Os Mutantes (“The Mutants”) are one of Brazil’s most iconic and influential psychedelic rock bands, deeply intertwined with the Tropicália movement of the late 1960s. Formed in São Paulo, the group fused the countercultural energy of Anglo-American acts like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Sly & the Family Stone with Brazil’s own rich musical heritage—bossa nova, samba, tropicália, and the avant-garde spirit of Brazilian modernism. Their sound was radical, genre-blurring, and defiantly playful—instantly recognizable and impossible to replicate.

Their impact has resonated far beyond Brazil. Os Mutantes have been name-dropped or championed by artists like Beck, who paid homage with his single “Tropicália,” and The Bees, who covered “A Minha Menina.” Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal), and David Byrne (Talking Heads) have all cited the band’s influence, with Byrne even reissuing their music through his Luaka Bop label. Kurt Cobain, a longtime admirer, famously requested a reunion in 1993. While that didn’t happen right away, the group returned to the stage in 2006 at London’s Barbican, followed by a North American tour—including shows with The Flaming Lips—despite lineup changes and the absence of original vocalist Rita Lee.

Determined to keep the legacy alive, founding guitarist Sérgio Dias reassembled the band with a new lineup featuring Esmeria Bulgari, Henrique Peters, Vinicius Junqueira, and Claudio Tchernev. They released Haih Or Amortecedor in 2009—marking their first album in 35 years—and toured extensively, playing major festivals like Glastonbury. Further collaborations followed, including a track with Of Montreal for Red Hot + Rio 2, and in 2017, Carly Bryant joined the band on vocals, guitar, and keys, bringing new energy to the project. Their 2017 single “Black and Grey” signaled a fresh chapter for the band, who continue to perform and record today. As BBC Music noted, theirs has been a “head-turning comeback,” and as The Guardian put it, “There was nothing quite like Os Mutantes, and there still isn’t.”