Rita Lee dedicated a chapter of her autobiography to LGBTQIA+ youth; read

Rita Lee devoted a chapter to Rita Lee: Another Autobiographyto the youth – and specifically to the youth of the community LGBTQIA+. The work, written by the singer and edited by the journalist Guilherme Samorawas launched this Monday (22) by Globo Booksand in it Rita, who tells how the last years of her life were, from the discovery of lung cancer, in 2021, until the final days – the singer died on the last day 8.

Rita Lee: Another Autobiography follows the format presented earlier in Rita Lee: an autobiography, a previous record in which he recalls the memories of his career, as the public figure Rita Lee, sometimes being “corrected” by Phantom, a “ghost editor” who is Samora himself, the greatest Brazilian researcher on the artist. Here, she reveals a more private side and the routine of the treatment – but also her impressions and recent moments. In one of the excerpts, Rita recalls her participation for the Rolling Stone Brazilin November 2022 – last magazine cover starring her in life.

Among the other shared memories, one refers specifically to young fans, and those in the LGBTQIA+ community, who found a reflection in her and her music. In an excerpt, provided by Globo Livros for the Rolling Stone Brazil, Rita recalls the case of a young man rejected by his family for being gay, who sought her out after giving up on taking his own life. The reason would have been the identification she found in Rita Lee’s songs.

In the excerpt, Rita assumes her best ‘Grandma Rita’ character, filling the pages with advice for those facing situations like this. And she writes: “it makes you want to pick everyone up and sing softly in their ear: ‘You’re not alone, you’re just a knot that needs to be undone'”.

Below, we transcribe the complete chapter “The girl”, by Rita Lee: Another Autobiography. The book, launched on May 22nd, is already on sale for R$64.90 (printed) and R$44.90 (e-book), on the Globo Livros website.

“The kids”

Excerpt taken from the book Rita Lee: Another Autobiography released by Globo Books and released to Rolling Stone Brazil, through mandatory credit. It cannot be republished.

Every now and then I receive letters from fans, and some are very young, telling how my work with music has changed their lives and lamenting that before they weren’t old enough to attend one of my concerts.

I’m in heaven reading these things and I get emotional when they write that they are not accepted by their parents for being different, and how my songs are a company and free them in these hours of loneliness.

One of these days, a boy, rejected by his family for being gay, told me that he even thought about giving up this life, but that after hearing my songs he decided to stay.

It makes you want to pick them all up and sing softly in their ear: “You are not alone, you are just a knot that needs to be undone”. People, when very young, have a foot in the “me against the world”. When I was “a teenager against the world”, I drew a desert island surrounded by sharks on cardboard and wrote on it the names of the personas non grata that I would send there. So I stripped the liver of hate. On the other side of the cardboard, I drew a paradise island where I would like to hang out with nice people. Hate Island had teachers, a few neighbors, annoying relatives, fake classmates, Natalie Wood, and whoever else I was hating. On Love Island it was just James Dean and me.

But I feel that it is more complicated to be young today, since we have never had this overpopulation on the planet: there is competitiveness, the cult of beauty, having children or not, studying, struggling to find a job, being poorly paid, being bombarded with tons of information, brainwashing …

I wanted to give endless kisses and caresses to this girl and tell her that the bar is really heavy, but that youth is in your favor and, suddenly, the storm tide changes, making the little boat continue to its deserted and sunny island of love. I would also say not to plan anything in such a long term, that frustration can haunt you; which doesn’t mean not having dreams, just that they don’t fall from the sky.

I would also say a lot of clichés: that it is worth studying more, researching more, reading more. I would say that it is not a sign of health to be well adapted to a sick society, that what is normal for a spider is chaos for a fly, that a crown is nothing more than a hat that lets in water, that every day the world is drowning in chaos and it will be difficult to find a place to observe the end of times from a cabin.

Girls, feel kissed by grandma Rita.

Excerpt from the book “Rita Lee: Outra Autobiografia” (p. 123-124) released by Globo Livros and released to Rolling Stone Brasil, subject to mandatory credit. It cannot be republished!