Biography
Quinn Lemley draws more comparisons to the late Rita Hayworth than to any other performer. The resemblance extends beyond appearance to the 1940s and 1950s sex siren, as Lemley has embodied Hayworth onstage in the New York musical The Heat Is On, which draws its storyline directly from the actress’s life. Yet Lemley also distinguishes herself as a recording artist whose own voice fills her work, in contrast to Hayworth, whose vocals went unheard in major pictures such as Gilda and Pal Joey. The singer possesses an impressive vocal range and delivers jazz-influenced material with playful energy and liveliness. She stops short of jazz purism, however, moving readily between swing, cabaret, and jazz-inflected pre-rock pop. A New York resident who spent her childhood in Columbus, IN, Lemley favors a flirtatious, buoyant style rather than somber or overly serious delivery, an approach that complements her Hayworth-like image. Her recording career began in 1996 with the debut album Sirens...Songs of the Silver Screen, a collection saluting the sex symbols of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. The follow-up, Cocktails With a Twist, captured in 1998, paid tribute to 1950s cocktail-lounge culture. That project preceded the 1999 swing-and-pop album Dance or Die, after which Lemley issued the 2000 collection The Heat Is On, devoted to songs featured in Hayworth’s films.
Albums
