To mark the 25^th anniversary of the death of ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ Frank Sinatra, Los Angeles City Hall was illuminated in blue Sunday evening, May 14, 2023. The legendary singer died in fact on May 14, 1998, at Cedars-Sinai Hospital at age 82. Lit in blue like his famous eyes: an initiative by the Little Italy of Los Angeles Association (LILAA), chaired by Mario Amalfitano with the support of Council member Tim McOsker of the 15th District, and under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy. The new Italian Consul General, Raffaella Valentini, and Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Tina Sinatra, were present at the lighting ceremony.

“Dad took us to Los Angeles when I was 6 months old, in 1948,” said Tina Sinatra, wearing a black cap with the words “New York, New York”, and an Italian flag in her hand. A flag that, she explained, belonged to her father and is always in her Los Angeles kitchen, next to the American one. “This city was my father’s ‘lady’”, explained Tina. “His entire acting career took place here in Los Angeles, and he died here. I was 50 at that time, but I was lucky to have him that long. My mother died 20 years later. Thinking that we are celebrating my parents today, Mother’s Day and Dad’s death anniversary, is something that moves me a lot. But now I know my father is in a peaceful place, I’m sure he’s much happier now than when he died.”

Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey, the only child of Antonio Martino Sinatra and Natalia Delia Garavante, who immigrated to New Jersey from Sicily and Liguria, Italy, respectively. Sinatra began his artistic path as a young man when he started performing shows in nightclubs in the area, until he was discovered in 1939 by Harry James, a big band director and trumpet player who invited him to join his musical group.
In the following years, Sinatra achieved his fame as an international artist with the release of singles such as Come Fly With Me, Ring-a-Ding-Ding! and Strangers in the Night. In 1966 he founded Reprise Records, his own record company from which he launched hits such as My Way and New York, New York.  Throughout his career, Sinatra performed more than 1,300 songs, received 10 Grammy Awards, appeared in more than 50 films (many with the notorious “Rat Pack”), and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 by Ronald Reagan.
“I grew up listening to the music of Frank Sinatra,” explained Anna Manunza, an Italian from the island of Sardinia. Anna is the new cultural ambassador of the Little Italy Association, which promoted the “Blue Light” initiative approved by the city of Los Angeles. “When I realized that 2023 would have been the 25^th year since his death, I thought this was the way to celebrate it. Maybe not everyone remembers that, when Frank Sinatra died, the Empire State Building in New York was lit up in blue in his honor. It was the first time that something like that was done for a ‘private person’ – not for someone like a president or a holiday occasion, I mean. And that is what we did here in Los Angeles, today, 25 years later.”