Hits on 'Forbidden Fruit' include 'Now Only Missing You' and 'Ovelha Negra,' long played on radio stations and Brazilian soap operas.

By the mid-1970s, after selling 200,000 copies of the album 'Forbidden Fruit', Lee began to be called the 'queen of rock' on the music scene. Colours and creativity, as well as irony and irreverence, were Lee's trademarks from the start, evident in the flamboyant costumes she performed in her shows. She won a Latin Grammy in the Best Portuguese Language Album category in 2001, for her album '3001.'' Rita Lee rose to fame with the group Os Mutantes (The Mutants), starting in 1966. In 1988, the British newspaper Daily Mirror revealed that then-Prince Charles admired her song 'Lança Perfume' and considered her his favourite singer. She performed in Portugal, England, Spain, France and Germany. She was also one of the first Brazilian musicians to use electric guitar.Įventually, her popularity extended beyond Brazil. Wow', I said, this is where I'm going to let my fangs out and, literally, give them a hard time.'' She was a singer and songwriter praised for her versatility, playing at least five instruments: drums, guitar, piano, harmonica and autoharp. 'When I got into music, I realised that the 'machos' reigned absolute, even more in rock music. I wanted the same freedom as the boys who used to play in the street with their toy cars,' she told the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone in 2008. 'I was not born to get married and wash underwear.

The behemoth television network Globo used her rendition of the song 'Poison Weed' (Poison Ivy) in three of its programmes. 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.Īlthough she regarded her voice as 'weak and a little out of tune'', like a sparrow's, she enjoyed a long run of top-selling albums, including 'Rita Lee' and 'Rita Lee'' Roberto de Carvalho', and dozens of her songs were featured in widely watched telenovelas in Latin America.

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. Rita Lee Jones, Brazil's million-selling 'Queen of Rock' who gained an international following through her colourful and candid style and such hits as 'Ovelha Negra', 'Mania de Voce' and 'Now Only Missing You', has died at 75.

Stone Fruit by Lee Lai