Tish Oney was 8 years old when she first heard Peggy Lee performing on a PBS special. It didn’t take long for Oney to be captivated by the elegant woman she saw on TV. “She was a master at understatement, singing very softly into the microphone, almost whispering, sometimes purring,”[…]
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Celebrated ‘Century’: Jordan Native Pens Book About Prolific Singer
Tish Oney was about 12 years old when, one day, she was called into the living room of her Jordan home by her mother, Beth. On television was a PBS concert special featuring Beth’s favorite singer, Peggy Lee. And as she watched Lee perform on that Atlantic City stage, Tish[…]
Podcast 751: A Conversation with Holly Foster Wells about Peggy Lee
Podcast 751 is my conversation with Peggy’s granddaughter, Holly Foster Wells, who is responsible for preserving Miss Lee’s musical legacy (and doing a fine job of it!). We talk about her memories of her famous grandmother, and talk about Miss Lee’s career in film, recording and songwriting, as well as[…]
ASCAP Announces Inaugural Peggy Lee Songwriter Award Winners: Michael Blum and Jenna Lotti
The ASCAP Foundation announced songwriters Michael Blum and Jenna Lotti as recipients of the inaugural Peggy Lee Songwriter Award, an honor created to mark the centennial of the legendary songwriter and entertainer and recognize promising new songwriters. Blum and Lotti’s song “Fake ID” was chosen by ASCAP’s team, including judges[…]
Peggy Lee: The Life and Legacy of a Pioneering Jazz Singer
“Peggy Lee was a universal artist in many things,” states Dr. Tish Oney, author of an insightful new book on the singer, Peggy Lee: A Century of Song. “She was a top-grade performer and recording artist, producer, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, voiceover artist, Academy Award-nominated actress and a lyricist for many[…]
Opinion: Remembering the LGBT ‘Aunts’ and ‘Uncles’ Who Helped Raise Me
NPR’s Scott Simon (excerpt): “Jim, Gene, and Leo had all come to Chicago from small towns in the Midwest and south. Now and then, they’d mention they had spoken with their mother, or a cousin, on the phone. But they didn’t seem to go back home for even a visit.[…]