Quinn Lemley

The person singer/actress Quinn Lemley has found herself compared to more than anyone is the late Rita Hayworth. Not only does Lemley look a lot like the famous 1940s/1950s sex siren — she has also portrayed her in The Heat Is On, a New York musical that is based on Hayworth's life. But unlike Hayworth — whose real voice wasn't heard in Gilda, Pal Joey, and other major films — Lemley is also a talented recording artist. In fact, she has an impressive vocal range and is a playful, lively singer who can handle a variety of jazz-influenced music. Lemley, however, is far from a jazz purist or a jazz snob; she performs swing, but she is just as likely to perform cabaret or jazz-influenced pre-rock pop. As a vocalist, the New York resident (who grew up in Columbus, IN) can hardly be called somber or ultra-serious — Lemley has a fun, flirtatious delivery to go with her Rita Hayworth looks. Lemley made her recording debut in 1996, with her first album, Sirens...Songs of the Silver Screen. While that CD was a tribute to the sex symbols of the '30s, '40s, and '50s, her second album, Cocktails With a Twist (recorded in 1998), was an acknowledgment of '50s cocktail lounge culture. That album was followed by 1999's entertaining swing/pop outing, Dance or Die, and the 2000 release The Heat Is On, which focuses on songs from Hayworth's films.