Maria Rita

Maria Rita ([maˈɾiɐ ˈʁitɐ]; born 9 September 1977, São Paulo) is a Brazilian singer. Born Maria Rita Camargo Mariano, she is the daughter of famed pianist/arranger César Camargo Mariano and the late Brazilian singing legend Elis Regina and sister to Pedro Mariano and music producer João Marcelo Bôscoli. Her namesake is family friend and famed Brazilian rock legend Rita Lee. She studied at New York University, and worked as a journalist at a magazine for adolescents.

Maria Rita began singing professionally at the age of 24, although she had wanted to sing since she was 14. Her first CD, Maria Rita, launched her career symbolically, with the first cut on her first album, A Festa (The Party), being written by Milton Nascimento, the legendary Brazilian singer-songwriter whose career was launched by Maria Rita's mother, Elis Regina, when she began to sing his songs to the national Brazilian audience. The CD went platinum and was a hit worldwide, making her an international star. She developed her own jazzy vocal style, with singers like Ella Fitzgerald as her model. For her 2013 album Redescobrir she was finally persuaded to perform and record songs her mother had sung.

She won the 2004 Latin Grammy Awards for Best New Artist in the General Field, Best Song in Portuguese ("A festa") and her debut album Maria Rita won the Best MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) Album award for that year. The world hit that "Segundo" turned out to be, granted her in 2006, two additional Grammys Latinos – Best MPB Album and Best Brazilian Song with "Caminho das Águas" authored by Rodrigo Maranhão – and over 50 shows abroad, with full public and reviews acceptance in the Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Irving Plaza (NY), San Francisco Jazz Festival, among others.

Maria Rita was nominated for the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2008. On 28 June 2008, she performed in London for the first time, with a production by Tuba Productions and JungleDrums Magazine.

Studio Albums

Live Albums

Video Albums

Collected

As guest

• 1979 Realce, Gilberto Gil
• 1990 Made in Coracao, Toquinho/Sadao Watanabe
• 2003 Pietá, Milton Nascimento
• 2004 Chico Rey & Paraná Vol. 14, Chico Rey
• 2005 Coisas de Novela, Fabio Bartoleto
• 2005 Marcas de Batom, As Leoas
• 2006 12 Segundos de Oscuridad, Jorge Drexler
• 2007 Outro Rio, Ricardo Silveira
• 2010 BandaDois, Gilberto Gil
• 2010 Entren Los Que Quieran, Calle 13
• 2016 Alma Brasileira, Diogo Nogueira

Latin Grammy

Prêmio Multishow de Música Brasileira

Tied with Paulinho da Viola for MTV Unplugged.