Building on the buzz from Aleida’s hit blog last week about Jimmy Buffett’s musical will, we at Hull & Hull couldn’t resist spotlighting another estate-meets-music story.
Seth MacFarlane – best known for Family Guy, American Dad, and Ted (although The Orville is my favourite work) – has put on his musical hat once more with his album Lush Life: The Lost Sinatra Arrangements, released earlier this June. But this isn’t just another tribute – it’s a deep dive into vault recordings originally intended for Frank Sinatra himself.
Unlocking the Vault
Back in 2018, MacFarlane acquired an archive of previously unrecorded orchestral arrangements composed for Sinatra by legends like Nelson Riddle, Billy May, and Don Costa. These never-before-heard scores offered a rare glimpse into what might have been. The standout track is a never-used Riddle arrangement of “Lush Life,” crafted for Sinatra but shelved – until now .
With Joel McNeely producing and a 70-piece orchestra at Skywalker Sound, MacFarlane breathes life into these lost charts. It’s not pastiche – it’s evolution. As he told Esquire, new lyrics were crafted for “Arrivederci Roma,” and he described the experience of reanimating Sinatra’s vision: “It was chilling”.
The Estate’s Role
Behind the scenes, Frank Sinatra Enterprises LLC, established by the Sinatra family and Warner Music in 2007, oversees licensing and the artist’s legacy. The estate’s cooperation was essential, ensuring MacFarlane’s project secured both legal clearance and artistic imprimatur. Tina Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra, praised the effort: “Seth’s interest and knowledge of my father’s music is boundless”.
This release highlights how a celebrity estate can preserve and reintroduce a legacy in ways founders never anticipated. By treating master recordings and rights as estate assets, Sinatra’s estate continues generating cultural impact and income for future generations.
Seth MacFarlane isn’t just impersonating Sinatra – he’s resurrecting unreleased work through estate-approved stewardship. It’s a masterclass in how entertainers’ estates can keep their legacies alive (and lucrative) by managing IP strategically.
Lush Life isn’t only a musical gem – it’s a case study in how an estate, like Sinatra’s, can steward legacy assets decades after death. And in this case, the beneficiaries are both fans – and the family.
Do yourself a favour and give it a listen. It has already taken a prime spot on my Spotify playlist.
Boris