I met Frank Sinatra a couple of times. I met him once when I was a kid and he patted me on the head. I was about 8 years old. I met him once when I was singing at his birthday party, for about a thousand people, I guess. It was a big concert where all these people sang, at the Beverly Hills Hilton. And then I met him at a dinner not long after that, when I asked Liza [Minnelli] if she would introduce me to him formally. And she did. She brought me and my then-girlfriend Jill to his table and he stood up from his meal and I introduced myself. He said, “I know who you are and appreciate what you’re doing.” I asked him a question about how he hit a high A-flat on “You Make Me Feel So Young.” At the time, it was out of my range, and we have a similar range. I was only 23 or 24. I said, “How did you hit that high A-flat?” And he kind of paused then said, “I just opened my mouth and it was there” (laughs). It was a very profound statement at the time, and it still is, really. It just makes you think how silly rules are. Just shut up and sing (laughs).
