The world was shattered by the loss of Rita Lee on May 8th, 2023. Long known as the Brazilian Queen of Rock – even though she thought the nickname was “cafona” (cheesy) and preferred being known as “Padroeira da Liberdade” (patroness of freedom), her passing was announced through an Instagram post made by her husband, Roberto de Carvalho: “At this moment of profound sadness, the family thanks everyone for their affection and love,”– inviting all to her open wake. In 2021, Rita was diagnosed with lung cancer and had been fighting the disease ever since.
Rita Lee Jones was born on December 31st 1947, and was introduced to the music industry at the age of 16, as a member of “Teenage Singers”, a feminine trio which sang in small parties and schools. Her official debut to the world of music was in 1964, when she joined “Six Sided Rockers” that eventually became “Os Mutantes” in 1966. “[The group] has come from another planet to take over the world,” the future-known Queen of Rock declared in her first interview with Folha De São Paulo. Together with Arnaldo Baptista and Sergio Dias, Lee played a key role in the “Tropicália”, the anti-authoritarian movement that blossomed in the sixties – getting world-wide recognition with successes like “Banho De Lua” and “Dois Mil e Um”, for example.
The songwriter and vocalist’s solo launch happened in the seventies when she released string of hits working with the group “Tutti Frutti” with whom she recorded 5 albums; the most popular being “Fruto Proibido” (1975), which is home to some of her biggest hits such as “Agora Só Falta Você”. Rita Lee’s grounding in her career occurred in 1979, when she started working with her husband Roberto De Carvalho – dominating pop as well as rock and roll in her album “Rita Lee” which includes hits like “Mania De Você” and “Lança Perfume” – a tribute to her dad. “Lança Perfume” was in fact banned during Brazil’s military dictatorship around the 70’s and 80’s.
The red-headed rocker became a global powerhouse, reaching musicians as Kurt Cobaine, David Byrne and Beck, who were listeners of “Os Mutantes”. According to The Daily Mirror, King Charles III knew her words by heart when he requested one of her records for a performance at the British Embassy in Paris. Throughout her remarkable lifetime, Lee wrote a total of 11 books, released 30 albums (17 as a solo artist), and sold more than 55 million albums over her 6 decade career. Lee’s music was frequently used in TV, 83 of character theme’s in Brazilian soap operas had her voice, and another 9 were used as openings for other novelas.
Rita Lee, who named herself the “black sheep” of the family (due to her known record “Ovelha Negra”), was arrested in 1976, pregnant with her first child, a caution signal from the Military Dictatorship. Due to Lee’s known past with illicit substances, the police claimed she was being arrested for marijuana possession. Her turbulent youth also led to various visits to rehabilitation facilities due to her excessive use of alcohol and drugs. A known case in particular, happened in 1996, when she fell off her farm’s balcony and broke her maxillary recess.
When pursuing her solo career, she was praised as a muse, using her art to explore sexuality from a woman’s viewpoint. The singer was humble when talking about herself and her accomplishments in a 2017 TV interview. Rita Lee stated: “When we talk about feminism and all these things, I don’t really have the theory of it, I’m more of the action. They used to say that women couldn’t wear long pants. Huh? Yes, we can, I wore mine. They used to say that women couldn’t play rock. I would get my ovaries, my uterus, I’d play my rock ’n’ roll.” Rita Lee was considered revolutionary for many women. Through her, they felt represented. The small act of playing a guitar on stage in the 1960s made her a source of admiration for women who, like her, aspired to be bold.
Bulga’s 11th Grade IB Portuguese class is analyzing her music to understand the life of a Brazilian woman over the past 50 years. Apart from Lee’s strong feminine side, she was also a remarkable figure in the military dictatorship, expressing her voice through her art. These reflections and criticisms are made through implicit imagery, which are able to reflect on more than one topic at once. Rita’s lyrics help society understand the different cultures established in society, how women from different generations were represented, and the changes being made to tradition – in search for her wanted freedom. The implicit messages present in her lyrics are still relevant to the youth nowadays and deserve to be analyzed in school contexts.
The Queen’s diary was opened to the public in 2016, when she officially ended her musical career, and published her autobiography “Rita Lee: uma autobiografía”. When telling her story, Rita writes about how her rebellious side flourished at the age of 6, through her traumatic experience with sexual abuse by a technician who was fixing her mom’s sewing machine. Like this one, several other episodes were exposed in her autobiography: from the end of “Os Mutantes” to her pursuing the role of a mother. Rita was a mother of three, João, Antonio and Roberto – all of them traced their academic career at Graded. When telling her story, Rita states that her journey with drugs ended in 2005, after the birth of her first grandchild.
Rita never stopped. After the declaration of the end of her musical career, she continued her career as a writer and focused on writing children stories, something which she had already pursued. Her first book, Dr Alex, published in 1986, begins discussing the relationship between humans and nature, and has a fairly young target audience. Another one of Lee’s books focuses on discussing the topic of global warming for children: “Writing for kids gives me the pleasure of talking with people from the future, people who will inherit our Nave Mãe Terra. I give information about the dangers which our planet, specially Brazil, is passing in relation to the disrespect towards our Nature.” said the singer in an interview with Jornal Extra.
After the discovery of her tumor, which the singer remarkably decided to name as “Jair”, making a reference to Brazil’s president at the time – which Lee didn’t support, she was never afraid to voice her opinion as loud as she could. To that extent, Lee realized her story wasn’t finished and thus decided to write her second autobiography: “Rita Lee: Outra Autobiografia”, which was published on May 22nd, 2023, two weeks after her passing.
Rita Lee finalized her first autobiography with her wishes for an epithet, “She was never a good example,” she wrote. “But she was a good person”.
Sources:
Phillips, Tom. “Rita Lee, Brazil’s Undisputed Queen of Rock, Dies Aged 75.” The Guardian, 9 May 2023, www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/09/rita-lee-dead-brazil-os-mutantes.
Williams, Alex. “Rita Lee, Brazil’s Queen of Rock, Is Dead at 75.” The New York Times, 10 May 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/arts/music/rita-lee-dead.html.
G1, G1. “Rita Lee, Rainha Do Rock Brasileiro, Morre Aos 75 Anos.” G1, 9 May 2023, g1.globo.com/pop-arte/musica/noticia/2023/05/09/rita-lee-rainha-do-rock-brasileiro-morre-aos-75-anos.ghtml.
LoioSEM, Leonardo. “Estante Resenha: Rita Lee Não Poupa a Si Mesma Em Autobiografia – ESTANTE Virtual Blog: Livros, Cultura e Afins.” Estante Virtual Blog | Livros, Cultura e Afins, 17 Jan. 2017, blog.estantevirtual.com.br/2017/01/17/rita-lee-nao-poupa-si-mesma-em-autobiografia/.
P, A. “Rita Lee, Brazil’s Long-Reigning ‘queen of Rock,’ Dies at 75.” EL PAÍS English, 9 May 2023, english.elpais.com/culture/2023-05-09/rita-lee-brazils-long-reigning-queen-of-rock-dies-at-75.html.
Chérolet, Brenda. “Bolsas de Estudo de Até 70% Para Faculdades – Graduação e Pós-Graduação .” Educa Mais Brasil, 9 May 2023, www.educamaisbrasil.com.br/educacao/noticias/rita-lee-rainha-do-rock-tambem-escreveu-livros-infantis-sobre-meio-ambiente.
Lee, Rita. Rita Lee: Uma Autobiografia. Contraponto, 2017.
