Frank Sinatra blew the world away with his timeless voice and many different songs for different audiences. As unexpected as his career was, he made the best of it. With over 1,350 songs recorded and produced, as well as over 50 partnered songs, he is one of the most famous singers for his talented, catchy voice and lyrics to his many songs. His career lasted from the 40s to the mid 80s and even then he was still recording new songs up until he passed on May 14, 1998.
Frank Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken New Jersey, and as mentioned before, passed on May 14, 1998 at the age of 83. His decision to become a singer all started in the 1930s after he had just seen Bing Crosby perform. During his highschool years he was a part of the Glee club and started to sing at local nightclubs. After he started to become more exposed to the radio it brought his attention to bandleader Harry James who gave Sinatra his start. In 1940 Tommy Dorsey had asked Sinatra to join his band, in which he did. After 2 years he decided it was time to conquer the music industry on his own.
Between the years of 1943 and 1946 Sinatra’s solo career took off with hit singles left and right. He earned the nicknames “The Sultan of Swoon” and “The Voice” after fans heard his immaculate singing voice.
Aside from being a singer, Frank Sinatra acted as well. His first debut was in the film Reveille with Beverly and Higher and Higher. He won many awards for acting including an Oscar for supporting actor for his portrayal of the Italian American Soldier Maggio in a classic film, From Here to Eternity. Right after that, he received a recording contract with Capitol Records. The 1950s Sinatra brought forth a more jazzier sound within his music. Having reclaimed stardom, Sinatra was flooding with continued success in singing and acting for 40+ years.
Sinatra had reached the mid 1960s with millions of fans everywhere and he was back on top. He had received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and had headlined the 1965 Newport Jazz festival with the Count Basie’s Orchestra.
In this time period he also made his Las Vegas debut, where he founded the “Rat Pack,” alongside Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr., and Joey Bishop. Sinatra had what was known as a modern edge with class and an untouchable lifestyle. In 1966 he achieved one of his biggest hits with the Billboard No.1 track, “Strangers in the Night,” which won a Grammy for record of the year. In the spring of 1967 Frank Sinatra (alongside his daughter Nancy) performed the duet “Something Stupid,” which reached No.1 for four weeks.
After a very short-lived retirement period, Sinatra returned to the music industry with the album Ol’ Blue Eyes is Back in 1973, and he had also become more politically active. As the years went on and he had grown close to many presidents.
He had been friends with President Ronald Reagan who had presented Frank Sinatra with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, in 1985. In 1993, at the age of 77, he had gained many new, younger fans with the release of Duets, which included a collection of 13 Sinatra standards that he had rerecorded featuring musicians such as Barbra Streisand, Bono, Tony Bennett and Aretha Franklin.
His last concert was in 1995 at the Palm Desert Marriott Ballroom in California. He passed away due to a heart attack at Los Angeles Cedar-Sinai Medical Center.
One of Sinatras many famous quotes was, “I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life, a man who had good friends, a fine family – and I don’t think I could ask for anything more than that, actually.”
He is still remembered as one of the greatest singers and musicians of all time and was even honored with a bronze lifesize statue of himself in his hometown of Hoboken New Jersey.