Sinatra Collapses Onstage, Is in Hospital Briefly

Legendary entertainer Frank Sinatra walked out of a Richmond, Va., hospital early this morning, two hours after he was wheeled into the emergency room following his collapse onstage as he was singing “My Way” during a concert.

“Frank Sinatra became overheated and passed out for a few moments onstage,” his publicist, Susan Reynolds, had said earlier. “Mr. Sinatra’s vital signs are stable, he is talking and he is alert.”

Doctors performed some tests before the 78-year-old Sinatra left the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, a hospital spokesman said. He was driven off by limousine to the airport, where an airport police officer said he departed in his private plane. A band member said Sinatra had earlier planned to return to California.

Hours before, Sinatra waved weakly and blew a kiss to the crowd as he was taken offstage in a wheelchair, concert-goers said.

“It took 10 years off my life,” said his son, Frank Jr., who was conducting the orchestra as his father fell onstage.

“It was a terrible shock when it happened, but it looks pretty good,” he said of the diagnosis. He said his father was conscious while at the hospital and discussed his condition with medical personnel. Frank Jr. said doctors are trying to determine whether his father became dehydrated under the hot stage lights.

Originally, Sinatra was to have stayed overnight at the hospital for observation. He was wheeled into the emergency room on a gurney as he arrived at the hospital about 10:20 p.m. Richmond time.

Sinatra had been nearing the end of the performance and was in the last verses of his trademark “My Way” when he fell off a stool and hit his head on a stage speaker, according to drummer Gregg Field, who was about five feet from the singer when he collapsed.

“I think he just fainted,” Field said. “He was very warm on stage, sweating real hard. It was hotter than hell in there.”

Sinatra had complained about the heat earlier in his performance at the historic Richmond Mosque, where he was giving the second of two weekend shows, Field said.

He had launched into “My Way” when, according to Field, “he said, ‘Boy, get me a chair. I’m feeling faint.’ ” Frank Jr., who was conducting the orchestra, went for a chair. Sinatra, who was already sitting on a stool, started to rise, then collapsed and his face hit the speaker, witnesses said.

Paramedics were on the stage immediately to help him, while the audience stood and watched in silence, Field said. He said Sinatra was coherent by the time paramedics tried to give him oxygen.

“He said: ‘Get that thing away from me. I don’t need it,’ ” Field said. “They put him in a wheelchair and he waved to the audience and blew a kiss.”

Sinatra, who has been performing for nearly six decades, was in New York last week to accept a Grammy legends honor at the music awards Tuesday night. He was to perform in Hershey, Pa., later in the week, but those shows were canceled because the entertainer was stranded in New York by a snowstorm, Field said.

But Sinatra made it to Richmond, where his Saturday and Sunday performances sold out the 3,667-seat theater, officials said.

Field said orchestra members were told that Sinatra was still planning to go ahead with concerts planned later this month in Oklahoma, Illinois and Nebraska.

Sinatra, who has made more than 100 albums, released “Duets” last fall, and it reached the top 10 in the Billboard charts. He also has appeared in 58 feature films, including “From Here to Eternity,” which won him an Oscar.

Theater worker Jody Hunsaker said Sinatra had looked fine when she watched him sing “Luck Be a Lady” earlier in the concert.

“He sounded wonderful,” Hunsaker said.

“It was a great show,” Field said. “It was one of our best in a long time.”