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A rebel, visionary and inspiration to generations of women, singer-songwriter Rita Lee died Monday at age 75. The singer was considered by many the "queen" of Brazilian rock, although she preferred to be called "patroness of freedom".
The artist had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 and went so far as to announce a remission of the disease last year.
Born in Sao Paulo on December 31, 1947, into a middle-class family, Rita Lee Jones debuted as a singer in the female band Teenage Singers, singing covers of The Beatles and other foreign groups.
In 1966 he formed the influential psychedelic rock trio Os Mutantes, with which he would achieve national fame at the height of tropicalism, the libertarian movement that revolutionized Brazilian culture during the military dictatorship (1964-1985).
It was with Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, leaders of tropicalism, with whom Rita Lee discovered her "Brazilian side". "They advised me on how to make Brazilian music, because until then I only played 'gringo' music," Rita Lee said in the biographical documentary "Ovelha Negra" (2007), directed by musician Roberto de Carvalho, her husband and musical partner for four decades.
Separated from Os Mutantes in 1972, she continued her career with the band Tutti Frutti and later as a soloist.
- music
- Brazil
- Pop
- Rock
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