BONO'S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD SPEECH for FRANK SINATRA
1994 GRAMMY AWARDS

Frank never did like rock 'n' roll. And he's not crazy about guys wearing earrings either, but hey, he doesn't hold it against me. And anyway, the feeling's not mutual. Rock 'n' roll people love Frank Sinatra because Frank Sinatra has got what we want - swagger and attitude. He's big on attitude, serious attitude, bad attitude; Frank's the chairman of the bad. Rock 'n' roll plays at being tough, but this guy's... well, he's the Boss, The Boss of Bosses, The Man, Big Daddy, The Big Bang of Pop - I'm not gonna mess with him, are you?

Who is this guy that every city in America wants to claim as their own? This painter who lives in the desert, this first-rate, first-take actor who makes other men poets, boxing clever with every word, talking like America, speedy, straight up, in the headlines, comin' thru with the big schtick, the aside, the quiet compliment, good cop/bad cop all in the same breath. You know his story because it's your story. Frank walks like America, cocksure. It's 1945. The US cavalry are trying to get their asses out of Europe, but they never really do. They are part of another kind of invasion. A.F.R. - American Forces Radio - broadcasting a music that will curl the stiff upper lip of England and the rest of the world paving the way for rock 'n' roll with jazz, Duke Ellington, the big band, Tommy Dorsey, and right out in front Frank Sinatra. His voice tight as a fist, opening only at the end of a bar not on the beat, over it, playing with it, splitting it, like jazz, man, like Miles Davis, turning on the right phrase in the right song, which is where he lives, where he lets go, and where he reveals himself. His songs are his home and he lets you in but you know. To sing like that, you gotta have lost a couple of fights to know tenderness and romance. You have to have had your heart broken.

People say Frank hasn't talked to the press. They want to know how he is, what's on his mind. But y'know, Sinatra is out there more nights than most punk bands, selling his story through the songs, telling and articulate in the choice of those songs, private thoughts on a public address system, generous - this is the conundrum of Frank Sinatra. Left and right brain hardly talking, boxer and painter, actor and singer, lover and father, troubleshooter and troublemaker, bandman and loner, the champ who would rather show you his scars than his medals. He may be putty in Barbara's hands but I'm not gonna mess with him, are you?

Ladies and Gentleman, are you ready to welcome a man heavier than the Empire State, more connected than the Twin Towers, as recognizable as the Statue of Liberty, and living proof that God is a Catholic. Will you welcome the king of New York City - FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA.