Lio

Lio is a Belgian singer and actress, born as Wanda Ribeiro de Vasconcelos in 1962 in Mangualde, Portugal. In 1968, she and her family moved to Belgium. She was an enormous pop icon in francophone Europe during the 1980's. In 1982 the American music duo Sparks worked with her on the album Suite Sixteen, on which some of her previous songs were translated into English. She has an extensive discography and has collaborated with several important French music artists, including Etienne Daho and Jacno. Many of Lio's singles were successful, but her biggest hit was probably 1980's Banana Split. This track was redone on the Suite Sixteen album as Marie Antoinette. She first appeared on the screen in 1983 in Chantal Akerman's film The Eighties. Ackerman recast her in the 1986 film Golden Eighties, a lighthearted, humorous French pop musical about the people who work together in a Parisian shopping center. Lio plays a carefree hairdresser in the movie. Although arguably at the height of her music career, she does not sing in this film. There is also a drum and bass producer from Iceland with the same name.