Rita Lee, a musician widely regarded as Brazil’s “Queen of Rock” who sold more than 55 million records worldwide, died on Monday, according to a social media statement. The statement, posted to her official Instagram page, noted that she died at home in Sao Paulo “surrounded by the love of her entire family, as she always wanted.” Lee was 75. A cause of death was not shared, but the rocker was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021, notably nicknaming a tumor “Jair” after Brazil’s controversial then-President Jair Bolsonaro. It was a shining moment of cheek in a five-decade career defined by irreverence, as the Latin Grammy-winning singer-songwriter rose to prominence as a leading figure of the Tropicália movement, an artistic revolution that melded the traditional with the avant-garde as a means of rejecting nationalism during Brazil’s military dictatorship. In response to news of her death, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared a three-day national mourning period. “She spared nothing and no one with her humor and eloquence,” he wrote on Twitter.
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