Died On This Date (November 1, 2008) Yma Sumac / Beloved Peruvian Soprano
themusicsover Yma Sumac
September 13, 1922 – November 1, 2008
The beautiful Yma Sumac was a world famous Peruvian soprano singer whose style of music was often referred to as exotica. With a vocal range that has been reported to reach as high as five octaves, Sumac’s career began in 1942. By the late ’40s, she was signed to Capitol Records who released a series of albums that would come to be known as lounge music due to their jazzed up versions of traditional South American folk songs. Over the next two decades, Sumac toured the world, performed on Broadway and appeared in two films. She became a U.S. citizen in 1955, and in 1961, she mounted an unheard of five-year world tour. During the ’90s and beyond, Sumac’s music reached new heights thanks to a renewed interest in lounge music, and because contemporary artists like the Black Eyed Peas began sampling her recordings. In 1998, her “Ataypura” appeared in the cult fave, The Big Lebowski, while other songs have been used in a commercial here and there. Yma Sumac was 85 when she passed away of colon cancer on November 1, 2008.
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