Frank Sinatra^†

His publicist George Evans reportedly paid girls $5 each to scream at his early concerts, and the strategy worked so well that when Sinatra played the Paramount Theatre in January 1943, the resulting hysteria was only partly manufactured. He'd spent years singing for Tommy Dorsey's orchestra, where he absorbed the bandleader's trombone phrasing to shape his own breath control. By 1942, he was already earning over a million dollars a year. His career fell apart in the early 1950s, a professional collapse that ended only when he campaigned hard for the role of Maggio in From Here to Eternity, winning the 1953 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and pulling off one of the more unlikely second acts in entertainment.

He died with a reputation intact that almost nobody manages to hold for six decades. His 1993 Duets album, a late-career experiment recording separately from a lineup of contemporary stars, went triple platinum and hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts, his biggest-selling album ever. He refused to play segregated venues when it still cost you work, and kept a public friendship with Sammy Davis Jr. at a time when the Rat Pack's social circle was already controversial. Miles Davis reportedly cited his vocal phrasing as an influence on his trumpet playing. The New York Times called him 'the first modern pop superstar' in a description that still holds up as the most precise thing anyone has said about him.

He was born in a difficult delivery that required forceps, and the resulting scars on his face and neck gave him the teenage nickname 'Scarface.' He wore stage makeup throughout his career to hide them and reportedly hated being photographed from his left side. After his son Frank Jr. was kidnapped in 1963 and released after a ransom was paid, he carried a roll of dimes everywhere for the rest of his life in case he needed a payphone fast. He was buried with a bottle of Jack Daniels, a pack of Lucky Strikes, and that same roll of dimes.

He died the same night as the Seinfeld series finale, and the Empire State Building was lit blue in tribute. His funeral at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills drew 400 mourners; Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck delivered eulogies, while Tony Bennett and Sidney Poitier lined the steps as an honor guard. Bob Dylan issued a statement that day. His original headstone at Desert Memorial Park read 'The Best Is Yet to Come.'