The 20th century gave the world many bright stars that radically changed the course of cultural history, attitudes towards music and the development of the music industry. Hence it is impossible not to single out among them a man that became a benchmark and role model for many performers, whose songs captivated and enchanted several generations of listeners, and whose velvety voice is a symbol of the entire musical era. Frank Sinatra became a legend during his lifetime, and his work still has a huge number of fans around the world.

Francis Albert Sinatra (12.12.1915-14.05.1998) was an American singer (crooner) of Italian descent, movie actor, film director, production director, showman, conductor, and political activist. He was an Oscar winner, eleven-time Grammy Award winner, and four-time Golden Globe Award winner. He was awarded the highest civilian honour in the United States, the Congressional Gold Medal (1997). During his career, Sinatra was also honoured by The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), won a Peabody Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award, was nominated twice for a BAFTA and four times for an Emmy. He was renowned for his singing art of execution, virtuoso intonation technique, clear articulation of every word and syllable, and velvety voice. Over the course of his 60-year career, Sinatra performed more than 2,000 songs by various authors in the studio and at concerts, toured through more than 40 countries around the world, and sold more than 150 million records.

In the 20^th century, Sinatra became a legend not only in the music world, hence in every aspect of American culture. When he passed away, some journalists wrote: ‘To hell with the calendar. The day Frank Sinatra died was the end of the 20^th century.’

Sinatra's singing career began in the 1930s, and by the end of his life the singer was considered the benchmark for musical style and taste. His songs became classics of variety show, jazz, swing and pop music, and were considered the most striking instance of the crooning style of singing. Several generations of Americans grew up listening to them.

In his younger years, Sinatra was nicknamed ‘Frankie’ and ‘The Voice’, and in later years, ‘Ol' Blue Eyes’ and then ‘The Chairman’. During his sixty years of active creative work, the greatest singer of the century recorded about a hundred consistently popular singles and performed the most famous songs by the greatest composers of the United States – George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Henry Mancini and Irving Berlin, as well as European composers such as Bert Kaempfert (‘Strangers in the Night’, ‘The World We Knew’), Claude François, Michel Legrand and others.

In addition to his musical triumphs, Sinatra was also a successful movie actor; the highest point of his career was winning the 1954 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film ‘From Here to Eternity’. During his lifetime, Sinatra appeared in more than sixty films, the most famous of which were ‘On the town,’ ‘From Here to Eternity,’ ‘The Man with the Golden Arm,’ ‘High Society,’ ‘The Pride and the Passion’, ‘Ocean's Eleven, and ‘The Manchurian Candidate’.

Frank Sinatra was not just a musician, but a true symbol of an era thanks to his enormous influence on American culture and the global music industry over several decades.

Frank Sinatra was one of the most recognisable and beloved performers of the 20^th century. Sinatra remained at the height of his fame from the 1940s to the 1990s, constantly adapting to changing musical trends and remaining in demand.

The life and career of Frank Sinatra were intertwined with important events in American history, from the big band era to the heyday of Las Vegas, and he became the embodiment of the American dream and post-war optimism.

A musical selection we have prepared for the 110th birth anniversary of Frank Sinatra, a legendary person, is posted in the museum Phonoteque.