You can learn a lot about a musician by their rider, the term for the list of pre or post-show dressing room requirements they present to tour venues. Bon Jovi allegedly requested an urn of homemade, low-fat chicken noodle soup, while Billy Idol specified the need for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. When it comes to Frank Sinatra, Lifesaver candies were apparently an instrumental part of his pre-show routine.
The man affectionately known as Ol’ Blue Eyes, on tour at age 75, requested “12 rolls of cherry-flavored Lifesavers, 12 rolls of assorted-flavored Lifesavers, and 12 boxes of Luden’s cough drops in cherry and honey flavors,” according to a nearly 20-page document found by voice over artist Tom Brady via Forbes. Sounds like a generic ritual to keep the voice tip-top, right? Well, not so fast. It turns out that Sinatra was so attached to the candy, that the tradition continued upon his passing. When the legendary crooner was buried in 1998, it is said that he was accompanied by a bottle of bourbon, cigarettes, a lighter, a roll of change, and of course, a pack of cherry Lifesavers.
He’s not alone in the world of celebrities who can’t get enough of the hard candies. They’re a time-honored go-to for legendary scientist and entertainer Bill Nye. In an interview on YouTube, Nye shared that he considers the way the candy activates your brain a link to our primitive caveman forebears. Maybe he (and Sinatra before him) is truly onto something with this bite-size rings of fruity goodness.
More of Sinatra’s favorites
Of course, for a voice like Frank Sinatra’s, Lifesavers alone aren’t enough to keep the engine running. According to the artist’s 1991 rider document shared with Forbes, the rest of his pre-show rider included three cans of Campbell’s chicken and rice soup, along with a pot to cook it in, hot coffee, tea, and exactly 24 sodas. With that much liquid, both hot and cold, he could be sure that even into his mid-70s, the show did, in fact go on. Then there was the food: fruit, cheese and crackers, sandwiches galore, and one other sweet treat: Tootsie Rolls. And of course, no Sinatra request list would be complete without a booze cart. While he didn’t request his go-to cocktail, The Rusty Nail, on hand backstage, he did have Absolut vodka, Jack Daniels, scotch, gin, both red and white wine, and cognac, plus a carton of cigarettes. Simply put, there was something for everyone — and glasses for them, too.
Sinatra was well-known for his love of food and drink, with an iconic favorite steakhouse in Las Vegas and a predilection for a legendary New York City bar by the name of P.J. Clarke’s, but he also had a lesser-known sweet tooth. Rumor has it the crooner loved chocolate-covered apricots, sending his personal limo driver to Hoboken to pick them up from his favorite store from childhood. It is also said that he had an abiding affection for Entenmann’s crumb cake, with a standing order every week to make sure he never ran out.
