Lio

Biography

Vanda Maria Ribeiro Furtado Tavares de Vasconcelos, known professionally as Lio, was born on June 17, 1962, in Mangualde, Portugal. Her family's journey took them to Mozambique during her father's military service, and eventually to Brussels, Belgium, following her parents' divorce in 1968. It was in Brussels that Lio developed her passion for music, encouraged by family friend and songwriter Jacques Duvall. She adopted her stage name from a character in the Barbarella comic series.

Lio's music career took off in 1979 when she collaborated with songwriter Jay Alanski and teamed up with Marc Moulin and Dan Lacksman of the electro-pop group Telex. Her debut singles, "Le Banana Split" and "Amoureux solitaires," both soared to the top of European charts, with the former selling over a million copies. Her self-titled first album was produced by Moulin and Lacksman, and in 1982, she worked with the American duo Sparks on her album Suite sixtine, which featured English translations of her earlier hits.

Lio's subsequent works included the 1983 album Amour toujours and her film debut in Chantal Akerman’s Golden Eighties. She continued to release popular songs, such as "Les brunes comptent pas pour des prunes," and collaborated with notable figures like John Cale on her 1985 album, Pop model. After a brief hiatus for motherhood, she returned to acting in Claude Lelouch's Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté. In 2024, Lio took on a new role as a judge on Drag Race Belgium, adding to her impressive legacy in music and film.