Vanda Maria Ribeiro Furtado Tavares de Vasconcelos was born on 17 June 1962 in
Mangualde, Portugal. When her father was called up to fight in the
Portuguese Army, the family moved to Mozambique. Her parents divorced and, in 1968, Vanda moved with her mother and new stepfather to
Brussels, Belgium, where her sister, actress
Helena Noguerra, was born. In her teens she was determined to become a singer, and she was encouraged by singer-songwriter , a family friend. She took her stage name, Lio, from a character in the
Barbarella comic books by
Jean-Claude Forest. In 1979, together with songwriter Jay Alanski, she and Duvall began working with
Marc Moulin and
Dan Lacksman from the electro-trio
Telex. Her first two singles were "
Le Banana Split", which sold over 1 million copies, Daho was given
carte blanche in the studio because Lio was busy shooting a film; however, when his work was over, he showed no interest in promoting the album with her, limiting the success of the album. Her next album,
Wandatta, presenting a more mature approach in contrast with her previous image, and with a
sleeve designed by
Guy Peellaert, was released in 1995. However, it was relatively unsuccessful, and she withdrew for a time to live near
Angoulême with her partner and children. In 1998, she recorded with Esteban in
Cuba, and in 1999 she appeared in 50 performances of the French adaptation of
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, a musical staged at the
Folies Bergère. She had two kids that year. She released the single "Je suis comme je suis" and the album
Chante Prévert containing interpretations of the poems of
Jacques Prévert, in 2000. After performing the songs on tour throughout France, Europe and North Africa, she released the live album
Cœ
ur de rubis in 2004. She also appeared in over 250 performances of the theater play
Le Bébé, an adaptation of a book by
Marie Darrieussecq staged by
Marc Goldberg. In March 2018, she released her new album
Lio Canta Caymmi on the label
Crammed Discs. It consists of half-Portuguese, half-French covers of songs by the Brazilian composer
Dorival Caymmi. It was the first time she recorded an entire album in Portuguese, her mother tongue. She had previously released a cover of the Brazilian standard "
The Girl from Ipanema" in 1991 but she sang the English lyrics. In 2024 she became one of the judges on
Drag Race Belgium. ==Discography==