by Howard Reich In a word, she is indomitable. Undeterred by diabetes, by a heart condition that require bypass surgery a couple years ago, by a fall from a Las Vegas stage in 1987 that left her with several broken bones, singer-songwriter Peggy Lee presses on. Perhaps the same spirit[…]

by Rebecca Freligh Duke Ellington called her “the Queen.” Jazz critic Leonard Feather dubbed her “Miss Standing Ovation.” And Madonna practically curtsies in her presence. Now 72, Peggy Lee regards herself above all as a survivor, who, through faith and grit, has triumphed over such formidable Goliaths as paralysis, an[…]

by Rebecca Freligh In January 1988, record producer Bill Rudman called Peggy Lee at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, where she was performing. He told her he had a concept for an album. She didn’t know him from Adam, and it seemed she didn’t want to. “I said, ‘Just let[…]

by Mary Campbell, Associated Press Singer Peggy Lee recorded “Why Don’t You Do Right?,” her first hit, with Benny Goodman in 1942. The song is a challenge to an unreliable man. But Peggy Lee herself has been doing right by her audiences ever since, for 50 years. She just finished[…]

by Nora Burns After more calls to Peggy Lee’s press agent Terrence than 550-TOOL gets on a Saturday night, I found the legendary chanteuse in her hotel room at the Hilton, home of Club 53, where she performed all last month to an eclectic group of worshipers, including elderly singalong[…]

by Gary Giddins The first time I really listened to Peggy Lee was accidental. I’d bought a Benny Goodman collection on Harmony, got it back to the dorm late, put it on and soon fell asleep. The last thing I recalled hearing was “Why Don’t You Do Right,” and I[…]