Frank Sinatra Jr. Dies at Age 72 While on Tour

It is difficult being the son of a legend, more so if your father is a true icon and you just happen to share the same name. For Frank Sinatra Jr, it was a little bit of the best of both worlds. His name opened many doors but it also brought stress and even got him kidnapped. Still, Sinatra Jr could claim to have the coolest dad ever and, by his own words, Frank Sr. was a good father. Now, Frank Jr. gets to join up again with his father in heaven. He died yesterday at the age of 72 of an apparent heart attack.

The highs and lows started in 1963 when, at the age of 19, Frank Jr. decided to follow his father into the music business. CNN continues the story, "...he was kidnapped in 1963. After three days, two of the men collected a $240,000 ransom paid by his father, while the other abductor let the son free. Days later, that kidnapper confessed to his brother, who called the FBI. The kidnappers were nabbed within hours, the FBI said. At trial, their defense team claimed it was a publicity stunt to help the young singer's career, but there was no evidence to support that. The men were convicted."

Never really able to bond with his busy father, that changed in 1988 when Frank Jr. stepped into the role of bandleader for the tour his father was embarking on and Frank Jr. finally got to know his dad for real and not just off of what he saw on the movie screen. This from Hollywood Reporter online, Frank Jr. was in Atlantic City and the phone rang moments before show time. His father was going on tour and he needed a conductor. At the age of 44, Frank, Jr. embarked on a 7-year journey to get to know his father in a way he never could before. 'It's like it went by in seven weeks. He was a bit of a perfectionist. I was no longer his son in that instance, I was an employee, and I had a job to do, and I was going to move heaven and earth to make sure that I did it. Otherwise, I would have been replaced."'

Like his dad, through it all, Frank Sinatra Jr. was his own man.