7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7

between a vocal line and an instrumental obbligato. In 1956

she wrote an autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues (with William

Dufty), that was made into a motion picture in 1972.

Frank Sinatra

(b. Dec. 12, 1915, Hoboken, N.J., U.S.—d. May 14, 1998, Los

Angeles, Calif.)

F

rancis Albert Sinatra, or Frank Sinatra, was an

American singer and motion-picture actor who,

through a long career and a very public personal life,

became one of the most sought-after performers in the

entertainment industry; he is often hailed as the greatest

American singer of 20th-century popular music.

Sinatra’s father, Martin, was a tavern owner and part-time

prizefighter, and his mother, Natalie—known to all as

“Dolly”—was a domineering influence in both local politics

and in her son’s life and career. Upon hearing the recordings

of Bing Crosby, Sinatra was inspired as a teenager to choose

popular singing as a vocation. He joined a local singing

group, which toured the country that year, but Sinatra was

the only member with serious musical ambitions, and they

soon disbanded. For the next few years, Sinatra sang with

local dance bands and for remote radio broadcasts. In

1939, while singing and waiting tables in Englewood Cliffs,

New Jersey, he was discovered and hired by trumpeter

Harry James.

The Band Singer

Sinatra’s six-month tenure with the James band resulted in

10 commercial recordings featuring the young singer. On

songs such as “From the Bottom of My Heart,” “My Buddy,”

and “Ciribiribin,” Sinatra’s warm baritone and sensitivity to

lyrics are well showcased. The best-known of the James-