The Campbell's Soup That All Of Frank Sinatra's Dressing Rooms Came Stocked With

By 1991, Frank Sinatra was starting on the seventh decade of his storied career, and as an established megastar, he could pretty much ask for anything he wanted. A document from his tour that year lists a number of items he requested for his dressing room. These included cherry LifeSavers candy, an assortment of requested simple sandwiches (chicken salad, egg salad, and ham and cheese), and two dozen cans and bottles of Coke (six regular and 18 diet). He also asked for another decidedly non-gourmet item: three cans of Campbell's chicken and rice soup.

This isn't the first brush with celebrity for this particular brand and variety of soup — chicken and rice, along with 31 other cans, was depicted in Andy Warhol's 1962 painting "Campbell's Soup Cans." It seems that Sinatra didn't ask for the soup cans as window dressing, though, but actually intended to consume the contents. Among the other items on his dressing room wish list was a slow cooker for warming, along with a ladle for serving and bowls and spoons for eating.

Consuming soup before a performance may have been something Frank Sinatra did to warm up his vocal cords, or perhaps he just liked the taste. On several occasions, however, he may have had cause to regret this choice. One time, he dined at Camille's on Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, and ordered the Italian wedding soup that's said to have been a favorite of his. It caused him to burp onstage, although he not only excused himself politely but also gave the restaurant a plug while doing so.

On another occasion, a 1982 Caesars Palace Sinatra appearance was also interrupted by an untimely belch. Again, the crooner credited the restaurant where he'd just enjoyed a meal, an establishment called Villa d'Este (which was succeeded by the still-open Piero's Italian Cuisine). While he didn't specifically mention a soup, one of his favorite dishes at that establishment was pasta e fagioli, which is made with gas-producing legumes such as cannellini or pinto beans. (Sinatra's lucky to have gotten off with a burp when you consider the malodorous alternative.) With this track record, it's no wonder he'd switched to a safer soup by the '90s. Campbell's canned chicken and rice may not be the most exciting of soups, but at least it's free of ingredients known for repeating.