Nancy Sinatra is best remembered for her 1966 hit “These Boots Were Made for Walkin’,” but her career has spanned far beyond that iconic song. The daughter of music legend Frank Sinatra, Nancy has spent decades in the entertainment world as a singer, actress, writer, radio host, and devoted mother and grandmother. She’s also dedicated much of her life to preserving her father’s legacy, while more recently her own daughters have helped keep her musical work alive.
Nancy is the eldest of Frank’s three children with his first wife, Nancy Barbato, and has a younger brother, Frank Jr., and sister, Tina. She first stepped into the spotlight appearing alongside her father on a TV special, but it was in the mid-’60s that she forged her own fame with a Swinging Sixties transformation: blonde hair, mini skirts, and go-go boots. “I was just about to go through a divorce,” she told The Independent in 2021. “I was 24 years old and in shock and I didn’t really know who I was. I was determined to change my image.” That reinvention helped launch her career to new heights.
A long-standing music career
Between 1966 and 1972, Nancy released seven solo albums, two collaborative albums with Lee Hazlewood, and a holiday record with her father and siblings. Beyond “These Boots Were Made for Walkin’,” she’s known for hits like “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” “Some Velvet Morning,” and the James Bond theme You Only Live Twice.
Her music output slowed in the 1970s, but she made a comeback with the 1995 album One More Time and has continued releasing music periodically. Her latest studio album, Shifting Gears, came out in 2013, followed by the 2021 compilation Start Walkin’ 1965–1976.
Acting ventures
Nancy’s acting career was brief but notable. She debuted in 1964’s For Those Who Think Young and appeared alongside Frank in Marriage on the Rocks (1965). Her last film of the ’60s was Speedway (1968) with Elvis Presley. More recently, she made a cameo as herself in the final season of The Sopranos in 2007.
Preserving her father’s legacy
Nancy has published two books about her father: Frank Sinatra, My Father (1985) and Frank Sinatra: An American Legend (1995). She also hosted the Sirius XM radio show Nancy for Frank on the Siriusly Sinatra station, which ran for 14 years before concluding in March 2021.
Family life
Nancy has two daughters, AJ and Amanda, from her second marriage to Hugh Lambert, who passed away in 1985. Through them, she’s now a grandmother. In a 2021 interview with The Independent, she revealed that her daughters helped compile her latest music collection. “I’m blessed to have two kids who care about my legacy,” she said. Reflecting on her long life and career, she told People, “I’m blessed to have been here this long. If I can be of help to people, that would be wonderful. I guess experience counts for something.”
