the solo career
3 of 4 Rita Lee during the recording of the ‘Mulher 80’ special that aired on Globo in 1979 — Photo: Nelson Di Rago/TV Globo/Arquivo Rita Lee during the recording of the ‘Mulher 80’ special that aired on Globo in 1979 — Photo: Nelson Di Rago/TV Globo/Arquivo
Her postmutantes career took shape with the group Tutti Frutti, in which she recorded five albums, focusing on 1975’s “Fruto Banned” with the song “Now Only You Missing”.
From 1979 she began collaborating with her husband Roberto de Carvalho and finally established a solo career. She wrote and recorded poprock songs with great success.
One of the most successful albums was “Rita Lee” from 1979 with “Mania de Você”, “Chega mais” and “Doce Vampiro”. On the album of the same name the following year, she went more in the direction of pop and was even more successful with “Lança Perfume” and “Baila comigo”.
Before and after the genre became a commercial phenomenon in Brazil in the mid1980s, she was a popular rocker in first rock in Rio.
Goodbye to Rita Lee: Reminisce about unforgettable partnerships of the queen of Brazilian rock
In 1991, she began a fouryear separation from Roberto de Carvalho. Her comeback came in 1995 on the tour for the album A Marca da Zorra, when she also performed for the Rolling Stones in Brazil. The following year, after 20 years together, they were legally married.
In 1996, under the influence of medication, she fell from the balcony of her farm and fractured her maxillary sinus. Rita tried to quit alcohol and drugs, but told Fantástico she didn’t do so until January 2006.
In 2001, Rita Lee won the Latin Grammy for Best PortugueseLanguage Rock Album with “3001”. She would have five more nominations for the award and would receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.
In 2012, she announced that she was quitting performing due to her physical frailty. “I’m retiring from concerts, but never from music,” she wrote on Twitter.
On January 28 this year, she was performing what was heralded as the last show of her career at the Festival de Verão de Sergipe when she got into an argument with a police officer. She was accused of disobeying authority, taken to the police station and then released.
Rita Lee never really toured again. But he did another show in the federal district in late 2012, where he dropped his pants in front of the public, and sang for the São Paulo anniversary in 2013, to applause from the public in his city.
His last studio album with new songs was released in April 2012. “Reza” was his first work with new songs in nine years. The title track was the work song, which she defined as “a prayer of protection from envy, anger, and plague.”
There were 40 albums in total, 6 by Mutantes, 34 in his solo career.
the autobiographies
4 of 4 Singersongwriter Rita Lee poses on the evening of the premiere of her autobiography at the Livraria Cultura do Conjunto Nacional on Avenida Paulista in central São Paulo — Photo: Ale Frata/Código19/Estadão Content Singersongwriter Rita Lee poses at the night of the presentation of his autobiography at the Livraria Cultura do Conjunto Nacional on Avenida Paulista in central São Paulo — Photo: Ale Frata/Código19/Estadão PRODUTO
In 2016 she published Rita Lee: An Autobiography. One of the book’s revelations was that she was sexually abused at the age of six by a technician who came to fix her mother’s sewing machine at home.
In the book, a bestseller, she also spoke candidly about episodes in her career, like her expulsion from the Mutantes in 1972, and her personal life, like her battle with alcoholism.
In addition to her autobiography, Rita Lee has had a long career as a writer. The series “Dr. Alex” dates from 1983 but was rereleased in 2019 and 2020 and focuses on the singer’s fight for animal and environmental causes. In March 2023, she announced Another Autobiography, which is available for preorder.
She also wrote “Amiga Ursa: A Sad Story with a Happy End” in children’s literature. FavoRita, Dropz, Storynhas and Rita Lírica are other books by the singer.
On television, Rita has made special appearances on the soap operas Top Model, Malu Mulher, Vamp, and Celebridade.
cancer diagnosis
In May 2021, Rita Lee was diagnosed with lung cancer. She followed immunotherapy and radiation therapy.
Four months later, she released the final single of her career, Changes, in collaboration with her husband Roberto de Carvalho and producer Gui Boratto.
In April 2022, her son Beto Lee wrote that she was cured of cancer.
In recent years she has been living with her family on a farm in the interior of São Paulo. She leaves three children: Roberto, João and Antônio.