Frank Sinatra 1915-1998

THE TRIBUTES

STEPHEN STILLS ''Frank Sinatra was great for the same things that make people great now: style, attitude, delivery, the voice — chops. Sheer, magical chops.''

TED NUGENT ''He always represented cool. And though most of the inspiration for rock & roll comes from more flamboyant performers, Sinatra reminds us that cool is cool — right to this day.''

JEWEL ''Singing and acting just seemed to be extensions of Sinatra's true art: his flair, style, and passion for life.''

TORI AMOS ''I played those songs in piano bars. You'd have people sitting around singing 'My Funny Valentine' and 'New York, New York.' [But] nobody could sing a song like him.''

DWIGHT YOAKAM ''He's the benchmark by which originality, popularity, virtuosity, and legend will forever be judged in American musical culture. Though many were called, of all who ever challenged, not one could conquer or eclipse the knocked-out, coo-coo, groovy blinding light from the Chairman of the Board's supernova star on its journey through this universe.''

USHER (whose My Way CD is named after his favorite Frank song) ''I discovered him through [my godfather] Ben Vereen. It opened my mind up. I said, 'This cat is smooth. I want to be as smooth.' He was a heartthrob, he had a million-dollar smile, he was charming, and people just waited to hear his every word. And on top of that, his music was great.''

PAUL ANKA ''He's the only one who can put you in a mood within five seconds no matter what he's singing.... He's ruined it for every guy who ever wanted to stand in front of a brass band.''

NANCY WILSON (Heart) ''In the early '80s, my sister, Ann, and I were cajoled by a friend to attend a Sinatra show in Vegas.... We figured it might, after a few drinks, turn into a memorable chance to razz this old icon of the 'unhip' generation. Once seated, [we realized] heckling Frank would not be on the agenda. As stage lights came up, we saw why. His persona was instantly commanding, endearing, even quite romantic in that blue smoke kind of way. This dude was the cat. And in our frenzied, thrill-seeking, hormone-driven rock theater, we realized [music]had lost something known to Frank for decades: restraint, style, and the deceptive simplicity of conversational singing. 'The Lady Is a Tramp' blew that room away. The band scorched and cooled with his shifting moods...and no one has ever looked more comfortable holding an amber cocktail in a suit and tie.''

BOB DYLAN ''Right from the beginning, he was there with the truth of things in his voice. His music had a profound influence on me, whether I knew it or not. He was one of the very few singers who sang without a mask.''

MEL TORME ''Frank always had the three Cs — consistency, concentration, and credibility. There is no one who had the sense of lyric, the phrasing, the intonation, and most especially the role as Everyman as Frank Sinatra did.''

BONO ''[He] was the 20th century. He was modern, he was complex, he had swing and attitude. He was the big bang of pop.''

CHARLES KOPPELMAN (executive producer of Duets) "Whether it was Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Julio Iglesias, or Bono, when they'd finished recording a song, all they wanted to know was 'What did Frank think?'"

SHIRLEY MACLAINE "We have lost part of our capacity to self-reflect because Frank is gone. His music helped us understand our own lives more clearly because he was authentically honest about himself. I'm so sad for all of us who are now without him."