Yma Sumac
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Born

  • September 10, 1924
  • Ichocan, Peru

Real Name

  • Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo

Marriages / Children

  • Moisés Vivanco
  • Charles

Web Site

Yma Sumac

South American singer Yma Sumac is best known for her amazing vocals and exotic arrangements. Although rumored to actually be a housewife named Amy Camus from Brooklyn, she was, as she claimed, a Peruvian of Inca descent.

Born in a village high in the Andes, she began performing at an early age, appearing on radio and in movies. In 1942 she married composer and bandleader Moisés Vivanco and made her first recordings of Peruvian folk songs in 1943, as Imma Sumack, in Argentina on the Odeon label.

In 1946 she and Vivanco moved to New York, where she performed with the Conjunto Folklorico Peruano until being signed by Capitol Records in 1950. During the 1950s she produced a series of legendary lounge recordings featuring Hollywood-style versions of Incan and South American folk songs. The combination of her extraordinary voice, exotic looks and stage personality made her a hit with American audiences.

In the late 1950s she and Vivanco divorced. They remarried in the early 1960s for a brief period before divorcing again. They had one son, Charles, born in 1949.

In 1961 Yma toured the Soviet Union for six months, performing for sell-out crowds. She spent the rest of the 1960s performing sporadically. In 1971 she released a rock album, called Miracles, and then returned to live in Peru, performing concerts both there and in New York. She continued performing, both in the U.S. and abroad, throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. In 1987 she recorded a song for Stay Awake, an album of Disney songs. She currently lives in Los Angeles.