Listen: Peggy Lee Performs Noël Coward's 'Mad About the Boy' in Rare Recording
The song was originally written by Coward for the 1932 revue Words and Music.
Peggy Lee Associates has shared a previously unheard recording of Peggy Lee performing "Mad About the Boy," the classic song penned by playwright Noël Coward. Captured on Lee’s personal reel-to-reel tape recorder in 1952, this one-take performance is now available for the first time as part of the ongoing From the Peggy Lee Archive series.
Lee's rendition was captured during an informal living room jam session with musician friends. The recording has been newly restored by multi-GRAMMY Award–winning mastering engineer Michael Graves at Osiris Studio. This marks Lee's only performance of the song, as she never recorded it commercially or performed it live.
Originally written by Coward for the 1932 revue Words and Music, “Mad About the Boy” has been interpreted by many artists over the decades, including Maria Friedman, Eartha Kit, and Elaine Paige.
The release continues the From the Peggy Lee Archive series, drawn from a collection of previously unheard recordings preserved on Lee’s personal reel-to-reel tapes. This performance originates from the same 1952 living room session that produced “La Vie en Rose,” released by Peggy Lee Associates in February 2026, available here.
About Peggy Lee
A renowned singer-songwriter of the 20th century, Peggy Lee wrote over 270 songs, recorded over 1,100 masters, and had over 100 chart hits throughout her seven-decade career. As one of the world’s first female contemporary singer-songwriters, she co-wrote and sang many of her own hits, most notably “He’s a Tramp” for Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, as well as “Mañana” and “It’s a Good Day.” She’s best known for hits “Why Don’t You Do Right?” “Fever,” “I’m a Woman,” and “Is That All There Is?” for which she won the GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance.
A 13-time GRAMMY nominee, she received Lifetime Achievement Awards from NARAS, ASCAP, and Society of Singers, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Pete Kelly’s Blues. She made her Broadway debut in 1983 with the short-lived Peg, which was an autobiographical musical of the performer.
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