Renowned for her astonishing vocal range (five octaves at the peak of her career!), Yma started out as Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo, an untrained and unknown singer from Peru. Before moving to the States in the mid 1940s with her bandleader husband, she adopted the stage name Yma Sumac (originally Imma Sumac) and with it, an exotic, mysterious, and glamourous persona. Sometimes claiming to be an Incan princess, and the direct descendant of Peru's last Incan emperor, Yma took Hollywood by storm. Throughout the 50s, she worked with Les Baxter and Billy May, producing the best known works of her career, including Mambo! and Voice of the Xtabay, among others.
Her songs can be heard on the soundtracks to films such as Death to Smoochy and The Big Lebowski, and her "Bo Mambo" was sampled by the Black Eyed Peas on "Hands Up" from 2003's Elephunk.
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