Traci Lords: Porn Star-Turned Actress Debuts New Single at NYC's Splash

There are three word that sum up the emotional scope and depth of the images of Traci Lords as shot by celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz: iconic. "I love him!" she says.

Over the length of her enduring career the two of collaborated often. "I tried to turn Mike years ago. It didn't work out for me," she jokingly admits, and for a minute I ponder if she means to reveal that her secret to keeping her eternally timeless beauty is that screen goddess Traci Lords is actually (dramatic pause) a vampire. That, or she's got a "Dorian Gray" picture in the closet that's getting mighty rundown.

How else can she explain how savagely beautiful she still is, and especially with the tempestuous career she made for herself.

Traci Lords' rise to celebrity is the stuff of Hollywood legend. "I was a combination of damaged goods and teenage rebellion. At 15, I didn't think about consequences. I did so many things that were reckless. But talk about the phoenix from the flame!"

Bad Girl. Temptress. Actress. Singer. Author. Entrepreneur. Whatever label you want to attach onto Traci Lords one thing is inevitable; When she takes over New York City, on Friday, Sept. 16 for her scheduled appearance at Splash she will be setting the place on fire.

She'll be debuting her new single. Yes, Traci Lords has returned to music.

Still Making Music...

"I'm really excited...I've been wanting to do stuff forever," she revealed about her return to the recording studio.

Lords released her first major label album 1000 Fires in 1995, and a string of independently released singles followed. "It's become very difficult for an artist to find a place where you still have some creative control and do something interesting," she says, "and not be swallowed up by the bureaucracy of it all."

The record industry has dramatically evolved in the last several years, and has become a haven for artists like Lords who want to maintain an amount of inspired flourish over their own material.

Finally it appeared the stars aligned. "I got so frustrated by what was being offered [in the record industry] and I was really focused on my acting, and releasing a full-fledged album had sort of eluded me for a while."

Not entirely prepared to run the hurdles of becoming a fully independent artist, Traci Lords decidedly found a mutually beneficial relationship and signed with Sea to Sun Recording. "I still wanted a team around me," she says,�"but now you really can do so much with the internet, but to still have a label like Sea to Sun. I have the creative control I want, but I actually have a label behind me. It's the best of both worlds."

And then there's her new single. The track is called "Last Drag." "It's cotton candy. I wanted it to melt in your mouth," she says about her the track.

"It's about being addicted to something that you know is not good for you, but being drawn to it. You gotta have it!" The song jives with a rambunctious defiance, recalling the retro '80s hits of the Lower East Side punk scene. "It should be sweet going down, but with a bit of a jolt."

Traci Lords...Blond Ambition

Traci Lords is also pulling out all the stops to push the imagery for the song's upcoming video. She's enlisted director Zalman King, who collaborated with Adrian Lyne on the sexually charged hit film 9 1/2 Weeks.

"Talk about a sexy director," Lords comments on the hiring of King. They will be shooting the video in LA in the coming weeks. "I remember seeing that film years ago. I think it'll be a really interesting marriage for the video."

A detectable coquette glee in her response. "It's going to be sexy and cheeky and all of those things," she enthusiastically promises.

There's no denying just how far Lords has come as an artist. It's apparent and reflective in her music. Her premiere recordings in the 90's were heavily soaked in the then untested rivers of electronica and dark, synth beats.

"I was in a very different place. I was scratchier; I was edgier," Lords says. "There was more angst in that music. The techno sound I was going for, it was perfectly suited to where I was at that moment."

Traci Lords infamously marked a trail for herself in popular culture. She controversially emerged on the scene as a vivaciously young starlet appearing in adult films, all while hardly out of her teens.

Lords faked an ID and landed a cover spread in the leading men's quarterly Penthouse. "I've been through so much in life and I've been drawn to the flame. There was a time where I was running from my demons."

Now, after years of introspection and pursuits that have landed her film roles, recording contracts and the respect of the industry, Lords emerges unscathed and ready for more.

"I think that where I am in my life is much more organic. Art is a gift. Everything has changed." She attributes this shift to her new music and the breathe of character roles she's landed as an actor. "It's not that the edge is necessarily gone. I think I found my sense of humor in it all. I didn't so much have it then."

Cry-Baby’s Wonderful Wanda

Appearing in the cult hit Cry-Baby written and directed by John Waters, it featured Lords (and an emerging teen heartthrob named Johnny Depp) in one of her first commercially released and successful film roles. She played the salaciously sultry Wanda Woodward.

"That was an amazing experience in every respect," she lovingly looked back. "It was a moment in time...and a very mainstream take on things for John Waters. We were all kids and we were trying to create something and figure out who we were. We all had something to prove." She laughs.

"We were very serious about being taken seriously. Now years later, we all laugh a lot more."

She is still close to Waters. "I hope I can talk him into being in the video." When she appears at Splash, she's supposed to be hosting the Drag Off contest, something Waters would love: a former straight porn star judging drag queens.

"Wouldn't it be incredible if the room was filled with a bunch of Wanda Woodwards?" she asks. "Or let's make it a Night of a Thousand Tracies!"

It's not ego that's inspiring her, it's the joyous irony of a life and career she is happy to celebrate and continue to bring us along for the ride. "I've been blessed with some very supportive and amazing fans. I can't ask for anymore."