Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee (born May 26, 1920, Jamestown, North Dakota, U.S.—died January 21, 2002, Los Angeles, California) was an American popular singer and songwriter, known for her alluring, delicately husky voice and reserved style. The writer of more than 250 songs, she is regarded as the first important female singer-songwriter in the history of American popular music, noted for her brazen and sensuous lyrics.

Early life

Egstrom was the sixth of seven children. She lost her mother when she was very young, and the rest of her childhood was difficult, causing her to escape into music. As a teenager, Egstrom began singing professionally on a Fargo, North Dakota, radio station, where a program director christened her with her stage name, Peggy Lee.

Big break and first hits

After graduating from high school, Lee sang with various bands in Minnesota, Florida, and California. During a Palm Springs nightclub engagement in 1941, when she sang quietly, Lee discovered the sound that brought her success, captivating the previously noisy crowd. Her big break came later that year when Benny Goodman heard her sing in Chicago and hired her as vocalist for his band. Her developing style could be heard on such well-received recordings with Goodman as “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)” and “Winter Weather.” Her musical development was rapid, and with “Why Don’t You Do Right” (1942) Lee had her first major hit.

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Songwriting career

Lee married Goodman’s guitarist, Dave Barbour, in late 1943 and briefly retired. Upon returning to the music scene in 1945, she launched a second career as a songwriter and collaborated with Barbour on several songs that became hits, including “It’s a Good Day,” “I Don’t Know Enough About You,” “Everything Is Movin’ Too Fast,” and “Mañana.” Lee’s rendition of the last-mentioned title was the most popular recording of 1948, selling more than two million copies. Lee and Barbour divorced in 1951 but remained friends and occasional collaborators until his death in 1965. She continued to write songs with such noted partners as Mel Tormé, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, Victor Young, Cy Coleman, and Quincy Jones. Lee also cowrote the theme songs for several films, and she and Sonny Burke collaborated on the entire score for Walt Disney’s animated feature Lady and the Tramp (1955), for which Lee also provided voices for four characters.

Vocal career of the 1950s and ’60s

Lee remained one of popular music’s top vocalists throughout the 1950s. Her hit recordings during the decade include a version of Richard Rodgers and Moss Hart’s “Lover” (1952), with an audacious mambo-style arrangement by Gordon Jenkins, and “Fever” (1958), featuring one of her most seductive vocal performances and a musical backing of only drums, bass, and finger snaps. “Fever” garnered Lee her first Grammy Award nominations, for record of the year and best female vocal performance.

During the 1960s Lee continued to write and perform, and she released several albums, including collaborations with arranger-conductors Nelson Riddle, Benny Carter, and Quincy Jones. Among her noted singles from this time is the bluesy “I’m a Woman,” which was nominated for a Grammy for best solo female vocal performance. In 1963 she released an album with the same title, which was also nominated for a Grammy. She ended the decade with her biggest hit in many years, “Is That All There Is?”(1969), with which she became the first female artist to score top 10 hits in three different decades. The single also netted Lee her first and only Grammy, for best contemporary female vocal performance.

Acting career

Lee had a noted side career as an actress during the 1950s, garnering praise for her first dramatic role, in The Jazz Singer (1952), and earning an Academy Award nomination for her supporting performance in Pete Kelly’s Blues (1955). She continued to appear for many years in guest roles on television series.

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Legacy

Lee’s seemingly casual, laid-back style belied her meticulous preparation for each performance. Health problems curtailed her schedule throughout the 1980s and early ’90s. Her autobiography, Miss Peggy Lee, was published in 1989. She recorded her final album, Moments Like This, in 1992. In 1999 she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.