The one thing Frank Sinatra wanted to be remembered for: “I don’t think I could ask for anything more”
On December 12th, 1915, Frank Sinatra was born, and the rest is history.
When we think about musical legends, and those who helped to make the industry what it is today, our mind often goes back to the ‘60s, as we think about bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and the Eagles. However, there were artists who helped give rise to rock ‘n’ roll before that, as you had people like Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis Presley. Meanwhile, before all of them, you had Frank Sinatra.
Sinatra couldn’t fight in World War II as he suffered a punctured eardrum. It was during the years of 1943 to 1946 that he started to have a few songs on the charts. He believes that the reason so many people took to his sound during this time was because of how lonely everyone felt as their loved ones were off fighting. He was someone who represented those who had left, and so the songs brought a unique sense of comfort to a lot of people.
“It was the war years, and there was a great loneliness,” he said, “I was the boy in every corner drugstore who’d gone off, drafted to the war. That was all”.
Sinatra was celebrated in both the music and film industry for years to come, and then in some circles was seen at the top of his game in the 1960s. He headlined Newport Jazz Festival, became a member of the Rat Pack and received a string of Grammy nominations. It really says something about the timelessness of his voice, as even though music was changing so drastically throughout the ‘60s, there was still a stage for him, and he was still selling out venues.
Jim Morrison and his over-the-top performance antics are about as far removed from someone like Frank Sinatra as you can get, and yet it speaks to his appeal across the board that even The Doors frontman liked him. When it came to discussing Sinatra and his music, Morrison was pretty straightforward when he said, “No one can touch him”.
Of course, while his professional life was filled with highs, his personal one came with both highs and lows. He had a number of affairs and troublesome marriages, controversy and different problems with depression. There isn’t a superstar at the level of Frank Sinatra out there who hasn’t had some kind of controversy throughout their career. Why is all of this important? It’s because when you have someone who has essentially lived their entire life in the public eye, their legacy is going to alter depending on who you ask. People hear the name Frank Sinatra and their minds go to a number of iterations of him.
Some will think of the young man who didn’t go to war and was singing to help people feel less lonely. Others will think of the film star. You have other people who will think of one of the members of the Rat Pack. Then you have those onlookers who will think about the controversies that surround his life. When you can be remembered in so many different ways, it begs the question of which one you’d prefer. Well, to that, Sinatra’s answer was quite sweet.
“I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life,” he said, “A man who had good friends, fine family, and I don’t think I could ask for anything more than that, actually”.
