Los Angeles, CA (September 18, 2026) – More than sixty years after it was recorded, a previously unreleased Peggy Lee original has been discovered in the Capitol Records vaults. Today, Capitol Records and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), in conjunction with Peggy Lee Associates, announce the first-ever release of “Since You Have Gone,” the lead track from a new digital EP of the same name, paired with three of Lee’s signature recordings: “Big Spender,” “Fever,” and “Why Don’t You Do Right?” and accompanied by a new visualizer for “Since You Have Gone.”
Featuring both words and music by Lee, the song was recorded at the Capitol Tower in Hollywood on November 2, 1963, with a cinematic arrangement by West Coast jazz pioneer Shorty Rogers. The recording remained unheard for nearly 63 years before surfacing through ongoing archival research into Lee’s extraordinary body of work.
“Finding an unknown Peggy Lee recording is always exciting, but discovering a new original song that she wrote is something else altogether,” says Holly Foster Wells, Lee’s granddaughter and president of Peggy Lee Associates. “And then you hear Shorty Rogers’ incredible arrangement, with this dramatic, almost James Bond-like quality. That was such an unexpected bonus!”
“Since You Have Gone” dates from the sessions for Lee’s 1964 Capitol album In Love Again!. Recorded in Studio A at the Capitol Tower with producer Dave Cavanaugh, the November 1963 session featured an orchestra of many of Los Angeles’ leading jazz and studio musicians, including pianist Lou Levy, guitarists Dennis Budimir and John Pisano, drummer Stan Levey, percussionist Francisco Aguabella and French horn virtuoso Vincent DeRosa. Seven takes of “Since You Have Gone” were recorded, with the final take designated as the Capitol master.
The discovery also brings renewed attention to an important dimension of Lee’s artistry. While celebrated as one of the defining vocalists and interpreters of the 20th century, she was also an accomplished songwriter with more than 270 songs to her credit. Her compositions include “It’s a Good Day,” “I Don’t Know Enough About You,” and “I Love Being Here with You.” She also co-wrote all the original songs for Disney’s animated classic Lady and the Tramp with Sonny Burke, including “Bella Notte” and “He’s a Tramp,” among others. Over the course of her career, she collaborated with an extraordinary range of fellow composers, including Harold Arlen, Cy Coleman, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Michel Legrand, and Johnny Mandel.
Particularly notable is that both words and music for “Since You Have Gone” were written by Lee. Why the completed recording was ultimately set aside remains unknown; no documentation has surfaced explaining why it went unreleased. Records of the song itself, however, reveal that on February 3, 1964, Lee registered the song with the U.S. Copyright Office, identifying herself as sole author of both words and music and her publishing company, Denslow Music, Inc., as the copyright claimant. Rogers’ original orchestral chart also survives in the Peggy Lee music library.
The In Love Again! sessions produced a wealth of material that eventually appeared across albums, singles, EPs, international releases, and compilations. The album’s title song – co-written by Lee, Cy Coleman, and Bill Schluger, a pen name for producer Dave Cavanaugh – was later recorded by Tony Bennett, Blossom Dearie, and Dianne Reeves, among others. Another Lee-Coleman composition from the album, “That’s My Style,” has found a new audience in recent years through its frequent use in fashion videos on TikTok and Instagram.
“That’s one of the joys of working with my grandmother’s archive,” adds Foster Wells. “She can still surprise us. Recordings, photographs, arrangements, and documents continue to surface, and every discovery adds another piece to her story. Finding a song like this reminds me just how much there still is to discover.”