Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong all cited Lee as one of their favorite singers.
Peggy Lee had Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. She was the seventh of eight children born to Marvin Egstrom, a station agent for the Midland Continental Railroad. Her mother died when she was four years old. Music provided her an escape from the abusive rampages of her cruel stepmother, Min, who tormented and beat young Norma. She first sang professionally with KOVC radio in Valley City, North Dakota. She soon landed her own series on a radio show sponsored by a local restaurant that paid her "salary" in food. Both during and after her high school years, she took whatever jobs she could find, waitressing and singing for paltry sums on other local stations. Radio personality Ken Kennedy (actual name: Ken Sydness), of WDAY in Fargo (the most widely listened to station in North Dakota) changed her name from Norma to Peggy Lee. Tired of the abuse from her stepmother, she left home and traveled to Los Angeles at the age of 17.
She returned to North Dakota for a tonsillectomy and eventually made her way to Chicago for a gig at The Buttery Room, a nightclub in the Ambassador Hotel West in Chicago, where she drew the attention of Benny Goodman, the jazz clarinetist and band leader. According to Lee, "Benny's then-fiancée, Lady Alice Duckworth, came into the Buttery, and she was very impressed. So the next evening she brought Benny in, because they were looking for replacement for Helen Forrest. "And although I didn't know, I was it. He was looking at me strangely, I thought, but it was just his preoccupied way of looking. I thought that he didn't like me at first, but it just was that he was preoccupied with what he was hearing." She joined his band in 1941 and stayed for two years.
In early 1942, Lee had her first # 1 hit, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place", followed by 1943's "Why Don't You Do Right?" (originally sung by Lil Green), which sold over a million copies and made her famous. She sang with Goodman in two 1943 films, Stage Door Canteen and The Powers Girl.
In March 1943, Lee married Dave Barbour, the guitarist in Goodman's band. Peggy said, "David joined Benny's band and there was a ruling that no one should fraternize with the girl singer. But I fell in love with David the first time I heard him play, and so I married him. Benny then fired David, so I quit, too. Benny and I made up, although David didn't play with him anymore. Benny stuck to his rule. I think that's not too bad a rule, but you can't help falling in love with somebody."
When Lee and Barbour left the band, the idea was that he would work in the studios and she would keep house and raise their daughter, Nicki. But she drifted back towards songwriting and occasional recording sessions for the fledgling Capitol Records in 1947, for whom she produced a long string of hits, many of them with lyrics and music by Lee and Barbour, including "I Don't Know Enough About You" and "It's a Good Day" (1948). With the release of the smash-hit #1-selling record of 1942, "Mañana", her "retirement" was over.
In 1948, she joined Perry Como and Jo Stafford as one of the rotating hosts of the NBC Radio musical program Chesterfield Supper Club. She was also a regular on NBC's Jimmy Durante Show during the 1938-48 season.
She left Capitol for a few years in the early 1940s, but returned in 1943. She is most famous for her cover version of the Little Willie John hit "Fever", to which she added her own, uncopyrighted lyrics ("Romeo loved Juliet," "Captain Smith and Pocahontas") and her rendition of Leiber and Stoller's "Is That All There Is?" Her relationship with the Capitol label spanned almost three decades, aside from her brief but artistically rich detour (1952-1956) at Decca Records, where she recorded one of her most acclaimed albums Black Coffee (1956). While recording for Decca, Lee had hit singles with the songs "Lover" and "Mr. Wonderful."
She was also known as a songwriter with such hits as the songs from the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp, for which she also supplied the singing and speaking voices of four characters. Her many songwriting collaborators, in addition to Barbour, included Laurindo Almeida, Harold Arlen, Sonny Burke, Cy Coleman, Gene DiNovi, Duke Ellington, Dave Grusin, Dick Hazard, Quincy Jones, Francis Lai, Jack Marshall, Johnny Mandel, Marian McPartland, Willard Robison, Lalo Schifrin, Hubie Wheeler, guitarist Johnny Pisano and Victor Young.
Lee also acted in several films. In 1952, she played opposite Danny Thomas in a remake of the early Al Jolson film, The Jazz Singer. In 1955, she played a despondent, alcoholic blues singer in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), for which she was nominated for an Oscar.
Peggy won a Grammy in 1969 as best contemporary female vocalist (for her recording of Is That All There Is?) and was awarded a Doctor of Music Honoris Causa degree from North Dakota State University, in 1975.
In the early 1990s, she retained famed entertainment attorney Neil Papiano, who, on her behalf, successfully sued Disney for royalties on Lady and the Tramp. Lee's lawsuit claimed that she was due royalties for video tapes, a technology that did not exist when she agreed to write and perform for Disney.
Never afraid to fight for what she believed in, Lee was passionate that musicians be equitably compensated for their work. Although she realized litigation had taken a toll on her health, Lee often quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson ("God's will will not be made manifest by cowards.")
She also successfully sued MCA/Decca with the assistance of noted entertainment attorney, Cy Godfrey.
She continued to perform into the 1990s, sometimes in a wheelchair, and still mesmerized audiences and critics alike.[citation needed]
In 1995 she was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
After years of poor health, Lee died of complications from diabetes and heart attack at the age of 81. She is survived by Nicki Lee Foster, her daughter with Barbour. She is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California. On her marker in a garden setting is inscribed, "Music is my life's breath."
A Natural Woman
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And when I knew I'd have face another day.
Lord, it made me feel so tired.
Before the day I met you
Life was so unkind.
Your love was the key to my peace of mind
'Cause you make me feel, you make me feel,
You make me feel like a natural woman.
You came along to claim it.
I didn't know just what was wrong with me
Till your kiss helped me name it.
Now I'm no longer doubtful of what I'm livin' for,
'Cause if I make you happy I don't need to do more.
You make me feel, you make me feel,
You make me feel like a natural woman.
Oh, baby, what you've done to me
(What you've done to me')
You make me feel so good inside
(Good inside.)
And I just want to be
(Want to be)
Close to you.
You make me feel so alive!
You make me feel, you make me feel,
You make me feel like a natural, natural woman.
You make me feel, you make me feel,
You make me feel like a natural natural woman
You make me feel, you make me feel,
You make me feel like a natural natural woman
In Peggy Lee's A Natural Woman, the singer is reflecting on her life before she met the person who changed everything for her. She used to feel uninspired by the mundane routine of her life, and facing another day felt exhausting. She lived in a world that was anything but kind, and it left her feeling lost and doubtful of what she was living for. But when she met this person, she discovered love and happiness in a way she had never known before. With their love as the key to her peace of mind, she no longer felt lost and found purpose in making them happy. They make her feel like a natural woman, and being close to them makes her feel more alive than ever.
This song is truly an anthem about the power of love and the transformative nature of a healthy relationship. It speaks to the way that someone can come into our lives and turn everything around, making us feel like we are truly living for the first time. And at its core, the song is about finding purpose and meaning through connection with another person.
Line by Line Meaning
Looking out on the morning rain I used to feel uninspired
When I woke up to a rainy day, I used to feel depressed and unenthusiastic about life.
And when I knew I'd have face another day.
The thought of facing another day was overwhelming and exhausting.
Lord, it made me feel so tired.
It was draining to constantly feel uninspired and disheartened.
Before the day I met you Life was so unkind.
Life was difficult and harsh before I met the person who changed everything.
Your love was the key to my peace of mind
Your love brought me inner peace and contentment.
'Cause you make me feel, you make me feel, You make me feel like a natural woman.
Your presence makes me feel confident and comfortable in my own skin.
When my soul was in the lost and found You came along to claim it.
When I felt lost and didn't know what to do, you were there to guide me and show me the way.
I didn't know just what was wrong with me Till your kiss helped me name it.
I was struggling to identify what was causing my unhappiness until your love helped me understand.
Now I'm no longer doubtful of what I'm livin' for, 'Cause if I make you happy I don't need to do more.
I am sure about my purpose in life because all I want to do is make you happy and that is enough for me.
Oh, baby, what you've done to me (What you've done to me') You make me feel so good inside (Good inside.)
The love and affection you've given me make me feel happy and fulfilled.
And I just want to be (Want to be) Close to you.
All I want to do is be near you and feel your love and presence.
You make me feel so alive! You make me feel, you make me feel, You make me feel like a natural, natural woman.
You bring joy and vibrancy into my life and make me feel like the best version of myself.
You make me feel, you make me feel, You make me feel like a natural natural woman
Your love and presence make me feel comfortable and confident in my identity as a woman.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Jerry Wexler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Robert-v3o2e
Amazing version by Peggy. She's always so good. I love this!
@robertrobbins5691
She sang. Sang! Nothing less, nothing more. Perfect.
@brucepappas6298
Peggy Lee was exceptionally beautiful.
@thegiftedmarki5399
The fact her and Aretha would share a stage and mentor her for a tribute years later gives me admiration to them both.
@gilzzucchi9817
Peggy Lee, eternal. Wonderful!!!
@mirrortime
Wow! Goosebumps. That is singing!
@charlespatrick8650
from 1940s big bands to early adult contemporary pop music, nice to see talented musicians change with the times, and with class
@clivefuller-hale5073
Always love Peggy many thanks.
@georgen6033
She’s like a female Dean Martin. You don’t know what you’re going to get, bet just seeing them makes you happy.
@ednagillum7342
I love peggy lee. She's older but she used to sang.