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 became a fan as well. But little did she know just how much Lee would truly shape her life. [Source: The Citizen, Auburn, New York]
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 Pat Alger, Marcy Heisler and Autumn Rowe, and released in May on all streaming platforms.
“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 collaborative composers.” Dr. Oney also points out that the singer’s legacy also includes her active participation in helping musicians involved with film music get a fairer financial deal from movie companies. “She was an advocate for musicians’ rights later on,” reveals Oney. “So she was a pioneer in a whole lot of ways.” [Source: UDiscoverMusic]
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. They usually joined our family holiday dinners, and to watch The Wizard of Oz or World Series over take-out chow-mein, or listen to Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee.”
One of the most important musical influences of the 20th century, Peggy Lee wrote over 200 songs, recorded over 1,100 masters and had over 100 chart hits throughout her seven-decade career. As one of the world’s first female contemporary singer-songwriters, she co-wrote and sang many of her own hits, most notably “He’s a Tramp” for Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, as well as “It’s a Good Day” and “Mañana.” She’s probably best known for hits “Fever,” “I’m a Woman,” “Why Don’t You Do Right?” and “Is That All There Is?”; “Is That All There Is?” won her a Grammy for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance. A 13-time Grammy nominee, Peggy Lee received Lifetime Achievement awards from NARAS, ASCAP and the Society of Singers, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and — as an actress — earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Pete Kelly’s Blues.
The iconic singer-songwriter Peggy Lee would have turned 100 years old this week. To celebrate her centennial birthday, a brand new compilation record called Ultimate Peggy Lee was released and the GRAMMY Museum hosted a panel discussion with guests that included Billie Eilish, k.d. Lang, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, and more. Jazz singer and composer Tish Oney was also a part of that panel discussion. She just released a new book, titled Peggy Lee: A Century of Song. Oney joined us to share a short gateway to Lee’s music and influence. Source: CBC Radio.
The work ethic and determination that made Peggy Lee an international star as a singer, songwriter and actress started right here in North Dakota, according to her granddaughter Holly Foster Wells. “She was very proud of being from North Dakota,” Wells said. “… she worked hard in North Dakota, a lot of physical labor and she was always singing.”
From a young age, Holly Foster Wells was being groomed to take over her grandmother’s estate. That’s no small task when your grandmother was Peggy Lee, one of the most influential singers of the 20th century. “She didn’t want to be forgotten,” Foster Wells says from her home in the Los Angeles area. She recalls Lee telling her, “This music is going to outlive me and I need someone to manage my legacy.”
In September 1968, songwriting titans Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were on the hunt for a singer for their curious new composition Is That All There Is? … The pair felt the song needed an actress to sell it so offered it to Marlene Dietrich and Barbra Streisand before thinking of Peggy Lee. After catching her show at the Copacabana in New York, they handed Lee a demo. She called them the moment she listened to it. “I will kill you if you give this song to anyone but me,” she said. “This is my song. This is the story of my life.”
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