Frank Sinatra Passed On His Love Of Music To Granddaughter AJ Lambert

Nov 09, 2020

Frank Sinatra is one of the true icons of the music industry. In fact, he has often been referred to as one of the most influential and talented singers of the 20th century. With huge hits, like "My Way" and "I've Got You Under My Skin," Sinatra has earned his place in the pantheon of the greatest singers and performers in history. To top it off, this New Jersey-born singer was also a talented actor. He won an Academy Award for his performance in "From Here to Eternity."

With all that talent, it might have been easy for his family to be overshadowed, but that was not the case. Two of his children, Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra Jr., went on to have very successful music careers. His granddaughter, AJ Lambert, a talented musician in her own right, has also followed in her grandfather's footsteps. Recently, Lambert shared her story about her bond with her famous grandfather and the final months of his life.

Nothing about the start of Frank Sinatra's life spelled superstardom. In fact, his birth was a difficult one. He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Dec. 12, 1915. His mother's labor was stalled, and Sinatra was extracted with the use of forceps. During the procedure, his face was torn and left scarred.

As a child, Sinatra used to sing for money at his parents' tavern. He learned that he loved singing at an early age, often trying to emulate his idol, Bing Crosby. A young Sinatra joined the glee club when he was in high school and expanded to singing in clubs other than the one his parents owned. Eventually, Ol' Blue Eyes was able to make it to singing on the radio.

Sinatra managed to persuade a singing trio known as the 3 Flashes to take him in, and subsequently, the band became known as the Hoboken Four. The band ended up winning the top prize in a singing contest and continued to perform on stage and on the radio. 

Even the greatest of talents need discovery and the same was true for Frank Sinatra. His singing in clubs and on the radio captured the attention of Harry James. The singer gave Sinatra the opportunity to do his first recording on the song, "All or Nothing at All. This," of course, led to many other opportunities, among them being invited to join Tommy Dorsey's band.

In fact, it was Dorsey's influence that helped give Sinatra his signature singing style that we all know and love. Dorsey was a strong soloist who could stretch out musical passages in a striking way, appearing as if he didn't stop to catch his breath. Sinatra was so enamored with his style that he studied the bandleader in an attempt to figure out how he timed his breathing. After months of practice — which included holding his breath underwater while swimming — Sinatra was now also able to sing long musical passages without stopping for breath. As Rolling Stone reports, Sinatra later said, "That gave the melody a flowing, unbroken quality ... and that’s what made me sound different.”

Joining Dorsey was a huge boon for Sinatra. Their collaboration led to many chart-topping successes, but the young man wanted more. Sinatra wanted to embark on his own solo career. That's exactly what he did.

Sinatra signed with Columbia Records in 1946. He wasted no time in releasing his solo debut album, "The Voice of Frank Sinatra." This iconic album featured hit songs like "Try a Little Tenderness" and "These Foolish Things." His solo efforts were a huge success, hitting the number one spot on the Billboard rankings for seven weeks, and spending eighteen weeks in total on the charts.

The crooner had begun to develop a huge following and reputation. People were calling him "The Voice" and "The Sultan of Swoon." Not long after his debut success, Sinatra's legend continued to grow because of his many music awards and film performances.

So-called Sinatramania had set in, and by this point, Ol' Blue Eyes had girls everywhere completely in love with him. But despite the fuss, Sinatra kept a straight head on his shoulders, later saying:

"Perfectly simple: It was the war years and there was a great loneliness, and I was the boy in every corner drugstore, the boy who'd gone off drafted to the war. That's all."

That didn't stop his popularity though, which only grew and gave way to his bachelor days with the Rat Pack.

Sinatra's career took him to Caesar's Palace and Las Vegas. While singing there, he made some great friends in Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin and Joey Bishop. The group of friends were given the name "The Rat Pack" by Sinatra and entertained audiences with their huge personalities and talents.

Originating as the group of A-list friends that gathered around Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's home, after Bogart passed away in 1957, Sinatra, Martin and Davis Jr. became the leaders of the group. The mythology around the Rat Pack continued on into the '60s and the most famous members even revived the group in the '80s, when Sinatra, Martin and Davis Jr. embarked on a 29-date tour titled "Together Again." However, despite their fame as the Rat Pack, the group didn't appear too fond of the name, with Sinatra telling reporters "that stupid phrase" at a press conference for the tour.

Offstage, Sinatra certainly struggled with vices, like drinking and gambling. There were many whispers about his womanizing during that time. The singer's personal life was definitely rocky, given that he was married four times and had three children. One of his children, Nancy Sinatra, had a daughter named Angelica Jennifer Lambert, or AJ Lambert, as she is known. She inherited her grandfather's love for music and shared a special bond with him. 

AJ Lambert is the daughter of Nancy Sinatra Lambert and Hugh Lambert. Her mother was responsible for the huge hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," and several big-screen roles in films like "Speedway" and "Last of the Secret Agents." Growing up, AJ Lambert got very close to her famous grandfather.

AJ Lambert and her little sister spent a good portion of their childhood growing up at Rancho Mirage with Frank Sinatra. As a young girl, she often found herself rubbing elbows with many of her grandfather's famous friends like Gregory Peck. She also got time to develop her own taste in music and share it with her grandfather.

In an interview with The Guardian in 2019, AJ Lambert talked about what it's like to hear her very famous grandfather's music:

“When I hear things he sings, I hear them through some other filter. I hear them as a fan, but also as a human being I knew.”

She also put any rumors to rest about how crazy her upbringing might have been, despite having Frank Sinatra as her grandfather and Nancy Sinatra as her mother. She says:

“Everyone wants it to be jetting around and singing My Way around the piano every day. It just wasn’t like that.”

While both granddaughter and grandfather shared a love and passion for music, it wasn't the same kind. AJ Lambert fell in love with songs from bands like Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Pulp. She recalls a time when she played Sid Vicious' version of Sinatra's iconic song, "My Way," for her grandfather. The punk version left her grandfather unimpressed. While the two had different musical interests, she loved her grandfather very much and wanted to follow in his footsteps.

The young woman joined many punk bands in her youth. Eventually, she started to perform her grandfather's songs, even going so far as to play them in Las Vegas. For Lambert, playing her grandfather's music is a way she can keep their relationship alive.

Originally asked to perform a tribute show of Frank Sinatra songs shortly after her uncle Frank Sinatra Jr. passed away in March 2016, AJ Lambert declined, saying that as a 41-year-old woman performing hits like "Love and Marriage "and "My Way" didn't feel right. But she was grateful to have the lineage that she has and wanted to do something else to honor it. That's when she began doing album shows of Sinatra's catalog, including "In the Wee Small Hours" and "Only the Lonely."

But despite her musical connection to her incredibly famous grandfather, Lambert understands the difference between the personal and the public. For her, being able to separate Frank Sinatra, the icon, from Frank her granddad is something she's able to do easily. She told The Guardian:

"That’s the thing. He’ll always exist. It’s almost like they’re two different people for me. I can see him as the totem and I can see him as the person, and they’re very different people, but I know both of them.”

This story is a great indication of how much our family can influence us. AJ Lambert's touching remembrance of her grandfather, and her choice to honor him through music, is proof that people can live on through their family long after they are gone.

Are you a big Frank Sinatra fan? Did you enjoy hearing about his life and AJ Lambert's memory of him? Show this to the Frank Sinatra fans in your life and let us know what you thought about this tale.