Rita Lee Jones[a] (São Paulo 31 December 1947 – 8 May 2023) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, presenter, actress, writer, and activist.

The album "Fruto Proibido" (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.

As a child, she took piano lessons with Magdalena Tagliaferro, but originally wanted to become an actress, veterinarian, or follow in her father's footsteps as a dentist.

[4] Her early musical influences included Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Brazilian icons like Cauby Peixoto and João Gilberto.

[6] Lee formed a band with two other friends, excelling at vocals so much that they backed stars such as Tony Campelo, Jet Blacks, Demetrius, and Prini Lopez, when they met the brothers Arnaldo and Sérgio Dias Baptista.

When Gil met them, he immediately knew Os Mutantes were on the same track as the Baianos, and the band worked extensively with the members of the Tropicalia collective over the next two years, becoming an integral part of the movement.

Gil's friend Caetano Veloso also performed with a rock group (São Paulo band Beat Boys), and although the novelty of electric instruments and the general irreverence of the mixing of western pop and strange orchestral sounds irritated some in the festival audience, both performances ultimately won approval, with Gil coming second and Veloso taking fourth place.

In 1968, Os Mutantes performed on the album/manifesto Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis (Philips), with Nara Leão, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Tom Zé.

In September 1968, Os Mutantes backed Caetano Veloso during his two notorious performances in TV Globo's Third International Song Festival in Rio.

The ensemble was met with howls of disapproval from leftist students in the audience at their first-round appearance, due to their challenging psychedelic music, as well as Veloso's lurid costume, and his sexually provocative stage moves.

The confrontation climaxed in the second round of the competition on 15 September, when Veloso performed his newly written psychedelic protest song "É Proibido Proibir" ("It is Forbidden to Forbid").

Left-wing students in the audience (who were strongly opposed to the Tropicalismo experiment) loudly abused, booed and jeered the performers, and pelted the stage with fruit, vegetables and paper balls.

In that period, during their somewhat frequent tours in Europe, they recorded an LP that was never fully released, Tecnicolor, with the exception of some tracks included on 1971's Jardim Elétrico.

In 1972, Lee recorded another solo album backed by Os Mutantes, Hoje É o Primeiro Dia do Resto da Sua Vida (Philips).

[8] Following a period of depression, during which she became locked up in her home,[citation needed] she decided to abandon her career, but, at the same time, she was writing the material that would make her famous as a solo artist.

In 1974, the band recorded their first album Atrás do Porto Tem Uma Cidade (There is a City Behind the Harbor) that brought some great songs such as "Mamãe Natureza", "Menino Bonito", and "Pé de Meia".

In 1976, pregnant for the first time, she was arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to one year of house imprisonment, when she composed with Paulo Coelho the single "Arrombou a Festa", which sold 200,000 copies.

[15] Brazilian musicians and celebrities, such as Lulu Santos and Xuxa Meneghel, and politicians including the President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and various of his ministers, lamented her death and exalted Lee.