Canadian online dating service Ashley Madison's slogan, 'Life is short.
Have an affair', has been raising eyebrows and stirring up controversy since the site's
founding in 2002.
Without going into all of the ins and outs of the service, Ashley Madison's business
model centers around giving married individuals an easier way to commit infidelity.
Classy, right?
While you might assume that this rather cavalier perspective on cheating is a modern phenomenon,
it really isn't.
Actress and singer Nancy Sinatra, the daughter of Frank Sinatra, has been espousing this
same idea for years now.
When reflecting back on her storied life and career, the 81-year-old says that the only
regret she has in life was not being a 'bad girl' when she had the chance to be.
If she had a time machine and could go back and do things differently, she says that she
would have had more sex, not married as young as she did, and made it a point to get wrapped
in more affairs if possible.
Now typically, the older generation has been known to instruct younger individuals to do
quite the opposite, but Sinatra seems to have a very different perspective on life than
most people her age.
We'll get to that in a moment, so be sure to stick around.
Best known for her 1966 transatlantic number-one hit single 'These Boots Are Made For Walkin',
Nancy began her career as an entertainer starting with her November 1957 appearance on her father's
ABC variety show.
She went on to make numerous television and film appearances and recorded 14 tracks that
reached the Billboard Hot 100 – ten of which made the top 40.
Sinatra has since retired from the entertainment industry and is enjoying her golden years
in her beach house in Santa Monica, California.
Join Facts Verse as we take a closer look at Sinatra's rise to fame while discovering
the reasons why she wishes she had been more promiscuous in her prime.
More Than Just A Daddy's Girl
While Ol' Blue Eyes, Frank, will always reign supreme as the Sinatra that most people think
of, thanks to his daughter's 1966 hit single 'These Boots Are Made For Walkin', Nancy also
carved out a pretty decent name for herself.
Up until putting out that banger of a track, Nancy's career appeared to be jeopardized
by her father's success.
Frank cast an enormously large shadow, and those were some seriously large 'boots' to
fill.
Fortunately for her, Nancy's #1 song made her world-famous.
Not surprisingly, in order for Nancy to differentiate herself from her daddy's looming influence,
she had to take a similar approach as Miley Cyrus did when she was trying to prove that
she was more than just a former Disney brat who happened to be the daughter of Billy Ray.
Reportedly when she was recording 'These Boots', she was told to sing the song as if she were
a "sixteen-year-old girl" who sleeps with "truck drivers".
By tapping into that perceived 'bad girl' persona she was able to successfully make
a name for herself despite having one of the most recognized surnames on the planet at
the time.
Nancy Was Almost Dropped From Her Label
Even though she was working under the same label as her father - that being Reprise - Nancy
was very close to being dropped after her first few singles failed to chart.
Fortunately, things took a refreshing change for the better after she started working with
producer, Lee Hazlewood.
The duo's first song together, 'So Long Babe' ended up becoming a modest hit and basically
laid out a clear path that would allow 'These Boots' to become a landslide hit.
Even though Hazelwood tried to pass himself off as some kind of hard-nosed, country idiot,
he was, in fact, a highly-educated and talented guy who knew exactly what he was doing.
Knowing that there could be a beauty - and money - in simplicity, he often requested
that the musicians working on Nancy's albums employed what he called a 'dumb sound'.
By that, he meant he wanted them to be uncomplicated – especially the rhythm section, bass lines,
and guitar work.
When Hazlewood wrote 'These Boots are Made For Walkin', he initially intended to perform
the song on his own.
He wrote it several years before Nancy got a hold of it and thought of it as a party
song.
Nancy managed to convince him, however, that when a man sang it, it just sound 'harsh and
abusive', but when a young girl like herself sang it, it took on a whole new vibe.
When Hazlewood took his latest round of songs to Frank to get his thoughts on them, Frank
nonchalantly told him that the 'one about the boots' was the best.
Enjoying this video so far?
If so, take a second to give it a like and subscribe to the Facts Verse channel if you
haven't already.
Reprise Tried To Cheat Nancy
Even though the song ended up becoming a massive, international hit, Reprise still tried to
pull a fast one over on Nancy.
Hazlewood recalls a time that shortly after 'These Boots' was #1 in most of the world,
Nancy came over to his house crying and saying that the label hadn't picked up her option
and further claimed that she owed them 12 grand.
Hazlewood then called up his big-shot New York lawyer, and what do you you know, Reprise,
called Nancy up the following day offering her $1 million.
Fortunately, all it took was Hazlewood calling up his lawyer and Nancy having a chat with
her Dad for Reprise to agree to write her a new contract – which makes sense considering
the fact that she was selling FAR MORE records than even Frank was at that point in time.
Nancy Say's "These Boots" Didn't Represent Who She Was
Even though Nancy had become an overnight success story and ended up inspiring a whole
generation of women across the world to don a pair of go-go boots and a mini skirt, she
still had some regrets about doing the song.
In her 1985 memoir, Nancy would admit that the track didn't seem to fit her personality.
The persona that the song presented depicted her as 'hard', while she was admittedly as
'soft as they come'.
Nancy recalls that when she was in the studio recording the track, she first tried singing
it like the sweet young girl that she was.
After giving it a go, the producers instructed her to sing it 'Nasty' like she wasn't 'a
virgin anymore'.
Obviously, just like today, sex sells.
That's true even if you are the daughter of the 'chairman of the board'.
Another Regret – Don't Get Married Young
At the age of 20, Nancy Sinatra got married to fellow American pop singer and actor Tommy
Sands in 1960.
Five years later, the couple would divorce.
While she would later say that there was nothing wrong with Sands – she found him pretty
adorable and admired his talent – Nancy admits that they were simply too young to
get married.
In a 2021 interview with The Big Issue, the then-80-year-old aging star said that back
in those days, if you were a 'nice girl' like she was determined to be, and wanted to have
sex, then you got married.
Obviously getting married just to have sex is not really a winning formula for a successful
relationship.
In that same interview, Nancy said that her number one piece of advice for young people
is to not get married too young.
Instead of tying the knot when you're still a teen or in your early 20s, Nancy says that
young people should enjoy their youth while they still can.
While continuing their education and enriching their lives, Sinatra says that young people
should take time to have fun, explore who they are, and maybe even have an affair or
two, because as Ashley Madison loves to remind us, life is short.
Nancy Wishes She Had Been A 'Bad Girl'
Speaking with the Guardian in 2008, Sinatra said that being the daughter of Frank Sinatra
was 'more normal than you might expect'.
When she was a child, Frank was on the road most of the time traveling with his band.
Nancy first lived in an apartment in New Jersey, and since Frank had yet to hit it big, she
and her mother lived off very little money.
After Frank had become successful, she moved to a house in Jersey's Hasbrouck Heights.
Since the house's windows were accessible from the street, and Nancy's mother was afraid
of her baby being snatched up by some crazy person in the dark of the night, Frank moved
his family to Toluca Lake near Los Angeles where she spent the remainder of her childhood.
Despite being raised around Rat Packers and putting out that hit 1960s taboo-pushing hit
song, Sinatra was by her own account 'a good girl'.
Looking back on things, Nancy wishes she had tapped into the culture of the 60s just a
bit more and had the courage to be a 'bad girl'.
Instead, she got married like she felt like she was supposed to and took the 'safe' path.
To think that she was both the daughter of one of the most famous 'Bad Boys' in the world
and put out such a salaciously sexual song during arguably the most boundary-pushing
decade of the 20th century and still ended up refraining from indulging in the excesses
of the 'free love' generation is pretty crazy.
You can hear the tinge of regret in Nancy's voice whenever she talks about this.
Although she might have a few regrets over choices during her youth, Nancy Sinatra still
has one incomparable life story.
And with a net worth estimated at $50 million, she seems to have done pretty well for herself,
all things considered.
Do you agree with Nancy Sinatra's advice to young people to not get married too young?
And do you think that she would have found the same level of success as she did if she
hadn't been the daughter of Frank Sinatra?
Feel free to share your thoughts down in the comments.
Hopefully, you've enjoyed this video.
If so, take a moment to show us a little support by giving this video a like, subscribing to
the Facts Verse channel, and tapping that bell to turn on notifications.
That way, you can keep up with all of our latest and upcoming content without missing
a beat.
As always, thanks for watching.
We'll see you soon with more videos covering some of your favorite stars from yesteryear,
classic films, and beloved television shows.