Google Doodle Honors Peruvian Singer Yma Sumac

Peruvian singer Yma Sumac was honored with a Google doodle Tuesday, on what would have been her 94 birthday.

The singer, who was nicknamed the “Peruvian songbird,” was born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo in Peru in 1922.

“As a young girl, Yma would sing to rocks on her mountainside home, pretending they were her audience,” notes a brief synopsis of the singer’s life that accompanied doodle. “As a teenager, Yma’s audience became very real when she was invited to sing on an Argentine radio station.”

Her impressive five-octave vocal range completely captivated listeners, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Yma Sumac moved to the United States in 1946 when she was in her 20s and was quickly signed by Capital Records. She reached the prime of her career during the 1950s, during which time she performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and London’s Royal Albert Hall, according to Google.

She passed away in 2008 in Los Angeles, Calif. at the age of 86.

Yma Sumac’s doodle is the latest Google creation to celebrate Latino culture and heritage. For more, check out the slideshow below.