Lio

Born in Man­gualde, Por­tu­gal, and raised in Charleroi, Bel­gium, Van­da Maria Ribeiro Fur­ta­do Tavares de Vas­con­ce­los, bet­ter known under the pseu­do­nym Lio, burst onto the music scene at the age of just 16 with the sin­gle “Le Banana Split,” sell­ing more than two mil­lion copies. Her stage name, inspired by a char­ac­ter from the com­ic Bar­barel­la, sym­bol­izes her unique, dar­ing style, blend­ing pop and French chan­son. Since then, she has released some 30 sin­gles and 12 albums, pur­su­ing a broad range of artis­tic col­lab­o­ra­tions. Along­side her music career, she turned to film in the ear­ly 1980s, work­ing with direc­tors Chan­tal Aker­man, Cather­ine Breil­lat, Claude Lelouch, Diane Kurys and Katell Quil­lévéré. She has also appeared in such hit come­dies as Valérie Guignabodet’s Mariages! and Frédéric Forestier’s Stars 80, in which she played her­self. In 2025, she released her 12^th album, Geoid Par­ty in the Sky, in which she looked back on her past, sur­round­ed by writ­ers and pro­duc­ers like Louane, Hoshi, Sofia Por­tanet, Corine, Sophie Ellis-Bex­tor, Isia Marie, and Bet­ta Lemme. Between film, the­ater, tele­vi­sion and the music scene, Lio has pur­sued a free, sin­gu­lar, res­olute­ly diverse artis­tic career for over 40 years.