Rita Lee

Rita Lee – born Rita Lee Jones on December 31, 1947, in São Paulo, Brazil – was a singer and songwriter best known outside of her home country for her work with iconic Brazilian band Os Mutantes. Born to a Brazilian mother and an American father, Rita Lee studied piano growing up. She attended a French-language school and ended up learning several different languages including Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, and Italian. She attended college for a short time before leaving to pursue a career in music. Alongside Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Dias, she formed Os Mutantes in 1966. The trio released a trio of well-received albums between 1968 and 1972 while she also issued two solo albums: Build Up (1970) and Hoje É o Primeiro Dia do Resto da Sua Vida (1972). After Os Mutantes’ split, Rita Lee formed a duo with Lúcia Turnbull which was initially called Cilibrinas do Éden. After the duo joined forces with the band Lisergia, the group was renamed Tutti Frutti and they went on to release four albums: Atrás do Porto Tem uma Cidade (1974), Fruto Probido (1975), Entradas e Bandeiras (1976), and Babilônia (1978). She then began collaborating with her husband, guitarist Roberto de Carvalho, and the duo released a series of albums Rita Lee (1979), Saúde (1981), the multi-million seller Rita Lee e Roberto do Carvalho (1982), Bombom (1983), Zona Zen (1987), Santa Rita de Sampa (1997), Balacobaco (2003), and Reza (2012). During her musical career, Rita Lee also had a radio show and hosted several TV shows including TvLeeZão and Saia Justa. When her former Os Mutantes bandmates decided to reunite, Rita Lee refused to be involved with the project. Rita Lee died from lung cancer on May 8, 2023, at the age of 75.