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1 article from 2008

3 November 2008 11:05 AM, PST | WENN | See recent WENN news »

Peruvian-born singer Yma Sumac has died nine months after she learned she had colon cancer. She was 86.

The 1950s sensation, real name Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo, passed away on Saturday at an assisted-living home in Los Angeles.

Sumac, who boasted a multi-octave vocal range, rocketed to the top of the U.S. charts with her debut album, Voice of The Xtabay when it was released in 1950.

But it was her technique and flamboyant style, designed to make her look like Incan royalty, that helped earn her the nicknames the Peruvian Songbird and Nightingale of the Andes.

During her heyday, Sumac sang at the Hollywood Bowl, New York's Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in London. She also reportedly made a fortune onstage in Las Vegas.

She also featured in the Broadway musical Flahooley and appeared in the movies Secret of the Incas and Omar Khayyam.

Her profile rose more recently when her song Ataypura was featured in The Coen Brothers' 1998 film The Big Lebowski and again when her hit Bo Mambo was sampled for the song Hands Up by the Black Eyed Peas.

Her accomplishments were honoured in 2006 when she was presented the Orden del Sol award, commending her civil merit, by Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo. »

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1 article from 2008