Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely: History and Key Facts

Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (also known as Sings for Only the Lonely or simply Only the Lonely) is the fifteenth studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra. It was released on September 8, 1958, through Capitol Records.

The album consists of a collection of torch songs, following a formula similar to Sinatra's previous albums In the Wee Small Hours (1955) and Where Are You? (1957).

According to John Rockwell's book, Sinatra: An American Classic, when asked at a party in the mid-1970s if he had a favorite album among his recordings, without hesitation, Sinatra chose Only the Lonely.

The album's front cover was painted by Nicholas Volpe, who won a Grammy Award for the painting. The painting features Sinatra as a sullen, Pagliacci-like clown. Sketched on the album's back cover is one of Sinatra's recurrent visual motifs: a lamppost.

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