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 You are in:  Special Report: 1998: 05/98: Sinatra
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Saturday, 16 May, 1998, 06:12 GMT 07:12 UK
Ol' Blue Eyes in black and white
front pages
Tabloids and broadsheets alike paid tribute to Frank Sinatra
"America mourns, as family war begins over the Sinatra millions", reads The Independent's front page headline on Saturday.

If The Independent's sub-editors had been able to peer over the shoulders of their tabloid colleagues, they would have realised that not only America was mourning.

The Express, The Mirror and The Sun, all reserved many pages to report the death of Frank Sinatra.

The Sun and The Express both milked puns from the song most closely associated with Sinatra. The Sun, better known for its snappy one-word headlines, indulged in "I've lived a life that's full, I've travelled each and every highway, but more much more than this, I did it my way."

The Express trumpeted simply "The final curtain", while The Mirror was more upbeat with "You gotta love living, baby ... dying's a pain in the ass" as its chosen Sinatra quote. The Daily Mail had no time for sentimental tributes, with "Battle over Sinatra will".

Among the broadsheets, the front pages of The Guardian and The Times were both dominated by pictures of a Sinatra looking youthful and wholesome.

The Times led on the story, predicting "a flare-up in the long dispute among his heirs over his fortune".

In The Guardian, Sinatra's death took second place to the G8 summit, but the paper eulogised the singer as "the incomparable romantic troubadour of the post-war years". The family squabbles were left for later.

On the front of the Daily Telegraph, news of a plot to kill Princess Diana and a photograph of Bill Clinton and Cherie Blair left no room for a picture of Sinatra. The family feud made a single column on page one, with the tributes and a whole gallery of archive photos splashed over pages four and five.

The Daily Star was alone in ignoring Sinatra on its front page. When the story appeared, on page five, it was served with the inevitable pun: "Sinatra: The end is here".

Links to more Sinatra stories are at the foot of the page.


Links to more Sinatra stories