Artists only get one opportunity to name their debut album, and it’s a decision that requires considerable thought. The late Amy Winehouse took a timeless approach with her first offering, Frank, which was named after one of her ultimate heroes, the great Frank Sinatra.

Similarly to Winehouse, Sinatra wasn’t a perfect person or a role model, but he could evoke emotion through songs like nobody else in his generation. According to her father, Mitch, his music was a constant part of Amy’s life for as long as he could remember. Therefore, it made perfect sense for the singer to dedicate her debut to the crooner.

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During an interview with Digital Spy, Mitch revealed that Sinatra’s version of ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ was his daughter’s favourite song as a child. He emotionally revealed: “This was a very special song for Amy because she and I used to sing it together or ‘duet’ it when she was a child – although we never really managed to get it off pat. When she was around two years old, and was first beginning to talk, I’d sing ‘Fly me to the…’, and I’d leave the word ‘moon’ out, and then she’d sing ‘MOON’ in the gap. She loved that song.”

Mitch added: “Whenever she got chastised at school, she would always sing ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ – before she went up to the headmistress to be told off, she’d be singing the song because it cheered her up. It was a very special song for her.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with Paul Du Noyer for The Word in 2004, Winehouse confirmed that Frank was a nod to her hero. It also referenced a lyric from her track, ‘Take The Box’. In the song, Winehouse details her split from her partner and placing his Frank Sinatra CD into his box of belongings.

“Yes,” she said about the album title. Winehouse explained: “When I say ‘Frank’s in there and I don’t care,’ that is literally a Frank Sinatra CD. He bought me it for Christmas and I was putting all his stuff in a box, like his T-shirt that I used to sleep in. He bought me Frank Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours – ironically, cos it’s one of the classic heartbreak albums of all time. Frank as a title for the album is a good word, It is frank… Dunno. Maybe with more time I would have come up with a better title.”

Interestingly, during the same interview, Winehouse explained how Sinatra wasn’t technically the most gifted singer and was an “arsehole”. However, despite that, Amy felt a strong, unwavering affinity toward the New Jersey native. She commented: “Sinatra had an emotional connection with music. That was his thing. He had the tone in his voice. But singers? I know a hundred singers that piss on Frank. And musicians. And just as a person: he was an arsehole. But he had an emotional connection to songs that touched everyone, women, men, soldiers.”

Initially, upon release, Frank was a commercial failure. However, over time, the record gradually gained traction and parachuted Winehouse into superstardom. The title was a fitting tribute to the artist responsible for Winehouse falling in love with singing, an impact she replicated with her career.