RIP: FRANK SINATRA JR

Singer and son of legendary crooner, Francis Albert Sinatra, Frank Sinatra Jr. died of a massive heart attack Wednesday afternoon in Florida. The 72-year-old singer was in Daytona Beach for a concert when he died suddenly, the entertainment site wrote, citing a Sinatra family representative.

While not as popular as his father (few people were), Mr. Sinatra recorded a half-dozen albums and appeared on several TV shows from the Smothers Brother and Dean Martin shows to “Adam-12.”  He even made numerous appearance as himself on the animated adult cartoon, " Family Guy". He also worked as his father’s conductor and musical director in the twilight of the legendary singer’s career.

The most famous incident in his life may have been his Lake Tahoe kidnapping in 1963, when he was found walking the streets of Bel Air, Calif., after a $240,000 ransom had been paid.

Mr. Sinatra acknowledged that being the son of one of the most popular singers of the 20th century was both a blessing and a curse — opening doors while setting an impossible and obvious standard of comparison.

“You have to work three times harder than the guy off the street,” he told Nat Hentoff for the book “The Other Frank Sinatra.”

“Sinatra, Jr. might have had an easier time establishing himself had he gone into real estate. But his show made me awfully glad he decided music was his calling. There aren’t too many singers around with Sinatra’s depth of experience in big band music, or his knowledge of the classic American songbook. There are even fewer with such real feeling for the lyrics of a song, and such a knack for investing a song with style and personality,” wrote music critic Richard Ginell in a 2003 Daily Variety review of his concert.

Kidnapped and held for ransom when he was 19, Sinatra Jr. had already followed his dad into the music business by then. He eventually worked for his father as his musical director and conductor. He performed the National Anthem at a New York Yankees game last year.

Sinatra was in town to do a concert at the Peabody Auditorium on Wednesday night, died suddenly in the afternoon ... according to his rep.

Sinatra cancelled tonight's show when he felt lightheaded. He was admitted to Halifax Medical Center, but according to his rep he said he was feeling better. He suffered the heart attack while still at the hospital.

Frank Sinatra Jr, is survived by his wife, his two sisters, and his mother - who was the first of elder Sinatra's four wives...