Tributes poured in across social media on May 26, 2020 in celebration of #PeggyLee100 — the hundredth anniversary of Peggy’s birth. Here are just a few of them, along with links to some musical tributes by a variety of performers inspired by Peggy’s singing and songwriting. To see many more tributes to Peggy, follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello posted a lengthy appreciation of Peggy on Facebook, observing that “Peggy Lee was always utterly herself at the microphone and therefore much less ill-at-ease when singing newer song styles that came along. You won’t hear any of those ill-fitting paisley shirt songs in her catalogue.” He ended by saying, “I hope we don’t have to wait another hundred years for a singer of such intimacy and beauty of tone to emerge. Thank heaven we have the voice of Miss Peggy Lee, forever.”

In an Instagram video singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright revealed that “my favorite singer is actually Peggy Lee. She’s the one who I have always admired most in terms of her technique and her artistry and her fascinating delivery of a song.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, librettist and screenwriter Doug Wright wrote: “Perhaps more than any other musical artist, Peggy Lee created a soundtrack for the entire nation. She captured the exuberance of the post-war 1940’s (‘It’s a Good Day’), the hot-blooded sensuality that lurked beneath the buttoned-down 1950’s (‘Fever’), the changing social mores of the 1960’s (‘I’m a Woman’), and presaged the rising discontent of the 1970’s (‘Is That All There Is?’). For thirty more years after that, she continued to make the kind of music that enters the collective consciousness, and never leaves. In her songs, she seamlessly captures the human experience.”

Musical Tributes
(asterisk indicates a song that Peggy co-wrote):

Accent Quartet sing I Don’t Know Enough About You*

Stephen Bishop sings I Don’t Know Enough About You*

Erin Boheme sings He’s a Tramp*

Ann Hampton Callaway sings The Folks Who Live on the Hill

Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Hudson and Reba McEntire sing I’m a Woman

Cat Conner sings Peggy’s Fever

Dave Damiani sings I Love Being Here With You*

Katherine Ellis sings My Heart Belongs to Daddy

Kate Flannery sings It’s a Good Day*

Onalea Gilbertson sings Is That All There Is?

Cady Huffman sings I Love Being Here With You*

Aubrey Logan sings Black Coffee

Tish Oney sings Most of All I Love You*

Rumer sings The Folks Who Live on the Hill

Janis Siegel sings I Love Being Here With You*

Billy Stritch sings I Don’t Know Enough About You*

Tierney Sutton sings It’s a Good Day*

Maiya Sykes sings I Don’t Know Enough About You*

Clare Teal sings It’s a Good Day*

Carol Welsman sings Angels on Your Pillow*

Lucy Woodward sings San Souci*

Of course the #PeggyLee100 celebration wouldn’t be complete without some singing by Peggy herself. Siriusly Sinatra is honoring her today with interview clips from her granddaughter Holly Foster Wells and songs from the newly-released album Ultimate Peggy Lee. Stream @SiriusXM free through May 31. https://siriusxm.us/PeggyLee

Peggy Lee 100 was also marked by a celebration hosted by the Grammy Museum featuring a panel discussion and the launch of a virtual exhibit about Peggy’s life and multifaceted career. For more information on those events, as well as related news coverage, visit this page.