Who had the most number ones: Nancy or Frank Sinatra?
On the face of it, in the competition between Nancy and Frank Sinatra, it seemed that there was only ever going to be one clear winner.
It goes without saying that the word ‘competition’ is being used in the loosest possible sense here. At the end of the day, they were father and daughter, so becoming rivals in the musical world would surely represent something quite twisted – although you can’t exactly rule out anything in Hollywood, having said that.
The point in all of this was that the pair were never in direct competition, per se, but it was only inevitable that they would end up being compared to each other, especially given the lineage that Nancy had hailed from. Nowadays, we’d call her a nepo baby, but back in the day, she was seen as carrying on that coveted glitzy legacy.
However, it has to be said that Frank Sinatra was not the fully inimitable entity that he is often painted as. Sure, he was the iconic voice behind whole legions of hits, lit up the silver screen time and time again, and became the true definition of the world’s greatest all-around entertainer. Yet within this, would it surprise you to know that he only ever scored three number ones?
While it was still obviously commendable enough, it seemed that the success of the Sinatras was less easy to come by in the UK charts than it might have been elsewhere. To this end, Nancy Sinatra followed closely on her father’s heels, with two UK chart-toppers to her name – but with one of those being their shared duet of ‘Something Stupid’, the validity is questionable.
Why did Nancy and Frank Sinatra have so few number ones?
It just goes to show, and puts in perspective, how hard number one songs should be to come by, let alone successive ones. It speaks to a massive monopolisation of the music industry, which has grown into a malicious beast since the days when Sinatra was in his prime, with the roster of artists climbing to the top of the charts far more wide-ranging and expansive.
Yet even still, it was with three number ones that Frank Sinatra remained in the UK, consisting of ‘Three Coins in the Fountain’ in 1954, ‘Strangers in the Night’ in 1966, and lastly ‘Something Stupid’ with his daughter in 1967. By comparison, his shot at the top of the charts in the US was no better, with only the latter two making the cut.
As has already been mentioned, Nancy Sinatra scored a number one alongside her dad in the form of ‘Something Stupid’, but this was actually her second in a double streak. It was, of course, her iconic ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’’, released the previous year in 1966, that secured her first stint at the top of the charts. She never looked down after that.
In many ways, this is maybe putting the work of Nancy and Frank Sinatra in a bit of an unfair light. Aside from presidents and politicians, they remain part of one of the most famous families that America has ever created, and their mark on the entertainment industry is forever indelible. The statistics don’t really matter in the long run, but they do make for surprising reading.
