| Rita Lee | |
|---|---|
Rita Lee Jones |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rita Lee Jones |
| Also known as | A Rainha do Rock (Queen of Rock) |
| Born | December 31, 1947 |
| Origin | São Paulo, Brazil |
| Genres | Rock, glam rock, Tropicalia |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, actress, author, TV host |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Labels | Som Livre EMI |
| Associated acts | Os Mutantes, Gilberto Gil, Pitty, Ronnie Von, Caetano Veloso, Tutti Frutti, Elis Regina, Roberto de Carvalho |
| Website | Official website |
Rita Lee Jones Carvalho (born Rita Lee Jones on December 31, 1947), simply known as Rita Lee, is a Brazilian rock singer and composer. Lee continues to be a popular figure in Brazilian entertainment, where she is also known for being an animal rights activist and a vegetarian. She has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.
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Rita Lee was born in São Paulo, Brazil, to an American father, a dentist, and a Brazilian mother of Italian ancestry. She was educated in a French language school and became fluent in Spanish, French and Italian, as well as her native Portuguese and the English that her parents spoke at home.[1] She went to college, where she was a colleague of the popular actress Regina Duarte, but she soon left to pursue her musical career.
In 1966 Lee formed the band Os Mutantes with Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Dias. The band released five albums between 1968 and 1972. In that time, Lee had also released her first two solo works, although these records were produced with fellow members of Os Mutantes. When the band reformed in 2006, she refused to join and called it as an attempt of the two remaining members to "earn cash to pay for geriatry".[2]
In late 1972, Rita left Os Mutantes and started a solo career. She was initially part of a female duo with singer Lúcia Turnbull called Cilibrinas do Éden, and after a short time the duo gave birth to the band Tutti Frutti. This eventually became Lee's backing band. In 1975, she recorded the album Fruto Proibido with the band. The album was praised by critics, sold more than 200,000 copies - a record to brazilian rock & roll singers at the time - and Rita was given the title "Queen of Rock".[3] In 2007, the brazilian edition of Rolling Stone magazine ranked this album as the 16º best brazilian album of all time in its "100 Best List".[4] The producer was Andy Mills, producer of Alice Cooper and then Rita's boyfriend.[3]
In the late 1970s, Lee started a partnership with her husband, Roberto de Carvalho, and many subsequent albums were credited to the duo Lee/Carvalho.[5] In the late 70s, Lee was mentioned in the Caetano Veloso song Sampa.
Rita Lee was married to fellow Mutante Arnaldo Baptista from 1971 to 1972. In 1976, fellow MPB singer Ney Matogrosso introduced her to guitarist Roberto de Carvalho, whom she married and had three children: Beto Lee, João Lee and Antônio. She's been married to Carvalho for 35 years and refers to him as her "boyfriend".
Aside from her musical career, Rita Lee had a humor program called Radio Amador on Brazilian radio for nine months in 1986. That same year, Lee wrote three children's books and appeared in Brazilian movies and TV shows. In 1990 she started her own talk show, called TvLeeZão (a play on "televisão," the Portuguese word for television), on MTV Brasil. From 2002 to 2004 she hosted the Brazilian cable TV talk show Saia Justa. In 2005 she and her husband started a new talk show, called Madame Lee. She also made a brief cameo in the 2002 film Durval Discos. In 2008/2009 she performed a new show called 'Pic Nic Tour.' In 2010 She performed another new show called 'Etc...Tour' revisiting some forgotten songs from her long career. In 2011 she began to produce and record two new albums. The first one with new unreleased songs, the second one called 'Bossa'n Movies' where she continues the project first stated with 'Bossa'n Roll' 1991, 'Bossa'n Beatles' (Aqui, ali, em qualquer lugar). In the album she'll record Brazilian and international movie themes (American, French, Spanish, Italian...). She also confirmed her new tour for May/2011 with Erasmo Carlos, called 'Os Reis do Rock' (King & Queen of the Rock) where they'll change repertoire (She sings his songs, and he sings her songs) plus, a homage to Raul Seixas, and some classic international Rock songs.
In 2011, she contributed the track "Pistis Sophia" to the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Os Paralamas do Sucesso |
Latin Grammy Award for Best Brazilian Rock Album 2001 |
Succeeded by Cássia Eller |
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