Is My Lady 10 years before, and some thought that he would never step foot in one again-most noticeably, the former head of Reprise and Warner Bros. It was only a year and a half or so before the final concert that we got wind of a new Sinatra-album project in the works, Duets, where Frank would be paired with seemingly every major music star of the day. called to offer me the gig with his father, I never for a moment considered turning it down.įrank Sinatra Jr., center, with Gregg Field, left, and bassist Chuck Berghofer, right. It was a rough time for Frank on a personal but also musical level-he burned through four drummers and two bass players in six months.

I first became part of Frank’s world in 1981 as a member of Count Basie’s band, then permanently a few years later after Irv Cottler, Sinatra’s close friend and drummer of over 30 years, died. Let me tell you my story of the final few. Sinatra graced thousands of stages, grand and gritty, over the course of 70 years.

With every year and every passing performance, Frank’s prophetic “My Way” lyric, “And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain,” became more difficult to ignore. But on February 25, 1995, after singing for more than 60 years for kings, queens, pirates, and presidents, Frank Sinatra stepped out on a stage in front of adoring fans for what would unknowingly be the last time.Īs his drummer, I knew the day would come. He had tried that 20 years earlier, and it didn’t stick. There was no grand announcement, no farewell tour.

Sinatra the last curtain call song