Perhaps the most recognizable former underage porn star and 16-year-old Penthouse "Pet of the Month," Traci Elizabeth Lords--formerly, Nora Louise Kuzma--has rehabbed as a multifaceted pop icon. With a successful acting, writing and recording career, she's on her way to rivaling her past notoriety.
Named best actress at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival for her performance in the just-released Chump Change, she also was a vampire in Blade, Pestilence in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a "gang member" in Cry Baby and Ms. Sultry in the upcoming film, The Chosen One. With appearances as a decorator on "Gilmore Girls," a cult leader on "Melrose Place" and the sexy but mysterious militia leader on SciFi's "First Wave," Lords has continued to solidify her place on both screens. Additionally, her biography, Underneath It All, which chronicled her three-year porn stint and the ensuing years of rock star romance and cocaine blues, landed on the New York Times Bestsellers List.
The most interesting facet of the Lords empire, however, is her 1995 recording debut, 1,000 Fires, an album devoted to unadulterated techno. A voice similar to early Madonna, where the latter's voice shined sunny, Lords' vocals definitely shade darkly over her gothic-tinged club beats. When she's whispering, "Let me kiss it and make it better" over and over, it resembles a Wiccan chant more than a pop tune. And it's like that for all of her songs, including "Control" and the Cobain tribute, "Fallen Angel;" these last two also charted on Billboard's dance singles. And with other tracks like "Rough Sex" and "Outlaw Lover," she's still obviously being sensual.
"Walking in L.A.," Lords' cover of the '80s Missing Persons classic is her new single, while she's finishing up her sophomore LP. The song's video alternately portrays Lords as an Anime-like Roman warrior and a crossdresser. Then, she's either somebody larger-than-life or she's somebody defined by her sexuality. Either way, she's still the video's focal point; L.A. is barely seen.
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