• SINGER
• Known as the "Queen of Exotica," her extraordinary FOUR-OCTAVE RANGE (most people can only sing one or two octaves) and other-worldly vocal soundscapes disrupted the 1950s music scene and helped DEFINE the genre of exotica
• Born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo to a full-blooded Incan mother and a part-Spanish father, Sumac was recognized by the government of Peru as a descendant of the last Incan emperor
• She grew up in the Andes and received no formal music training, expanding her singing range by imitating forest animals (a skill that would be featured in her song "Chuncho")
• Took the stage name Imma Sumack and moved to the U.S. with her band in 1946, performing South American folk music
• In 1949 she signed with Capitol Records, which changed her name to Yma Sumac and twisted her genuine Incan heritage into an outlandish web of propaganda that ultimately tarnished her reputation
• Became a household name when her first American album, Voice of the Xtabay, beat out superstars Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman for the top spot on the 1950 best-seller list
• Despite her Andean folk music roots, and the record label's insistence that her music was based on "ancient Inca themes," nearly all of the songs she recorded were original compositions written specifically to showcase Sumac's unique voice
• Appeared in several TV shows and films, including the 1954 Secret of the Incas with Charlton Heston, and the 1951 Broadway musical Flahooley
• Rumors abounded regarding her true heritage and vocal ability, the most famous of which was she was actually a Brooklyn housewife named Amy Camus (Yma Sumac spelled backwards), and that her epic range was the product of two singers: one onstage and one offstage
• Toured the globe to sold-out performances, and continued performing well into her seventies, losing almost none of her incredible vocal range
• Received Peru's highest honor, The Order of the Sun, as well as many other awards

Who knows?

Sumac did nothing to contradict the absurd stories Capitol Records heaped on her. In fact, she played right into them, often citing different towns as her place of birth, and changing her birthdate to make herself younger. When documentarians and researchers tried to sort fact from fiction, she refused to participate, leaving it up to her friends and family to try and set the record straight, with spotty results.

Bibliography: Stone Blue Editors. The Music You Should Hear Series: Yma Sumac. 2015. Print.
Martin, Douglas. (2008, November 4). Yma Sumac, Vocalist of the Exotic, Dies at 86. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/arts/music/04sumac.html?searchResultPosition=3

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