Peggy Lee

News

Peggy to Sit It Out on Tour

by Victor Davis

Singing legend Peggy Lee opened the door for the cat… and almost ruined her forthcoming British tour.

As she let the pet into her Beverly Hills bedroom she fell, injuring an arm and a leg. Now she will perform from a chair for the dates which start at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday.

She said in London yesterday: “Is it being accident-prone when it’s not your fault?”

Peggy was helped from a plane at Heathrow yesterday, and could not stand at a book-signing for her autobiography, Miss Peggy Lee.

She is due to sing on TV’s Wogan show tomorrow, but looked fragile.

“This may be my last tour – but I hope not,” she said. “I’m tough. I’ve written a song that goes ‘If I wasn’t so healthy, I’d be dead.’ “

Peggy, 70 in May, first appeared with Benny Goodman almost 50 years ago and has recorded 59 albums.

She is a diabetes sufferer, and travels with oxygen to help lungs weakened by pneumonia.

But bad luck is not her only worry. She is suing the Disney organization for 15.5 million over alleged unauthorized transcriptions of songs she wrote for the cartoon Lady and the Tramp.