Frank Sinatra

Background

Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on December 12, 1915. Sinatra, the sole child of Sicilian immigrants, decided to become a singer as a teenager after seeing Bing Crosby perform in the mid-1930s. He’d already been a member of his high school’s glee club and began singing at local nightclubs. In 1935, he earned his first break as a member of the Three Flashes, a local singing trio that later became The Hoboken Four, with the inclusion of Sinatra. Due to his radio exposure, Sinatra was discovered by bandleader Harry James, with whom he recorded his first recordings, including ‘All or Nothing at All.’ Tommy Dorsey invited Sinatra to join his band in 1940. Sinatra chose to set out on his own after two years of chart-topping success with Dorsey.

In 1946, he launched “The Voice of Frank Sinatra,” his debut studio album, which reached number one on the Billboard chart and stayed there for the next seven weeks! He released “Songs by Sinatra” (1947), “Christmas Songs by Sinatra” (1948), “Frankly Sentimental” (1949), and “Dedicated to You” (1950) over the next several years (1950). None of these albums, however, were as successful as the first. During the 1940s, Sinatra tried his hand at acting in Hollywood, and in 1953, his film “From Here to Eternity” became a smash hit. His album “Nice ‘n Easy” was released in 1960. It lasted nine weeks at the top of the Billboard chart. He was nominated for Album of the Year, Best Male Vocal Performance, and Best Arrangement at the Grammy Awards. In 1965, he starred in “Von Ryan’s Express,” a World War II adventure film about a group of Allied P.O.W.s who attempt a daring mass escape after Italy signed an armistice with the Allies in September 1943. In 1970, he released “Watertown,” a concept album about a man whose wife abandons him, and his two children relocate to a big city. When the album was first released, it received mixed reviews. Sinatra declared his retirement in 1971. But he couldn’t stay away from his beloved job for long, and he was soon back in the spotlight. He proceeded to produce albums and featured in several films over the next few years, much to the delight of his adoring fans.

Sinatra married four times in his life. He had three children with Nancy Barbato, his first wife, whom he married from 1939 to 1951. From 1951 to 1957, he was married to actress Ava Gardner. Then, from 1966 to 1968, he was married for two years to Mia Farrow. In 1976, he married Barbara Marx for the last time. Until his death, the couple remained together. He lived a long life and struggled with health issues in his later years, including high blood pressure and bladder cancer. On May 14, 1998, at the age of 82, he died of a heart attack.