Lola Dee, Singer of ‘Pretty Eyed Baby,’ Dies at 95
variety.comJaden Thompson Lola Dee, a popular singer in the 1950s who toured with Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Johnnie Ray, has died. She was 95.
The pop singer, who was signed to Columbia and Mercury labels in the ’50s, died of natural causes in Hinsdale, Illinois at a nursing facility, as announced by her publicist and CD producer Alan Eichler.
Dee, originally billed as Lola Ameche, inked a five-year contract with Chicago’s Mercury Records and collaborated with the Al Trace Orchestra to record the 1951 hit “Pretty Eyed Baby,” charting at No.
21 on Billboard. They collaborated again to create the popular song “Hitsity Hotsity.” She went on to record more than 20 songs in the next three years, releasing swinging covers of “Dance Me Loose,” “Old Man Mose,” “Down Yonder,” “Take Two to Tango” and “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes.” With the advent of rock and roll, Mercury reinvented the singer, changing her name to Lola Dee and going blonde.
Read more on variety.com