Actress, singer, and daughter of the legendary Frank Sinatra who fashioned a respectable career for herself in the music industry. She attended UCLA in the ‘50s and studied dance, music, and voice.
Her career got a jump-start from her dad when she appeared on one of his TV specials, with Elvis Presley, no less. In 1961, she inked a deal with Frank’s record label, Reprise. Early efforts bombed in the States but received a warm welcome in Europe and Japan.
In 1964, Nancy forayed into the movies with roles in For Those Who Think Young and Get Yourself a College Girl.
Lee Hazlewood gave her career—and image—a makeover, writing songs for her, encouraging her to sing in her lower register, dye her hair blonde, frost her lips, and basically dress like a go-go dancer.
In 1966, she struck gold with “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” which was nominated for three Grammy awards. The title of the song is culled from a line in one of her dad’s movies, Four For Texas, a western spoof co-starring Dean Martin. More hits followed: “Sugar Town” shot to #5 and “How Does That Grab You, Darlin’?” grabbed the #7 spot.
In 1967, she and Frank topped the charts with “Somethin’ Stupid”, the lone daughter-father duet to achieve that feat in the United States. All told, Nancy had thirteen chart hits from 1966 to 1967, including “Friday’s Child”, “Jackson”, “Lightning’s Girl”, “Love Eyes”, and “Some Velvet Morning”.
She also recorded the theme song to one of her dad’s movies, Tony Rome, which reached a modest #83 on the Billboard Top 100. More famous was the theme song she recorded for You Only Live Twice, a James Bond movie starring Sean Connery.
During this time (1966-1967) she also played some shows for U.S. troops in Vietnam, many of whom had made “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” their own theme song. She ended 1967 with a TV special of her own, Movin’ with Nancy, which co-starred Frank’s fellow Rat-Packer, Sammy Davis, Jr. In 1968, Nancy was back on the big screen in Speedway, starring Elvis Presley.
She celebrated the Yuletide on The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas. Two of the songs she recorded for the album, “It’s Such a Lonely Time of Year” and “Kids”, were released on a single in 1969.
Nancy switched labels in 1971, from Reprise to RCA. She released an album a year through 1973, including Nancy & Lee – Again, This is Nancy Sinatra, and Woman. In 1975, she appeared on the rockumentary, Nancy & Lee in Las Vegas.
She switched labels again, this time to Private Stock, and continued to record and release singles. Many of these are coveted by record collectors, including “Annabell of Mobile”, “Indian Summer”, “It’s for My Dad”, and “Kinky Love”, which many radio stations refused to play because of its provocative lyrics.
In the 1970s, Nancy withdrew from the music industry in order to take care of her family. She re-emerged in an unlikely fashion, duetting with country singer Mel Tillis on Mel & Nancy. The album produced a pair of hits, “Play Me or Trade Me” and “Texas Cowboy Night”.
In 1995, at the age of 54, she infamously posed nude for Playboy and it caused quit a stir with the Sinatras, according to sources close to the family.
She continued performing live with Lee Hazlewood at venues such as The Fillmore, The House of Blues, Mama Kin, The Viper Room, and The Whiskey-a-Go-Go. Interest was rekindled in Nancy’s early recordings, and Sundazed Records re-mastered and re-released them on compact disc.
In 2003, Quentin Tarantino famously used her recording of “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” at the beginning of Kill Bill: Vol. 1. The song has been repeatedly sampled since. She also recorded Nancy & Lee 3 with Lee Hazlewood, although it was only released Down Under. In the fall of 2004, she released an eponymous album featuring a duet with Morrissey entitled “Let Me Kiss You”. It reached #46 in the United Kingdom, her first taste of chart success in over two decades.
In 2006, EMI Records issued The Essential Nancy Sinatra, an anthology of hits, hand-picked by Nancy herself. The album went to #73 on the U.K. chart.
On 11th May 2006, Nancy Sinatra was immortalized on The Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Nancy Sinatra recordings
It’s Such a Lonely Time of Year (Al Gorgoni/Chip Taylor)
Kids (Scott Davis)
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