The following is a small portion of Frank Sinatra's 1998 obituary in the NY Daily News; "If Frank Sinatra was not the greatest popular singer ever, no discussion of the short list can be conducted without him. Bing Crosby? Billie Holiday? Sinatra learned from them, praised them, and if there's a show tonight in the afterlife, he joins them at the top of the bill.
Listing Sinatra's achievements is like listing New York Yankees pennants. Musically, he created exquisite catalogues on the Columbia, Capitol and Reprise labels. His concerts were cultural events for half a century even as, in the words of his friend Sammy Cahn, his voice evolved from violin to viola to cello. He influenced hundreds of singers, black and white, and he brilliantly carried the torch for Golden Age popular standards even as the music business tried to cast them aside.
His reward from this success was living the life he chose. If he wanted to go out with friends and have a long, loud, boisterous evening at a restaurant picking the place, time, food, wine, friends, topics of discussion and moment of termination himself he did."
Comments
Madness. Of course he is the best. Ever.
Bing Crosby was certainly the best, but Sinatra was in the top 5 with Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como and Dick Haymes.
Francis Albert Sinatra was indeed the greatest popular singer ever and will always be! Bing Crosby is a forgotten man.. except at Christmas that is.. He lacked the passion and emotion of Sinatra. Dick Haymes??? While a VERY good singer.. Please!
Rick mentioned the other singers Frank influenced.. How about the songwriters??? How many songs were written for HIM? Songs now known as standards! VERY few singers had songs written especially for them (Judy Garland & Fred Astaire come to mind). When Sammy Cahn was asked “What comes first, the words or the music?” He said, “First comes the phone call.”
Think about all the songs written for Frank that he did not sing. Every songwriter wanted Sinatra to sing their songs!
he was will an ever will ever be the greatist singer for eternity
they cannot touch him the way he has touched our hearts throught the decades
Bing couldnt shine Sinatras shoes
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