BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) 鈥 Rita Lee Jones, Brazil鈥檚 million-selling 鈥淨ueen of Rock鈥 who gained an international following through her colorful and candid style and such hits as 鈥淥velha Negra,鈥 鈥淢ania de Voc锚鈥 and 鈥淣ow Only Missing You,鈥 has died at 75.
Otherwise known as Rita Lee, she died at her home in Sao Paulo on Monday evening, according to a statement posted to her official Instagram account.
Her cause of death wasn鈥檛 immediately disclosed. She had retired from stage performances in the early 2010s in what she later attributed to physical frailty, and was diagnosed in 2021 with lung cancer, though her son announced a year later that she had defeated the illness.
With a career spanning six decades, the Sao Paulo native left a lasting mark with her irreverence, creativity and compositions containing messages that helped introduce Brazilian society to feminism, while also candidly addressing her struggles with drug abuse.
Although she regarded her voice as 鈥渨eak and a little out of tune,鈥 like a sparrow鈥檚, she enjoyed a long run of top-selling albums, including 鈥淩ita Lee鈥 and 鈥淩ita Lee & Roberto de Carvalho,鈥 and dozens of her songs were featured in widely watched telenovelas in Latin America. The behemoth television network Globo used her rendition of the song 鈥淧oison Weed鈥 (Poison Ivy) in three of its programs.
鈥淚 was not born to get married and wash underwear. I wanted the same freedom as the boys who used to play in the street with their toy cars,鈥 she told the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone in 2008. 鈥淲hen I got into music, I realized that the 鈥渕achos鈥 reigned absolute, even more in rock music. 鈥榃ow鈥, I said, 鈥榯his is where I鈥檓 going to let my fangs out and, literally, give them a hard time.鈥欌
She was a singer and songwriter praised for her versatility, playing at least five instruments: drums, guitar, piano, harmonica and autoharp. She was also one of the first Brazilian musicians to use electric guitar.
Eventually, her popularity extended beyond Brazil. She performed in Portugal, England, Spain, France and Germany. In 1988, the British newspaper Daily Mirror revealed that then-Prince Charles admired her song 鈥淟an莽a Perfume鈥 and considered her his favorite singer. She won a Latin Grammy in the Best Portuguese Language Album category in 2001, for her album 鈥3001."
Rita Lee rose to fame with the group Os Mutantes (The Mutants), starting in 1966. Colors and creativity, as well as irony and irreverence, were Lee鈥檚 trademarks from the start, evident in the flamboyant costumes she performed in her shows. By the mid-1970s, after selling 200,000 copies of the album 鈥淔orbidden Fruit,鈥 Lee began to be called the 鈥渜ueen of rock鈥 on the music scene. Hits on 鈥淔orbidden Fruit鈥 include 鈥淣ow Only Missing You鈥 and 鈥淥velha Negra,鈥 long played on radio stations and Brazilian soap operas.
In an interview with the music website I Have More Records Than Friends! in 2017, Lulu Santos, judge of the Brazilian version of The Voice, recalled seeing Rita Lee play autoharp at a concert.
鈥淪he brought that thing on stage, in those clothes... it was completely mythological,鈥 the musician said. 鈥淭here really is a lineage of 鈥榞irls鈥 tied to rock in Brazil, of which she is a legitimate representative. But I see her as an element that distances herself from the clich茅s of rock.鈥 She, from her feminine point of view, sees the clumsiness of the worn-out clich茅 of the male rocker, the one who plays with his legs open. She saw right through him.鈥
She was one of the first public figures in Brazil to popularize feminist themes, such as infusing the lyrics of her 1979 song 鈥淢ania de Voce鈥 (Mania for You) with female sexuality and pleasure. Similar songs followed, such as 鈥淎mor e Sexo鈥 (Love and Sex) which contrasted the two in detail and 鈥淟an莽a Perfume鈥 (Spray Perfume), an ode to unbridled hedonism.
Later in life, she became a vegan and animal rights activist. For decades, she kept her hair bright red and often wore matching lenses, a popular look that she discarded in recent years as she allowed her gray to grow out. She resolved in 2015 to reinvent herself as a white butterfly.
In her autobiography, published the following year, she didn鈥檛 shy from describing the sexual abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of a man who had come to fix her mother鈥檚 sewing machine.
She also referred to herself as a 鈥渞ebel鈥 and 鈥渉ippie communist," and wrote of sneaking out the windows of her house as a teenager to play, being arrested during the dictatorship for possession of marijuana, and her multiple stints in rehab clinics for drugs and alcohol.
鈥淚 recognize that my best songs were written in an altered state, and my worst too. I only regret my delay in realizing that the 鈥榤edicine鈥 had long since expired,鈥 she wrote. 鈥淢y generation suffered the claustrophobia of a brutal dictatorship, and using drugs was a way to breathe airs of freedom.鈥
In an interview with the television program Fantastico in 2020, she explained that physical frailty had prompted her to leave the stage eight years earlier.
鈥淕etting old, for me, was a surprise, because I鈥檝e never been old in my life,鈥 she told the show. 鈥淚 was left wanting to live my old age away from the stage, without sharing it with the public.鈥
A public wake will be held at the planetarium in Sao Paulo on May 10, according to the Instagram post.
President Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva declared three days of mourning and lamented the loss of 鈥渙ne of the biggest and most brilliant names in Brazilian music.鈥 He praised on his official Twitter profile 鈥渁n artist ahead of her time,鈥 and her sense of humor.
She is survived by her three children and her husband, with whom she shared a 44-year musical partnership. In 2021, they released a new song, Change, together, and a remix of some of the singer鈥檚 biggest hits.
Years before, she imagined her future death, as if prophesying:
鈥淚 will be in heaven,鈥 she wrote, 鈥渨ith my soul present playing my autoharp and singing to God, 鈥楾hank you, Lord, finally sedated.鈥 Epitaph: She was never a good example, but she was good people.鈥
