Cláudia Cristina Leite Inácio (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈklawdʒɐ ˈlejtʃi]; born 10 July 1980) is a Brazilian singer and television personality. She rose to fame in late 2002 as the lead vocalist of the Axé music group Babado Novo. The group achieved a string of consecutive diamond-certified hit singles in Brazil and five golden and platinum albums from 2003 to 2007, as granted by the Brazilian Association of Record Producers (ABPD).
Leitte embarked on a solo career and released her first solo album Ao Vivo em Copacabana (2008), recorded live in front of a crowd of over a million people. The album was awarded gold and triple platinum certifications and established the singer as one of Brazil's greatest stars. The lead single from the album, "Exttravasa", hit number one on the Brazilian charts – becoming one of the best-selling singles of the year along with topping radio airplays. 2010 saw the release of Leitte's first studio album As Máscaras which topped Billboard's Brazilian Albums chart and earned her a Latin Grammy Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album nomination. Along with Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez, she recorded "We Are One (Ole Ola)", which served as the official song of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
With more than 40 million followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter combined, she is one of the most powerful and popular female acts in Brazil and Latin America, having sold over 10 million records and being the recipient for many awards including a Latin Grammy and three World Music Awards nominations for 2014 alone. Aside from her musical career, she also served as coach and mentor on the Brazilian version of television show The Voice, The Voice Kids, and The Voice +. On the variations of The Voice she was featured on, Leitte was the winning coach for two seasons.
Cláudia Cristina Leite Inácio was born in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro, to Ilna Leite and Cláudio Inácio. Her family lived in São Paulo and were visiting São Gonçalo at the time of her birth. Within five days of Leitte being born, her family moved to Salvador, Bahia, her mother's hometown. She has one younger brother, Cláudio Junior.
Leitte got her start working as a kids party entertainer. At that time, she was enrolled in her neighborhood church's religion classes while still in high school. Leitte would often secretly skip church to attend dance and acting classes. Before becoming a full-time professional singer, she tried law school, communications and music at college – only to drop out at a later point. She would go to college in the morning and hit bars and festivals for small singing gigs at night. At first, her family was not very supportive of her artistic desires, but eventually changed their minds after a period of financial crisis in which Leitte's job proved an essential figure to the family's income. Leitte later got her entry in the industry as a backing vocal for local singer Nando Borges.
During the 1990s, she worked in a variety of groups before founding and making a name for herself in Babado Novo, most notably Forró Violeta, Companhia do Pagode and Nata do Samba, where she met guitarist and songwriter Sérgio Rocha, who went on to be the musical director for Babado Novo and much of Leitte's solo career.
After unsuccessful forays into other bands and rhythms, in November 2001 Leitte decided to create a Salvador-based Axé band along with fellow Nata do Samba bandmate Sérgio Rocha. They named it Babado Novo and recruited musicians Buguelo, Alan Moraes, Luciano Pinto, Nino Balla and Durval Luz to join them. They were managed by Cal Adan, who also managed successful group É o Tchan!. Their first indie single, "Cai Fora", was responsible for giving the group the boost it needed, landing them a contract with Universal and Poly Music to release their debut self-titled album in 2003. It earned them their first gold record certification, selling over 500,000 copies up until that year. The album also featured hit singles "Eu Fico", "Canudinho", "Amor à Prova", a version of Roberto Carlos' "Amor Perfeito", a reimagination of Led Zeppelin's "Dyer Maker" and title track "Babado Novo". These songs are considered classics of 2003's Carnival festivities.
On 3 December 2003, the band's second album was released. Titled Sem-vergonha, the album spawned five hit singles: "Safado, Cachorro, Sem-vergonha", "Lirirrixa", "Fulano in Sala", "Falando Sério" and "Uau". The later also served as the lead single for the band's third album and video release Uau! Ao Vivo em Salvador on 21 December 2004. The record sold over 400,000 copies. Later that year, Babado Novo booked shows in the US for the first time, in New Jersey and Massachusetts, before touring in Tokyo, Japan. In 2005, "Doce Desejo" was released as the second single of Uau! Ao Vivo em Salvador, followed by "Caranguejo" and "Me Chama de Amor" as the third and fourth singles.
On 10 December 2005, Babado Novo released "Bola de Sabão", the lead single from their next album. The song reached top positions on the Brazilian charts and in a short time would become the group's most successful song to date. It can be heard during the 2006 Mexican-Brazilian film Only God Knows, starring Alice Braga and Diego Luna. O Diário de Claudinha was the band's first studio album, released on 30 December 2005, and surpassing 120,000 copies sold in its first weeks of sales. The song "Despenteia" was used as part of an advertising campaign for Seda's hair beauty products and "Piriripiti" was chosen as part of television soap Cobras & Lagartos soundtrack. As the album's final single "A Camisa e o Botão" was another hit score for the band. Babado Novo was the headliner of 2006's New York City Brazilian Day, performing live for an audience of 2,5 million people on Times Square.
January 2007 saw the release of "Insolação do Coração". The song was the first single of the band's fifth and final album Ver-te Mar, which was recorded live in Salvador, Bahia and released on 16 February 2007. "Doce Paixão" and "Pensando em Você" were both released as singles subsequently. Leitte won a VMB award at the 2007 MTV Video Music Brasil for Hottie of the Year.
After selling over 5 million records and spawning many chart-topping hits as part of Babado Novo, Leitte announced in late 2007 that she would be leaving the brand she helped build to become a solo act, bringing her bandmates with her.
2008–2009: Band departure, solo debut Ao Vivo em Copacabana and tours
On 18 December 2007, Leitte released her solo debut single "Exttravasa". The song was the most executed song on radio for the year of 2008 and earned her a double diamond record certification, with over a million digital downloads of the song sold. On 5 February 2008, she performed for the last time as a member of Babado Novo. The singer kicked off her solo career with a live concert recording on 17 February 2008, at Copacabana Beach. Gabriel o Pensador, Carlinhos Brown, Badauí, Daniela Mercury and Wando were invited as special guests and were watched and acclaimed by a crowd of almost a million people. On 22 April 2008, the second single from the album, a ballad titled "Pássaros", was released. Leitte released her debut solo album, titled Ao Vivo em Copacabana, on 4 July 2008. On that same day, she embarked on her first official tour as a solo artist: the Exttravasa Tour. The tour had sold out dates through Brazil and Europe, visiting cities like London and Lisbon for 82 shows.
The home video release of Ao Vivo em Copacabana happened on 11 August 2008 and had over 500,000 copies sold. The third single of the album, "Beijar na Boca," was released on 25 November 2008. The fourth and final single of the album, "Horizonte," was released on 24 May 2009. The song was written specially for Leitte by a fan.
During that year, Leitte became the face of hair colour and dye Cor&Ton products for beauty corporation Niely. She also signed an endorsement deal with AmBev to be the spokeswoman for soft drink Guaraná Antarctica, and later, also for SKY Brasil. On 22 November 2009, she released her first fragrance with Jequiti, Elo.