Brazilian singer-songwriter, rhythm guitarist, journalist, blogger, chronicler, novelist, playwright, beer sommelier, and feminist and LGBT rights activist. Known for her distinctive soulful, bluesy vocals heavily inspired by Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin, she was famous for her work with post-punk band Nau, active from 1985 to 1989, before beginning a solo career in 1991.
Vange Leonel was the great-granddaughter of General Ataliba Leonel, who fought in the 1932 Constitutionalist Revolution, and cousin of former Titãs member Nando Reis.
Her first solo album Vange was released in 1991 by Sony Music Entertainment, and spawned her most well-known song “Noite Preta” which was used as the opening theme of the popular Brazilian telenovela Vamp. Another song off the album, “Esse Mundo”, would be used as the opening theme for another telenovela Perigosas Peruas.
Vange Leonel began a relationship with Cilmara Bedaque in 1986, and the couple registered their domestic partnership in 1995. It lasted until Vange’s death in 2014.
Leonel came out as a lesbian in 1995, and became an advocate for the gay cause and women’s rights. In 1999 she published her first book Lésbicas that was followed by Grrrls: Garotas Iradas in 2001; both were compilations of articles she wrote for now-defunct LGBT magazine Sui Generis from 1997 to 2000.
In mid-June 2014, Vange was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and was admitted to the Santa Isabel Hospital in São Paulo for treatment. The cancer eventually metastasized to her gastric mucosa, evolving to a terminal stage; thus, whatever treatment proved to be unsuccessful, and Vange died, aged 51, on 14 July 2014. On 6 November 2014 she was posthumously awarded the Order of Cultural Merit.
Link to Wikipedia biography