Rita Lee Jones (31 December 1947 – 8 May 2023) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Known as the "Queen of Brazilian Rock", she sold more than 55 million records, making her the most successful female artist by record sales in Brazil and the fourth overall. Winner of eleven Brazilian Music Awards, she built a career that started with rock but over the years flirted with various genres, such as psychedelia during the Tropicália era, pop rock, disco, new wave, pop, bossa nova, and electronic, creating a pioneering hybrid between international and national genres.
Rita was considered one of the most influential musicians in Brazil, being a reference for those who began the greater use of electric guitars from the mid-1970s. A former member of the group Os Mutantes (The Mutants) (1966–1972) and Tutti Frutti (1973–1978), she participated in important revolutions in the world of music and society. Her songs, often filled with biting irony or a claim of female independence, became omnipresent on the charts. The album Fruto Proibido (Forbidden Fruit) (1975), released with the band Tutti Frutti, is commonly seen as a fundamental landmark in the history of Brazilian rock, considered by some as her masterpiece.
In 1976, she began a romantic relationship with multi-instrumentalist and composer Roberto de Carvalho, who was the partner in most of Rita's compositions. They had three children, including guitarist Beto Lee, who accompanied his parents in live shows. Rita was vegan and an animal rights advocate. With a sixty-year career, the artist transitioned from the innovation and musical underground of the 1960s and 1970s to the very successful romantic ballads of the 1980s and a musical revolution, performing with numerous artists, including Elis Regina, João Gilberto, and the band Titãs. In October 2008, Rolling Stone magazine promoted a list of the hundred greatest artists in Brazilian music, where she ranks 15th. In 2023, Rita, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer two years earlier, died at the age of 75 on 8 May 2023.
Read more...The December 31, 1947 was a Wednesday under the star sign of ♑. It was the 364 day of the year. President of the United States was Harry S. Truman.
If you were born on this day, you are 77 years old. Your last birthday was on the Tuesday, December 31, 2024, 306 days ago. Your next birthday is on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, in 58 days. You have lived for 28,431 days, or about 682,366 hours, or about 40,941,985 minutes, or about 2,456,519,100 seconds.
Date: 01 January 1948
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES
W R Austin repts US plans no further action against N Kyriazidis and S S Hasan without consulting UN, lr to Sec Gen Lie; urges rev of existing accreditations on newsmen assigned to UN; case revd
Date: 31 December 1947
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES
UN Correspondents demand compliance with pact; resolution; text
Date: 31 December 1947
Elected Teachers of Journalism Amer Assn pres
Date: 31 December 1947
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES
Jan 1 Chicago walkout expected; Local 16 pres J J Pilch comments
Date: 01 January 1948
A Zemba gets 'Lakeland Wk' newspaper ad award
Date: 31 December 1947
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES