Regarded as one of Latin America’s first female rockers, the Brazilian rock and roll icon Rita Lee passed away at the age of 75 on Monday. The news regarding the death of the singer was announced and confirmed by her family through the popular social media platform Instagram on Tuesday.
According to the news shared by her family, Rita Lee passed away on Monday night at her home in Sao Paulo.
The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter was said to be surrounded by her family during her last moments, just like she always wanted, says the relatives. Rita Lee was diagnosed with lung cancer almost two years back, in 2021 and she had been under medication.
As a result of her amazing and successful career, Rita Lee is often described as the ‘Queen of Brazilian Rock.’ She started out her career along with the legendary group Os Mutantes.
After serving a significant part of her successful career with the group, Rita decided to pursue a solo career for herself. There too, Rita was able to replicate the success that she had with her group and she is without a doubt, one of the biggest names in the history of Latin rock and roll.
Following the tragic news of Rita Lee’s death, many famous personalities have come forward with their condolences message through different social media platforms. Among them, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also expressed his grief.
The president declared three days of national mourning following the death of one of the biggest and greatest musicians in the country. He also praised Rita Lee and her music through the message that he shared on Twitter.
He noted that Lee was one of the biggest names in Brazilian music and she inspired generations of women in music and art. He also stated that the country will never forget Rita Lee or her creative, daring, and powerful music.
The relatives of Rita Lee announced that a public wake would be held in honor of Lee at the planetarium of Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo on Wednesday. As for the further functions and proceedings regarding the funeral, the family made it clear that it will be a private function and the cremation would be held as how it wanted it to be.
On the surface level, Rita Lee was just a musician but she achieved more than just success in the music industry through her works. Rita Lee’s songs were known for the strong messages that they conveyed and talked about bold subjects like sex, love, and freedom.
Lee was also an unavoidable part of the Tropicalismo movement that affected and revolutionized Brazilian music during 1964-1985, even while the country was under strict military rule.
Rita Lee, who was known for her iconic red hair and her colored sunglasses remained a symbol of Brazilian rock music throughout the country for decades.
Following the death of the legendary singer, many of her contemporaries and other popular personalities have expressed their grief through different messages that they have posted online.
Fellow singer Gilberto Gil expressed his feelings and love that he shared for Rita by posting a compilation of videos and pictures of them singing together online, along with a caption that read ‘Rest in Peace, my sister.’
Along with Gil, other musical icons of the country like Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, and Fito Paez also paid homage to the late singer. The cultural minister of the country Margareth Menezes described Rita Lee as a ‘legendary woman’ in her statement that paid homage to her.
Born on December 31, 1947, in São Paulo, Rita Lee is the daughter of Charles Fenley Jones and her father used to work as a dentist. Rita was interested in music right from her childhood and she was a student of famous pianist Magdalena Tagliaferro.
Being trained in classical piano in her early days, Rita Lee was not confused about the path that she wanted to choose in her life.
She completed her high school education in a French-language school and she was fluent in different languages like French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and English. After completing her high school education, Rita Lee enrolled in college.
Popular Brazilian actress Regina Duarte was her classmate in college. Rita Lee did not complete her college education, She dropped out of college in order to pursue a career in music.
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Rita Lee built her career through the popular band Os Mutantes which she was a member of, along with Arnold Baptista and Sergio Dias. The band released a total of five albums during the time period from 1968 to 1972. The band became a huge hit in the Brazilian music industry and the popularity of the singers rose high.
The band was recognized by many popular artists of the time and they also worked with Brazilian music icons like Gilberto Gil. After the band was dismembered, it was reformed in 2006 but Rita refused to join in again and said that it was just an attempt to ‘earn cash for geriatry.’
Rita Lee left the band in 1972 and focused on her solo career as a musician. According to different sources, Rita Lee has sold around 55 million records worldwide. She was also able to create the success that she enjoyed earlier with the band. Rita Lee got married twice in her life.
First, she got married to her fellow band member Arnaldo Baptista and later she got married to guitarist Roberto de Carvalho. Rita Lee has three children from her second marriage and the names of her children are Beto Lee, Joao Lee, and Antonio.
Rita Lee has also published her autobiography under the name Rita Lee: Uma Autobiografia. The book was very well received among Brazilian fans and it went on to become the best-selling non-fiction book of 2017 in the country.
Along with her autobiography, Rita Lee has also published many different books in her career.
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