Top 10 Peggy Lee Songs

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Our Top 10 Peggy Lee Songs list features the best Peggy Lee Songs, such as “Is That All There Is?” ” Fever,” “Mariana,” ” Sweet Happy Life,” and many more. Born on May 26, 1920, Norma Egstrom spent her childhood living along the Midland Continental Railroad between the communities of Jamestown, Nortonville, and Wimbledon, North Dakota. Her family moved often as her father was a railroad station agent. The same woman who’d become better known by music fans as Peggy Lee was mostly raised by her father and stepmother. Her mother died when she was just four years old.

At an early age, Lee’s talent as a singer was recognized before graduating from high school. She first served with a college dance band, performing with them after school and on weekends. She began singing professionally in 1936 for a variety of local radio stations in North Dakota. In 1937, the same year she graduated from Wimbledon High School, she met Ken Kennedy, a radio personality at WDAY in Fargo, North Dakota. It was the most popular radio station at the time. After auditioning for him, he changed her name to Peggy Lee before putting her singing talent on the air.

Hear Me… Roar?

With the dream of making a name for herself in the entertainment industry, Peggy Lee moved to Hollywood in March 1938, when she was seventeen years old. After working as a short-order cook and waitress at Harry’s Cafe on Balboa Island, Newport Beach, and as a carnival barker at the Balboa Fun Zone, she moved on to audition for the MC at The Jade.

Due to overwork and a poor diet, Lee fainted onstage and was taken to the hospital. While there, it was learned she required a tonsillectomy. Lee moved back to North Dakota for the operation and remained there until she had fully recovered. While there, she performed regularly at The Powers Hotel in Fargo, and she toured with Sev Olson and the Will Osborne Orchestras. In 1940, she returned to California and sang at The Doll House in Palm Springs. It was while there that she developed her trademark purr sound.

This was her way of competing with the noisy crowd with a sultry vocal performance, which gave the fellow performers cause to quiet down so they could hear her. In so doing, Lee learned to use subtle charm to captivate the audience. This was enough to get the attention of Frank Bering, who owned the Ambassador East and West in Chicago, Illinois. He offered her to perform at its nightclub, the Buttery Room. While there, this is where Peggy Lee was discovered by Benny Goodman. In August 1941, Peggy Lee joined Benny Goodman and his big band. “Elmer’s Tune” was her first official recording while with the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

Taking Her Place

In 1942, Peggy Lee realized her first number-one hit as a recording artist. “Somebody Else is Taking My Place” served as the first single to do so, before it was followed by her second number one hit, “Why Don’t You Do Right?” While still with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Lee appeared in two movies. 1943’s Stage Door Canteen was the first, followed by The Powers Girl. Also in 1943, Lee married the band’s guitarist, David Barbour, despite the rule that band members were not allowed to fraternize with her. Because of this, Barbour was fired from Benny Goodman’s orchestra.

This led Peggy Lee to quit the band, as she chose Barbour over them. It was her intention to become a full-time housewife, and she was quite content to be Mrs. Barbour. There were media reports suggesting she was forced to play the role of wife to her husband, but this was not the case. In more than one interview, Peggy Lee admitted she was happy to lead a simple life as a woman who loved her husband very much. The two had a daughter together in 1943 before she finally agreed to return to her musical career. It was her husband who suggested she had too much talent to keep bottled up at home.

In 1944, she returned to songwriting. While with Capitol Records, she recorded a number of hit songs with her husband. “Golden Earrings” was the title song for the 1947 movie it was written for, which became a solid hit. Lee and Barbour were a solid songwriting team that included the number-one hit “Mariana.” In 1948, she joined Perry Como and Jo Stafford to host The Chesterfield Supper Club, a musical program broadcast on NBC Radio. She also became a regular on Bing Crosby’s radio shows during the late 1940s and early 1950s, as well as on The Jimmy Durante Show.

Unfortunately, because Peggy Lee’s career as an entertainer kept her away from home, her marriage to David Barbour ended in 1951. In 1953, she was briefly married to her second husband, Brad Dexter, before marrying Dewey Martin from 1956 to 1958. In 1964, married Jack Del Rio. Before the end of that year, she experienced her fourth and final divorce.

Capitol Run

Aside from a four-year run with Decca, Peggy Lee was a solid fixture as a singer and songwriter for Capitol Records. In 1958, she recorded and released “Fever,” a single originally recorded by Little Willie John. Lee altered the lyrics that included material from “Captain Smith,” “Romeo Loved Juliet,” and “Pocahontas.”

As she performed it, this new arrangement earned her nominations at the first annual Grammy Awards in 1959. Not only was Peggy Lee prolific as a recording artist, but she was also a busy actress. In 1952, she starred in The Jazz Singer, which was a remake of Al Jolson’s 1927 original. In 1955, she appeared in Pete Kelly’s Blues in a performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. During the span of her career, Lee appeared in a flurry of variety shows, as well as several small-screen movies and specials.

In 1960, the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded Peggy Lee with her own star on Hollywood Boulevard. From 1957 to 1972, she was a Capitol Records mainstay as rock and roll began to overtake the American music scene. When rock and roll first emerged as a new sound, she was among the first recording artists to not only recognize the new genre but also promote it.

It was during this time that the music she produced became standards that would trigger scores of singers and songwriters to burst onto the scene as recording artists and stage performers. The popularity of Peggy Lee was so great that when Miss Piggy Lee of the Muppets was created in 1974, it was fashioned by fellow North Dakota native, Bonnie Erickson. As soon as the puppet became famous, the name was dropped to Miss Piggy.

Peggy Lee vs. Disney

In the 1955 animated Disney classic Lady and the Tramp, she served as a voice actress and singer for several characters. With Sonny Burke, Peggy Lee co-wrote a series of original songs for the film. When the movie was released on VHS in 1987, Lee demanded royalties for her performance and songwriting contributions. When Disney refused to pay, she filed a lawsuit in 1988 that eventually led to a $3.8 million judgment against the company, as the courts found they had breached the contract and used her name illegally.

Peggy Lee Legacy

Despite health issues, including diabetes, Peggy Lee continued to perform into the 1990s. On January 21, 2002, she died at the age of eighty-one. Her only daughter, Nicki Lee Forester, was born to Lee’s first husband, David Barbour. For nearly seven decades, Lee’s career included a total of sixty albums produced between 1941 and 1996. Her songwriting portfolio includes over 270 songs, including material designed for other recording artists. She received a total of thirteen Grammy Award nominations and two wins. The first was in 1969, for “Is That All There Is?” in the category of Best Contemporary Vocal Performance. The second was a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. Peggy Lee was, and still is, a key source of inspiration that influenced an impressive list of world-class recording artists, including Paul McCartney and Madonna.

In 1975, Peggy Lee received the Rough Rider Award from her hometown state of North Dakota. She also received the Pied Piper Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1990. In 1994, it was the Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Society of Singers. Also in 1994, she earned the Living Legacy Award from the Women’s International Center. Peggy Lee was awarded the President’s Award from the Songwriters Guild of America in 1999. That same year, her name also entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2020, Peggy Lee’s songwriting material also entered the Great American Songbook Foundation’s Songbook Hall of Fame.

Aside from the contributions Peggy Lee made to the entertainment industry as an actress, singer, and songwriter, she also has an alcoholic beverage somewhat named after her. While still married to Dave Barbour, she visited the Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas. The two had just returned from a trip to Mexico in 1948, and she asked for a cocktail similar to the one she had there. The bartender, Santos Cruz, created the Margarita, which is the Spanish version of Peggy’s name.

In Wimbledon, North Dakota, the Midland Continental Railroad depot building became the Wimbledon Continental Depot Transportation Museum. Inside, it has featured the Peggy Lee Exhibit since 2012, as the upper floor once served as her family’s residence before she graduated from the community’s high school in 1937.

Top 10 Peggy Lee Songs

#10 – Till There Was You

Considered a standout favorite, “Till There Was You” became one of many standout songs that saw Peggy Lee at her jazzy best. This vintage classic, with its complex harmonies and soaring vocals, served as a perfect example of her talent as a singer and musician.

This was originally written and recorded as “Till I Met You” in 1950 by Meredith Willson. It was retitled for his 1957 Broadway musical, The Music Man, and performed by Barbara Cook. The 1962 movie version was sung by Shirley Jones, not long after Peggy Lee’s 1961 version made such an impression on so many fans, including Paul McCartney and the rest of his Beatles bandmates.

They also recorded their own version of this song, which was used when they unsuccessfully auditioned for Decca Records in 1962. Peggy Lee’s version was a UK top 30 hit, and it served as a key inspiration for the Beatles to become iconic rock legends.

#9 – I Go To Sleep

As a singer, Peggy Lee’s niche was using the soft delivery of her voice to win an older audience and keep them enthralled from the start of a song to its end. “I Go To Sleep” was a haunting ballad that became an easy song choice for the soundtrack to Made in Dagenham.

Fans devoted to Peggy Lee and her music regard “I Go To Sleep” as a cult classic, featuring her sultry vocals at their finest and the sophistication of the piano and stringed instruments. The song originated with Ray Davies, the main songwriter for The Kinks, but it was not recorded by the band.

However, this was a recorded demo that was featured as a bonus track on the band’s 1965 album, Kinda Kinks. In 1965, The Applejacks were the first to record “I Go To Sleep,” then by Cher, and then by Peggy Lee. The most popular recording came from The Pretenders in 1981, as it became a number seven hit in the UK and at least a top ten hit in Belgium and the Netherlands.

#8 – Ain’t We Got Fun

In 1921, “Ain’t We Got Fun” was first popularized as a foxtrot by Van and Schenck after it debuted in the Fanchon and Marco revue Satires of 1920. In 1949, Peggy Lee’s version became one of the most legendary versions of this carefree song. On the US Billboard Hot 100, it peaked as high as number four and joined the ranks as one of her signature tunes.

Full of cheerful jazz and Lee’s unmistakable vocal style, “Ain’t We Got Fun” inspired scores of recording artists to record their own versions. For a song to simply get caught up in the moment, “Ain’t We Got Fun” portrayed a whimsical side of Peggy Lee, contrasting her trademark brooding style featured in her ballads.

#7 – Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)

In 1949, “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” became a number two hit for Peggy Lee on the US Billboard Hot 100. In Australia, it became a number one hit. Originally, “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend” was a country western song written and recorded by actor Stan Jones.

Peggy Lee’s version was a big hit in 1949, as was Vaughn Monroe’s. Monroe’s version was the most successful among the several artists who’ve also recorded this classic. Members of the Western Writers of America recognized this song as the greatest Western song of all time. “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” has many titles, including “Ghost Riders,” “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” and “A Cowboy Legend.”

Sung as a folk tale of a legendary cowboy who shared his vision of red-eyed cattle sporting steel hooves being chased by the troubled spirits of fallen cowboys. It served as a musical warning that failure to become a better person would result in a doomed afterlife. For Lee, singing this from a woman’s perspective was a change of pace compared to Monroe’s version. This song also became a hit for other music legends, including Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, and Johnny Cash.

#6 – Golden Earrings

For the 1947 romantic spy film, Golden Earrings, the title song was originally performed by Mervyn Vye. Also in 1947, Peggy Lee’s version became a hit single, peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reaching number three in Australia.

The movie itself was set in a post-WWII timeline, with a package of golden earrings delivered to a retired British general, who shares a war story to explain why he had his ears pierced. The song “Golden Earrings” tells this story through the lyrical voice of a gypsy woman who helped him and became his love interest.

#5 – Sweet Happy Life

With the power of Peggy Lee’s voice, there’s no need to sing at the highest volume possible. She figured this out long before the world knew who she was, and she used it to her advantage. “Sweet Happy Life” was a power ballad, loaded with emotion, as Lee seemed to pour her heart out in this 1966 classic.

On the US Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number 3. Sung as a sweet ballad of appreciation, “Sweet Happy Life” earned its place as an all-time classic, inspiring so many fans and aspiring artists. This was the English adaptation of “Samba de Orfeu,” a song introduced in 1959 before it was covered by Peggy Lee on the 1966 album Guitars a la Lee.

#4 – Mariana

“Mariana” was a song Peggy Lee and her husband, Dave Barbour, wrote together. After its release in 1947, it became a number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and remained at the top for nine weeks. In English, “Mariana” means “tomorrow.” Designed and performed as a humorous tune about putting off important tasks until tomorrow, Lee was inspired to write this song while vacationing in Mexico.

As popular as this song was, not every fan appreciated the humor. Some felt it was an inappropriate jab against Mexican culture, which wasn’t the case at all. In pop culture, “Mariana” was performed by a series of other recording artists and actors, including the infamous Dean Martin.

#3 – Why Don’t You Do Right? (featuring Benny Goodman Orchestra)

While performing with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Peggy Lee’s vocal performance behind ‘Why Don’t You Do Right?” became a number four hit on what is now recognized today as the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1936, it was originally titled “Weed Smoker’s Dream” as it was recorded by the bluesy jazz genius, Kansas Joe McCoy.

Classified as a woman’s blues tune, it has since become a standard, especially after Peggy Lee made it so popular in 1942. Lee’s version is one of the best-known and was featured in the 1943 Hollywood production, Stage Door Canteen. This was the song that earned Peggy Lee nationwide recognition for her sultry jazz vocals, and it also served her then-boss, Benny Goodman, well. Lee admitted that when Lil Green recorded his version in 1941, it inspired her to cover “Why Don’t You Do Right?” herself.

#2 – Is That All There Is?

In 1969, Peggy Lee won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance for her hit single “Is That All There Is?” released in 1968. This song was originally performed in 1967 by Georgia Brown for a television special. The first authorized recording of the song was by Leslie Uggams in 1968, but it was Lee’s 1969 version that made it a hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.

It peaked at number eleven, serving as her first top forty hit in eleven years. On the US Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs chart, it peaked at number one. This became one of Lee’s signature songs as she brilliantly performed as someone sharing life events from a less-than-enthusiastic point of view.

The inspiration behind the song began with a 1896 story, “Disillusionment,” about a Nazi escapee who settled in Hollywood after fleeing Europe, hoping for a better life, only to end in bitter disappointment.

#1 – Fever

In 1958, Peggy Lee covered Little Willie John’s “Fever” and released it as a newly arranged song. Her version earned this song three Grammy Award nominations in 1959. Fever was also a 2004 Hollywood production that covered Peggy Lee’s life and achievements. “Fever” was one of her signature songs and among the best recognized. On the US Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number 8.

Despite the popularity of “Fever,” it was rejected by over twenty recording labels before it was finally released. This was the song she performed at the White House for then-President Dwight Eisenhower. The song revolved around a woman feeling restless about her love interest as if suffering from a fever. In 1992, “Fever” was released again, this time becoming a number seventy-five hit in the UK.