Editing Frank Sinatra (section)

=== 1970–1981: "Retirement" and return ===
[[File:Caesars Palace in 1970.jpg|thumb|left|[[Caesars Palace]] in 1970, where Sinatra performed from 1967 to 1970 and 1973 onwards]]
In 1970, Sinatra released ''[[Watertown (album)|Watertown]]'', a critically acclaimed concept album, with music by [[Bob Gaudio]] (of the Four Seasons) and lyrics by [[Jake Holmes]].{{sfn|Ingham|2005|p=216}} However, it sold a mere 30,000 copies that year and reached a peak chart position of 101.{{sfn|Knight|2010|p=260}} 

He left Caesars Palace in September of that year after an incident in which executive Sanford Waterman pulled a gun on him.{{efn|Sinatra was playing a high stakes [[Baccarat (card game)|baccarat]] at Caesars Palace in the early morning of September 6, 1970. Normal limits for the game are US$2,000 per hand; Sinatra had been playing for US$8,000 and wanted the stakes to be raised to US$16,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3360435/sinatra_confrontation_at_caesars/|title=At Gunpoint Sinatra Ousted|work=The Odessa American ([[Odessa, Texas]])|date=September 7, 1970|page=11|access-date=October 6, 2015|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=October 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006191252/http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3360435/sinatra_confrontation_at_caesars/|url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref> When Sinatra began shouting, hotel executive Sanford Waterman came to talk with him. Witnesses said Waterman and Sinatra both made threats, and Waterman pointed a gun at Sinatra. Sinatra returned to Palm Springs without completing his three-week engagement. Waterman was arrested<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3360441/sinatra_confrontation_at_caesars_2/|title=Caesars Palace Boss Arrested for Pulling Gun on Sinatra|work=The Evening Times ([[Sayre, Pennsylvania]])|date=September 8, 1970|page=5|access-date=October 6, 2015|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=October 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006185830/http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3360441/sinatra_confrontation_at_caesars_2/|url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref> but not prosecuted.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3360451/sinatra_confrontation_at_caesars/|title=No Charges Will be Filed in Sinatra Gun Incident|work=The Bridgeport Telegram ([[Bridgeport, Connecticut]])|date=September 17, 1970|page=45|access-date=October 6, 2015|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=October 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006181635/http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3360451/sinatra_confrontation_at_caesars/|url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref>}} He performed several charity concerts with Count Basie at the [[Royal Festival Hall]] in London.{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=307}} On November 2, 1970, Sinatra recorded the last songs for Reprise Records before his self-imposed retirement,{{sfn|Ackelson|1992|p=415}} announced the following June at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Retirement Isn't The Life For Francis Albert|first=Laura|last=Deni|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35|date=November 24, 1973|page=35|issn=0006-2510|access-date=October 20, 2015|archive-date=April 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429140515/https://books.google.com/books?id=EwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35|url-status=live}}</ref> He gave a "rousing" performance of "That's Life", and finished the concert with a [[Matt Dennis]] and Earl Brent song, "Angel Eyes" which he had recorded on the ''Only the Lonely'' album in 1958.<ref>Sinatra The Chairman James Kaplan pages 845–46</ref> He sang the last line. "'Scuse me while I disappear." The spotlight went dark, and he left the stage.{{Sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=223}} 

He told ''LIFE'' journalist [[Thomas Thompson (American author)|Thomas Thompson]] that "I've got things to do, like the first thing is not to do {{em|anything}} at all for eight months{{nbsp}}... maybe a year",{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=191}} while Barbara Sinatra later said that Sinatra had grown "tired of entertaining people, especially when all they really wanted were the same old tunes he had long ago become bored by".{{sfn|Sinatra|2011|p=102}} Around this time, Sinatra designed ''Villa Maggio'', a holiday home and retreat near [[Palm Desert]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pitcher |first1=Greg |title=Frank Sinatra's Californian desert hideaway, with three houses, helipad and parking for 24 cars on sale for £3.4m |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/celebrity-homes/frank-sinatra-villa-maggio-california-desert-house-for-sale-b1125551.html |website=Evening Standard |date=December 12, 2023 |access-date=27 December 2023}}</ref> While he was in retirement, President [[Richard Nixon]] asked him to perform at a Young Voters Rally in anticipation of the upcoming campaign. Sinatra obliged and chose to sing "My Kind of Town" for the rally held in Chicago on October 20, 1972.{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=231}}

[[File:Frank Sinatra Standing with President Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon, and President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic Giulio Andreotti.jpg|thumb|Sinatra with President [[Richard Nixon]] and Italian Prime Minister [[Giulio Andreotti]] in 1973]]
In 1973, Sinatra came out of his short-lived retirement with a television special and album. The album, entitled ''[[Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back]]'',{{Sfn|Knight|2010|p=260}} arranged by Gordon Jenkins and [[Don Costa]],{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=224}} was a success, reaching number 13 on ''Billboard'' and number 12 in the UK.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Jazzmen Favor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA26|date=November 24, 1973|page=26|issn=0006-2510|access-date=October 20, 2015|archive-date=April 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426205643/https://books.google.com/books?id=EwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA26|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Sfn|Gillett|1978|p=438}} The television special, ''[[Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra]]'', reunited Sinatra with [[Gene Kelly]]. 

He initially developed problems with his vocal cords during the comeback due to a prolonged period without singing.{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=233}} That Christmas, he performed at the [[Sahara Hotel]] in Las Vegas,{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=234}} and returned to Caesars Palace the following month in January 1974.{{sfn|Kelley|1986|p=436}} He began what Barbara Sinatra describes as a "massive comeback tour of the United States, Europe, the Far East, and Australia."{{sfn|Sinatra|2011|p=135}} In July, while on a second tour of Australia,{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=237}} he caused an uproar by describing journalists there{{snd}}who were aggressively pursuing his every move and pushing for a press conference{{snd}}as "bums, parasites, fags, and buck-and-a-half hookers."{{sfn|Sinatra|2011|p=136}} After he was pressured to apologize, Sinatra instead insisted that the journalists apologize for "fifteen years of abuse I have taken from the world press." Union actions canceled concerts and grounded Sinatra's plane, essentially trapping him in Australia.{{sfn|Kelley|1986|p=464}} 

Sinatra's lawyer, Mickey Rudin, arranged for Sinatra to issue a written conciliatory note and a final concert that was televised to the nation.{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=238}} In October 1974, he appeared at New York City's [[Madison Square Garden]] in a televised concert that was later released as an album under the title ''[[The Main Event&nbsp;– Live]]''. Backing him was bandleader [[Woody Herman]] and the Young Thundering Herd, who accompanied Sinatra on a European tour later that month.{{Sfn|Ackelson|1992|p=416}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Heritage Auctions Music and Entertainment Auction Catalog #696 – The Jilly Rizzo Estate Archive|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ko8xoiFxZwC&pg=PA46|date=September 1, 2008|publisher=Heritage Capital Corporation|isbn=978-1-59967-288-5|page=46|access-date=October 20, 2015|archive-date=April 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429114219/https://books.google.com/books?id=1ko8xoiFxZwC&pg=PA46|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1975, Sinatra performed in concerts in New York with Count Basie and [[Ella Fitzgerald]], and at the [[London Palladium]] with Basie and [[Sarah Vaughan]], and in Tehran [[Frank Sinatra: Live at Aryamehr Stadium|at Aryamehr Stadium]], giving 140 performances in 105 days.{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=245}} In August he held several concerts at [[Lake Tahoe]] together with the newly risen singer [[John Denver]],<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Denver-Sinatra Superb Contrast at Lake Tahoe|first=Eliot|last=Tiegel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1|date=August 16, 1975|page=1|issn=0006-2510|access-date=October 20, 2015|archive-date=April 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429140104/https://books.google.com/books?id=aBEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Sfn|Fleischer|1976|p=46}} who became a frequent collaborator.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chilton, Martin|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/9972507/John-Denver-gets-a-modern-makeover.html|title=John Denver gets a modern makeover|work=The Telegraph|date=April 6, 2006|access-date=October 1, 2015|archive-date=October 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006002803/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/9972507/John-Denver-gets-a-modern-makeover.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Sinatra had recorded Denver's "[[Leaving on a Jet Plane]]" and "[[My Sweet Lady]]" for ''[[Sinatra & Company]]'' (1971),{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=1171}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sinatra-company-mw0000318860|title=Sinatra & Company|website=AllMusic|access-date=October 8, 2015|archive-date=October 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012081944/http://www.allmusic.com/album/sinatra-company-mw0000318860|url-status=live}}</ref> and according to Denver, his song "A Baby Just Like You" was written at Sinatra's request for his new grandchild, Angela.{{sfn|Denver|2002|p=28}} 

During the Labor Day weekend held in 1976, Sinatra was responsible for reuniting old friends and comedy partners Dean Martin and [[Jerry Lewis]] for the first time in nearly twenty years, when they performed at the "[[Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon]]".{{Sfn|Moser|2011|p=1959}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/jerry-lewis-telethon-ends-decades-long-run-mda-article-1.2207512|title=Jerry Lewis telethon ends decades-long run, fundraising awareness for Muscular Dystrophy Association|work=Daily News|date=May 2, 2015|access-date=October 1, 2015|archive-date=October 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002055339/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/jerry-lewis-telethon-ends-decades-long-run-mda-article-1.2207512|url-status=live}}</ref> That year, the [[New York Friars Club|Friars Club]] selected him as the "Top Box Office Name of the Century", and he was given the Scopus Award by the American Friends of the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] in Israel and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the [[University of Nevada, Las Vegas|University of Nevada]].{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=245}}

Sinatra continued to perform at Caesars Palace in the late 1970s and was performing there in January 1977 when his mother Dolly died in a plane crash on the way to see him.{{sfnm|1a1=Goldstein|1y=1982|1p=123|2a1=Turner|2y=2004|2p=173}}<ref name="mdtgsi">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CPpLAAAAIBAJ&pg=4998%2C1870220 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Mother's death grieves Sinatra |date=January 10, 1977 |page=2 |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=October 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030014853/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CPpLAAAAIBAJ&pg=4998%2C1870220 |url-status=live }}</ref> He canceled two weeks of shows and spent time recovering from the shock in Barbados.{{sfn|Sinatra|2011|p=201}} In March, he performed in front of [[Princess Margaret]] at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in London, raising money for the [[National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children]].{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=261}} On March 14, he recorded with Nelson Riddle for the last time, recording the songs "[[Linda (1946 song)|Linda]]", "Sweet Lorraine", and "Barbara".{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=192}} The two men had a major falling out and later patched up their differences in January 1985 at a dinner organized for Ronald Reagan when Sinatra asked Riddle to make another album with him. Riddle was ill at the time and died that October before they had a chance to record.{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=200}}

In 1978, Sinatra filed a $1{{nbsp}}million lawsuit against a land developer for using his name in the "Frank Sinatra Drive Center" in West Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3405266/sinatra_sues_for_1_million/|title=Sinatra Sues for $1 Million|work=The Sanbernardino Sun ([[San Bernardino, California]])|date=January 21, 1978|page=17|access-date=October 12, 2015|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=January 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127052824/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3405266/sinatra_sues_for_1_million/|url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref> During a party at Caesars in 1979, he was awarded the [[Grammy Trustees Award]], while celebrating 40 years in show business and his 64th birthday.{{sfn|Kelley|1986|p=505}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/trustee-awards | title=Trustees Award | publisher=[[Grammy Award|Grammy.org]] | access-date=October 1, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002091150/https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/trustee-awards | archive-date=October 2, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> That year, former President [[Gerald Ford]] awarded Sinatra the [[American Biographical Institute|International Man of the Year Award]],{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=309}} and he performed in front of the [[Egyptian pyramids]] for [[Anwar Sadat]], which raised more than $500,000 for [[Jehan Sadat|Sadat's wife]]'s charities.{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=261}}

In 1980, Sinatra's first album in six years was released, ''[[Trilogy: Past Present Future]]'', a highly ambitious triple album that features an array of songs from both the pre-rock and rock eras.<ref name="Trilogy">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/trilogy-past-present-future-mw0000197932/awards|title=Trilogy: Past, Present & Future&nbsp;– Awards|website=AllMusic|access-date=October 4, 2015|archive-date=October 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007140105/http://www.allmusic.com/album/trilogy-past-present-future-mw0000197932/awards|url-status=live}}</ref> It was the first studio album of Sinatra's to feature his touring pianist at the time, Vinnie Falcone, and was based on an idea by [[Sonny Burke]].{{sfn|Granata|2003|pp=192–193}} The album garnered six [[Grammy]] nominations{{nbsp}}– winning for best liner notes{{nbsp}}– and peaked at number 17 on ''Billboard''{{'}}s album chart,<ref name="Trilogy" /> and spawned yet another song that would become a signature tune, "[[Theme from New York, New York]]".{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=192}} 

That year, as part of the Concert of the Americas, he performed in the [[Maracanã Stadium]] in [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil, which broke records for the "largest live paid audience ever recorded for a solo performer".{{sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=310}} The following year, Sinatra built on the success of ''Trilogy'' with ''[[She Shot Me Down]]'', an album that was praised for embodying the dark tone of his Capitol years.<ref name="She Shot Me Down">"[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r26337|pure_url=yes}} ''She Shot Me Down'']. AllMusic. Retrieved November 28, 2006.</ref> Also in 1981, Sinatra was embroiled in controversy when he worked a 10-day engagement for $2{{nbsp}}million in [[Sun City, North West|Sun City]], in the internationally unrecognized [[Bophuthatswana]], breaking a cultural boycott against apartheid-era South Africa. President [[Lucas Mangope]] awarded Sinatra with the highest honor, the Order of the Leopard, and made him an honorary tribal chief.{{sfn|Lamb|2011|p=328}}