Despite Their Feud, Frank Sinatra Still Looked Out for Elvis in His Final Years: “He’s Too Young To Die”

Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley were musical giants at the same time. Consequently, they had a bit of a competitive rivalry as they were the future of popular music. Even though they shared these things in common, their music could not have differed more. Frank Sinatra was a smooth-singing, jazzy pop singer who let his voice command the audience. Elvis used his voice, too, but as we all know, he used his hips and implemented sexually suggestive themes in his performances.

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Per Elvis’ lewd ways, Frank Sinatra described rock ‘n’ roll as “the most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression it has been my displeasure to hear,” per the 1957 book, Sinatra: The Chairman. Sinatra added, “It smells phony and false. It is sung, played, and written for the most part by cretinous goons and by means of its almost imbecilic reiterations of sly, lewd — in plain fact dirty — lyrics … manages to be the martial music of every sideburned delinquent on the face of the earth. This rancid-smelling aphrodisiac I deplore.”

While Sinatra did not single Elvis out, it was pretty clear that he was alluding to Elvis Presley. Presley replied to the comment by stating, “I admire that man, he has a right to say what he wants to say.” “He is a great success and a fine actor, but I don’t think he should have said it. He is mistaken about this. This is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago,” added Presley.

Frank Sinatra Ditched The Conflict for Compassion

Years later, and precisely two years before Elvis Presley died in 1977, Frank Sinatra ditched the resentment he had for his contemporary. That being so, when news came out that Presley’s life was in a downward spiral, Sinatra called him to offer a helping hand and provide him with some advice.

Chris Hitchens, Sinatra’s publicist, recalled what Sinatra said to Elvis when he gave him that phone call. According to Hitchens, Sinatra stated, “I told him he’s got to look after himself and quit fooling around. He’s too young to die, and I told him so,” per the Express.

During the time of this phone call, both Elvis and Sinatra were the kings of Las Vegas, as they both had residencies at casinos. It was during this period that Frank Sinatra seemed to toss aside his perspective on Elvis and gained the compassion to reach out to him two years before his death.

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