Frank Sinatra’s hometown on Saturday dedicated a plaque in his honor, capping celebrations of the singing legend’s centennial year despite his ambivalent relationship with Hoboken, New Jersey.
A century after “Ol’ Blue Eyes” was born in the working-class town across the Hudson River from New York City, several hundred fans turned out to remember him — mostly local residents, but with a smattering of die-hard Sinatra fans from around the world.
Befitting a celebrity who moved to California and rarely looked back at his place of birth, the Hoboken Historical Museum on an unusually warm December day unveiled a star in the fashion of the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the brick walls of its entrance.
The star to mark one of the 20th century’s great entertainers, who died in 1998, read: “Francis Albert Sinatra, ‘The Voice.’ Born in Hoboken.”
Zach Alexander, a poised 20-year-old, serenaded the Hoboken crowd by singing some of Sinatra’s best-loved tunes including My Way, Strangers in the Night, I’ve Got You Under My Skin and — with the Manhattan skyline visible from a distance — Theme from New York, New York.
Alexander, who in a nod to Sinatra’s meticulous fashion standards sported a tuxedo with cufflinks, said that he was a fellow Italian American and that his first musical memory was his grandmother playing a vinyl single of Sinatra’s Summer Wind.
“Ever since then I was hooked,” he said.
Tony Hebden, who said he has listened to Sinatra for 40 years, traveled to Hoboken from Leeds, England. Hebden came with his wife, Anne, and said that they earlier got married in Hoboken out of love for Sinatra.
“This is a bit of a cliche, but it was a bit the soundtrack to my life — sad songs, joyous songs, swinging songs,” he said.
Other foreign fans included Andreas Est, who lives near Dusseldorf, Germany, and said he owned virtually every record by Sinatra.
“I wanted to sleep the night of this day in Hoboken,” said Est, who was planning to attend parties being held in Hoboken starring Sinatra impersonators.
The hometown ceremony culminates a busy centennial year that was packed with Sinatra tributes as well as book and recording releases.
Among the biggest events was a nationally broadcast concert in Las Vegas — one of Sinatra’s adopted home bases — organized by the Grammy Awards.
In a sign of Sinatra’s massive influence over contemporary music, interpreters of his songs ranged from pop singers Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys and Sam Smith to country stars Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood to Latin rocker Juanes.
Sinatra rarely spent significant time in Hoboken after his success and is buried in California.
Yet Robert Foster, director of the museum, said that the crowds at Sinatra’s centennial celebrations showed that he remained a major draw for Hoboken.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The