Eulogy: Peggy Lee

I usually don't get sad about the death of people who led full lives. But I'm sad about PEGGY LEE. She represents an era that is leaving us, one where vocals were king, and I honestly can't think of a better vocalist in that jazz-pop crooning style. What made her so good was that she interpreted and delivered songs with such a complex and dense range of emotions. She would mix in a sardonic sense of humor and back-phrase it, and with a smile or a cock of the head, completely turn the lyric on its head. I've done a lot of her songs: Don't Smoke in Bed, Black Coffee, Fever. Her Latin Ala Lee album is where I got the idea to record I Am in Love.

I started listening to her when I was around 19 years old, and I became a complete junkie for her after that. I first saw her in the dead of winter in Edmonton, Alta., when I was 21 and she was performing at a dinner theater in a hotel. I spent the whole day in the lobby trying to get her autograph. Then I saw her show. I'll never forget it. Later, in 1989, I met her in a New York City recording studio at a photo shoot when we were paired for Rolling Stone magazine's "Sweet Inspirations" issue, and I've known her ever since. She had me over for dinner a few years ago. She was bedridden, and her assistants brought in the salad stuff, and she mixed it. Then we sat in bed and ate the salad and laughed. She was very spiritual, very metaphysical, very well read, very intellectual. I view her as my finest teacher of vocals.