It was not merely its close proximity to Jilly’s—Frank Sinatra’s favorite hangout when he was in New York—that brought him to Carnegie Hall so many times. Sinatra had a long history here—one that began in 1945, when he was the skinny idol of the bobbysoxers and accepted an award for his work toward racial tolerance in a gala program that featured Duke Ellington, Josh White, and Zero Mostel. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Sinatra regularly settled in to Carnegie Hall for a week or more at a time: Tickets were usually gone as soon as they went on sale.
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If you don't know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he’s just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It’s one world, pal. We’re all neighbors.
— FRANK SINATRA
From the Archives
Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. (at rear), Jan Murray, and Dean Martin at a Carnegie Hall tribute for Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. on January 27, 1961, a benefit for King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Photo by Bill Mark)Pictured from left to right is an unidentified musician, Frank Sinatra, Buddy Hackett (seated on stool), Jan Murray, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin. At the last minute, weather conditions prevented Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop from flying to New York, requiring Hackett and Murray to fill in without a rehearsal. The event was a Carnegie Hall tribute for Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. on January 27, 1961, a benefit for King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. (Photo by Bill Mark)Frank Sinatra acknowledging applause from the audience at a Carnegie Hall tribute for Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. on January 27, 1961, a benefit for King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Photo by Bill Mark)
Frank Sinatra at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall’s performance history database covers more than 50,000 concerts and events that occurred at Carnegie Hall from its opening in 1891 to the present. Explore events related to Frank Sinatra (these links will open in a new tab with the performance history search tools):