# why was Sinatra called "the chairman of the board?"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-sinatra-called-the-chairman-of-the-board/240779>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 19, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-sinatra-called-the-chairman-of-the-board/240779 "2004-04-19T04:51:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-sinatra-called-the-chairman-of-the-board/240779/1 "2004-04-19T04:51:38Z")

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The title says it all.

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**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-sinatra-called-the-chairman-of-the-board/240779/2 "2004-04-19T05:26:48Z")

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For much the same reason as Bruce Springsteen was called “The Boss” and Elvis Presley “The King”. he was thought at the time to be the best of the best.

We know better now, of course.

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**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-sinatra-called-the-chairman-of-the-board/240779/3 "2004-04-19T05:29:45Z")

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[Link](http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20001023.html)

He really was the Chairman of the Board of Reprise Records, and the title stuck outside the biz.

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**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-sinatra-called-the-chairman-of-the-board/240779/4 "2004-04-19T05:56:57Z")

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Because all the other members of the “Rat Pack” had to kiss his ass. 🆒

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**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-sinatra-called-the-chairman-of-the-board/240779/5 "2004-04-19T12:20:35Z")

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A guy I used to work with referred to Sinatra as “the Darth Vader of Swing.”