Palm Springs Art Museum and Scott Nevins to Present Palm Springs Celebrates Peggy Lee, an Illustrated Q&A with Musical Performance by GRAMMY winner Debby Boone on March 8 to Benefit the Museum
“It was a phenomenal career, and it started on North Palm Canyon Drive.” – Palm Springs Life Magazine
Palm Springs, CA, January 26, 2024 — The Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce will honor entertainer and songwriter Peggy Lee with the 467th star on the Palm Springs Walk of the Stars. Nominated by Palm Springs community leader and award-winning TV host and personality Scott Nevins, Peggy Lee’s star will be unveiled at 100 S. Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs on Friday, March 8, at 2:00 p.m.
The star dedication ceremony will feature guest speakers, including Michael Feinstein, Wink Martindale, Scott Nevins, and Peggy Lee’s granddaughter and President of Peggy Lee Associates, Holly Foster Wells, with a special performance by the Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus.
“We are honored to recognize the legendary Peggy Lee with the 467th star on the Palm Springs Walk of the Stars,” said Palm Springs Chamber CEO Nona Watson.
Following the daytime star dedication, music enthusiasts and fans of the iconic Peggy Lee will have a unique opportunity to delve into the life and legacy of the legendary singer in an engaging illustrated Q&A session, Palm Springs Celebrates Peggy Lee, featuring rare stories, videos, and musical performance at the Annenberg Theater inside the Palm Springs Art Museum. The night will feature guest speaker Holly Foster Wells in conversation with Scott Nevins, discussing Peggy Lee’s life, career, and musical achievements. It will conclude with a musical tribute from GRAMMY Award winner Debby Boone, accompanied by Michael Orland. A VIP cocktail reception will follow the performance. The evening will be a Palm Springs Art Museum fundraiser with tickets ranging from $25 to $100 and available here.
One of the most important musical influences of the 20th century, Peggy Lee helped redefine what it meant to be a female singer and artist, breaking barriers for generations of artists who followed her. Dubbed “the female Frank Sinatra” by Tony Bennett, she was a trailblazing entertainer who did something few of her male counterparts attempted: she wrote songs. As one of the first contemporary singer-songwriters in American popular music, she wrote over 270 songs, recorded over 1,100 masters, and had over 100 chart hits.
In 1941, at the beginning of her seven-decade career, she performed at The Doll House in Palm Springs, where she developed what became her signature singing style – “softly, with feeling” – in an attempt to quiet a raucous crowd. Palm Springs Life Magazine noted that performance: “She sang low and sultry, barely above a whisper. The yelling in the nightclub subsided, conversations ceased, patrons who hadn’t even noticed Peggy Lee take the stage were craning their necks, silent as judges, trying to hear every note.”
On that same night, she caught the attention of the co-owner of Chicago’s East and West Ambassador Hotels, Frank Bering, who arranged for her to travel to Chicago, where she was discovered by bandleader Benny Goodman – a moment that led her to international stardom, from a moment that began in Palm Springs.
“I am so thrilled that my grandmother will forever have a place in Palm Springs on their Walk of the Stars. Palm Springs held a special place in her heart. It was the city that helped put her career on the map, and it was also the place she came to rest, recover, and celebrate. She would be so touched by this honor, as I am,” said Holly Foster Wells.
“Palm Springs Art Museum is the perfect spot and benefactor for this event. We discovered that in 1987 Peggy Lee herself appeared on stage at the Annenberg Theater in a benefit for what was then known as the Palm Springs Desert Museum. So, in some ways this feels like an incredible full circle moment of Peggy Lee returning to Palm Springs to help fundraise for the Art Museum once again,” added Scott Nevins.
WHAT: 467th Star on the Walk of the Stars and Palm Springs Celebrates Peggy Lee, an Illustrated Q&A
WHO: Peggy Lee
WHEN/WHERE: Friday, March 8
2:00 p.m. / Walk of the Stars dedication ceremony
100 S. Palm Canyon Drive, downtown Palm Springs
7:00 p.m. / Palm Springs Celebrates Peggy Lee, a fundraiser for Palm Springs Art Museum
Palm Springs Art Museum – Annenberg Theater, 101 N. Museum Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262
