Frank Sinatra Jr. Unexpectedly Dies of Cardiac Arrest While on Tour
The actor and singer Frank Sinatra, Jr. unexpectedly died of cardiac arrest on March 16 while he was on tour in Daytona Beach, Florida. He was to give a performance that day at the Peabody Auditorium in line with his "Sinatra Sings Sinatra: As I Remember It" tour he was promoting in memory of the centennial anniversary of his father's birth. He was 72.
The cultural services and community events director at Daytona Beach, Helen Riger, told The Daytona Beach News-Journal Wednesday night that Sinatra Jr. died earlier at Halifax Health Medical Center.
His sister Nancy Sinatra also posted a message on her Facebook page on the fateful day, saying, "The Sinatra family mourn the untimely passing of their son, brother, father, uncle, Frank Sinatra, Jr. of cardiac arrest while on tour in Daytona, Florida. January 10, 1944−March 16, 2016. Sleep warm, Frankie..."
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He was born in 1944, an only son, Francis Wayne Sinatra, professionally known as Frank Sinatra, Jr., to parents the older Sinatra, Francis Albert, and Nancy Barbato Sinatra. He had two sisters, his older one, Nancy Sinatra, who was also into music and had a successful career, and Tina Sinatra, the younger one who was a TV producer. He was from Jersey City, New Jersey, at an earlier time in his father's career. He grew up watching his father become one of the most famous singers of all time, but frequently away from them because of all the tours and movies the latter did.
Sinatra Jr. would later pursue a singing career of his own at 16 and even dabbled in another, acting. He later went on to work for his father as musical director and conductor. At his father's death in 1998, also of a heart attack, the younger Sinatra became the link to his father's music going on tours especially in Las Vegas, performing the older Sinatra's songs in the same baritone that made the latter legendary.
When Sinatra Jr. started his career as a teenager, he was kidnapped and held for ransom for four days. His father paid the ransom amounting to almost $240,000. Overnight, the young singer was catapulted into the public's eye. But, unfortunately for the aspiring musician anxious to make a name for himself, the perpetrators reportedly made up a story during the trial that Sinatra Sr. had orchestrated the kidnapping to help his son's career. And even though no evidence was found to support the claim, and although the criminals were sentenced for the crime, the story stuck.
He released his debut album "Young Love For Sale" in 1965, after which more albums and movies followed. However, the younger Sinatra was forever in his father's shadow, and indeed, he devoted himself to carrying out the legacy his father left.
Sinatra Jr. is survived by his two sisters and his son, Michael.
