The group achieved a string of consecutive diamond-certified hit singles in Brazil and five golden and platinum albums from 2003 to 2007, as granted by the Brazilian Association of Record Producers (ABPD).

They named it Babado Novo and recruited musicians Buguelo, Alan Moraes, Luciano Pinto, Nino Balla and Durval Luz to join them.

Their first indie single, "Cai Fora", was responsible for giving the group the boost it needed, landing them a contract with Universal and Poly Music to release their debut self-titled album in 2003.

Babado Novo was the headliner of 2006's New York City Brazilian Day, performing live for an audience of 2,5 million people on Times Square.

[5] After selling over 5 million records and spawning many chart-topping hits as part of Babado Novo, Leitte announced in late 2007 that she would be leaving the brand she helped build to become a solo act, bringing her bandmates with her.

Gabriel o Pensador, Carlinhos Brown, Badauí, Daniela Mercury and Wando were invited as special guests and were watched and acclaimed by a crowd of almost a million people.

[23] The world record was settled after over 8,372 couples kissed at the same time to the sound of Leitte's "Beijar na Boca" during her 2009 Axé Brasil performance.

The record was nominated for a 2010 Latin Grammy Award in the category of Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album, but lost out to Sérgio Mendes' Bom Tempo.

In September 2011, Leitte sang for the first time at the Rock in Rio music festival stage along with Rihanna, Katy Perry and Elton John.

That same month she performed "Locomotion Batucada" live at the Miss Universe 2011 pageant, which was held in São Paulo and was broadcast in 190 countries, totaling two billion spectators.

She appeared in Ricky Martin's "Samba" for the worldwide repackage of the album Música + Alma + Sexo (2011) and was also featured in its accompanying music video.

[citation needed] In January 2012, Leitte signed a recording contract with Som Livre, ending her partnership with Sony Music, under which she had released one studio album.

Shortly after, she was invited to be a coach on television show The Voice Brasil, along with acclaimed singers Lulu Santos, Daniel and Carlinhos Brown, one of Leitte's frequent collaborators.

On 13 September 2012 Leitte redeemed her roots and released "Largadinho", the lead single of more of a mainstream record, which was a commercial success and spawned its own English version titled "Lazy Groove" and a new mix featuring Angolan singer Anselmo Ralph.

In late 2013, co-founder and CEO of Roc Nation Jay Brown took notice of Leitte and expressed interest in meeting her while in a trip to Africa.

Not long after, Leitte hopped on a plane and the meeting resulted in a deal with the label's management team with plans of launching her career overseas.

In February 2014, it was reported Leitte had been meeting with producers Shea Taylor, Timbaland, Kuk Harrell, Rob Persaud and Rodney Jerkins.

The trio performed the song onstage at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards and then during the championship's opening ceremony on 12 June 2014 in São Paulo, Brazil at the Arena Corinthians, which was preceded by Leitte's solo rendition of Ary Barroso's "Aquarela do Brasil".

[31] In October 2014, Leitte announced that she chose not to renew her contract with Som Livre and revealed she was moving to Los Angeles to continue work on her new record.

On 26 December 2014, Leitte premiered the promotional single "Signs" in an emotional performance during The Voice Brasil's third series finale, marking her first venture into the English-speaking market as a solo pop artist.

The song was written by Danny O'Donoghue, Andrew Frampton, Mark Shehan and Stephen Kipner and was featured on the soundtrack for television soap I Love Paraisópolis.

A new single, "Taquitá", was released on 11 November 2016 and was promoted through February 2017 during Carnival along with "Eu Gosto", a song from Dennis DJ's Professor da Malandragem (2017).

"Baldin de Gelo" came out on 4 August 2017, featuring Spanish and Portuguese lyrics and reggaeton influences, combining everything Leitte learned in Brazil and in the United States in the past years.

However, Leitte swapped roles with Sangalo and took her seat to serve as a coach during the third season of The Voice Kids, set to begin airing in January 2018.

Her first child, a boy named Davi Leite Inácio Pedreira, was born on 20 January 2009, in Salvador, Bahia, generating controversy after Leitte got back to work and performed in Carnival only a month after giving birth.