Cassia @ CHALK, Brighton

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Cássia Rejane Eller (December 10, 1962 – December 29, 2001) was a Brazilian musician. She performed a fusion of rock and MPB. After spending most of her adolescence in Brasília, Eller dropped out of high school and returned to her birthplace of Rio de Janeiro, where she began a career as a recording artist. In 1990, she became an underground favorite with the release of her self-titled debut album, which contained the song "Rubens," an ambiguous love song that was censored by the authorities. Her follow-up release, 1992's E.C.T., has been called "a battle cry for sexual freedom." Eller gave birth to a son, Francisco "Chicão" Eller, in 1993. That same year, she went public with her long-term relationship with Maria Eugênia Vieira Martins. She explained that she came out so that her son could grow up without hearing rumors about his mother. As one of Brazil's most prominent lesbian artists, Eller was sometimes called the "South American Melissa Etheridge." In addition to her deep and husky singing voice, Eller became known for her brash public image, as she occasionally wore a mohawk and bared her breasts on television shows. She posed nude for the artwork of her breakout release, 1999's Com Você... Meu Mundo Ficaria Completo. The album went gold and earned Eller a Latin Grammy Award nomination for Best Brazilian Rock Album. She received another Latin Grammy Award nomination for her cover of "O Segundo Sol," originally by Nando Reis. The song was included on her 2001 album Acustico MTV, a live recording for MTV Brasil similar to MTV Unplugged, which was also certified gold. Eller died at the age of 39 on December 29, 2001. She was admitted to a Rio de Janeiro hospital in a disoriented and agitated state, during which she suffered a series of heart attacks; a police investigation concluded that these were due to a heart condition rather than drug use. Custody of Eller's young son, Francisco, was assumed by her partner of 14 years, Eugênia, after an almost one-year legal battle against the child's grandfather, Altair Eller.