The Greatest Oldies Music

Oldies Musics

Frank Sinatra Reveals Secrets of Dean Martin’s Heavy Drinking — The Act, The Truth, The Grief

Dean Martin was the epitome of smooth charm — a walking, talking advertisement for the good life. Onstage and on television, it always seemed like happy hour in Dean’s world, and everyone was invited to join the party with a scotch on the rocks in hand.

But was the legendary crooner really as intoxicated as his public image suggested?

The Birth of the “Drunk” Persona

Dean Martin first rose to fame in the late 1940s and early 1950s as the straight man in the wildly popular comedy duo Martin & Lewis, alongside Jerry Lewis. After the duo split in 1956, Dean pivoted to a successful solo career as a singer and entertainer.

By the time he took the stage in Las Vegas, Martin had crafted his signature persona — the charming, slightly tipsy crooner who didn’t seem to take life too seriously. His act was filled with quick one-liners and self-deprecating jokes about drinking:

“I don’t drink anymore. I freeze it and eat it like a popsicle.”

“You’re not really drunk if you can still lay on the floor without holding on.”

His casual, glass-in-hand style helped make him one of Vegas’ top draws and later fueled the success of The Dean Martin Show on NBC from 1965 to 1974.

Was It Real or Just an Act?

While Martin’s image as a lovable, half-buzzed crooner became legendary, his family and close friends claim it was mostly an act.

  • Deana Martin, his daughter, shared with the Los Angeles Times that the glass in his hand often contained apple juice, not whiskey. Offstage, Dean was a calm, loving, and reserved man who enjoyed just one cocktail at home with his wife.

  • Ricci Martin, his son, echoed this, saying he never once saw his father drunk and that the onstage persona was carefully crafted showmanship.

  • Jerry Lewis, his longtime comedy partner, insisted that Dean’s drinking was mostly for show — until the tragic death of Dean’s son, Dean Paul Martin, in 1987. After that, Jerry said, Dean became more withdrawn and started drinking more heavily in private.

The Friends Who Knew Him Best

Even Frank Sinatra, his fellow Rat Pack member and friend, famously joked that if there were ever an Olympic drinking team, Dean would be the coach. But insiders knew that Dean’s real secret was his ability to balance performance and image, never letting the party consume his life — at least until later years.

A Legacy That Lives On

Dean Martin passed away on Christmas Day, 1995, at the age of 78. Though some of his records may not have endured as strongly as Sinatra’s, his effortless charm and unique vocal style have influenced generations of performers.

Behind the glass of “scotch” and the slurred jokes was a man who understood show business better than most: sometimes, the image is the act.

Video

Related Post

THEY WALKED ONSTAGE KNOWING IT WAS THE LAST TIME — AND NO ONE WAS READY FOR THE SILENCE THAT FOLLOWED. October 26, 2002. The Salem Civic Center felt more like a church than an arena as The Statler Brothers gathered for their final show after 40 years together. No scandal. No farewell drama. Just four men deciding it was time to go home. When Harold Reid stepped forward, the crowd expected humor. Instead, they saw tears. He looked at Don, Phil, and Jimmy — and the room understood. They sang “Amazing Grace.” No instruments. Just four voices holding each other for the last time. In the front row, a man in a faded 1975 concert shirt removed his hat and pressed it to his chest. He wasn’t just watching a band retire. He was watching his own youth step off the stage. The lights dimmed. The bus rolled away. They didn’t say goodbye to the music — they just stopped walking with it.

HE WALKED OFF STAGE LIKE ALWAYS — AND NEVER MADE IT HOME. On June 5, 1993, Conway Twitty finished a show in Missouri the way he always had—smiling, relaxed, nothing out of place. The crowd cheered. The band packed up. Backstage, he joked with the crew and said he’d call when he got home. Just another drive. Nothing dramatic. Somewhere between the fading stage lights and the dark stretch of highway, his heart chose a different ending. By morning, Nashville heard the quiet news. Sudden. Peaceful. Fans noticed something else. The radio felt heavier that day. Some voices disappear when the road goes silent. Conway’s didn’t. It stayed—in late-night stations, empty dance halls, and love songs that still feel like a goodbye waiting to be finished.

When word of Elvis Presley’s passing reached Bill Belew, the world seemed to halt mid-breath. He was far from home, moving through the noise of a Dallas market, when the message cut through everything. Without hesitation, he abandoned what he was doing and headed back, guided by an instinct he could not explain. He knew there would be one last responsibility waiting for him, one that would turn years of joy into a moment of farewell.

You Missed

Country

THE COWBOY WHO STARED DOWN THE REAPER Las Vegas, December 2023. The lights at Dolby Live were blinding, but a heavy silence hung over the crowd as the silhouette emerged. Toby Keith walked out. The audience gasped softly. The “Big Dog Daddy,” once an invincible tower of American muscle, looked shockingly different. His suit hung loosely on a frame ravaged by brutal chemotherapy. Stomach cancer had stolen his weight and his stamina, but it had made a fatal error: It couldn’t touch the defiant fire in his eyes. The Stars and Stripes guitar, once light as a feather in his hands, now weighed a ton. Yet, he strapped it on, standing tall like an old soldier refusing to kneel in his final trench. When the first chords of “Don’t Let the Old Man In” rang out, it ceased to be a concert. It became a war cry. Thousands wept openly watching a man standing on the edge of mortality, singing about refusing to let death in, with a voice that still thundered like a cannon. He wasn’t singing for applause. He was singing to hold onto his soul. In those haunting minutes, the Grim Reaper seemed to step back, out of sheer respect for the cowboy’s grit. Toby didn’t let the “Old Man” in that night. He rode off into the sunset on his own terms: Loud, proud, and unbowed.

Country

THEY TOLD HIM TO SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP. HE STOOD UP AND SANG LOUDER. He wasn’t your typical polished Nashville star with a perfect smile. He was a former oil rig worker. A semi-pro football player. A man who knew the smell of crude oil and the taste of dust better than he knew a red carpet. When the towers fell on 9/11, while the rest of the world was in shock, Toby Keith got angry. He poured that rage onto paper in 20 minutes. He wrote a battle cry, not a lullaby. But the “gatekeepers” hated it. They called it too violent. Too aggressive. A famous news anchor even banned him from a national 4th of July special because his lyrics were “too strong” for polite society. They wanted him to tone it down. They wanted him to apologize for his anger. Toby looked them dead in the eye and said: “No.” He didn’t write it for the critics in their ivory towers. He wrote it for his father, a veteran who lost an eye serving his country. He wrote it for the boys and girls shipping out to foreign sands. When he unleashed “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” it didn’t just top the charts—it exploded. It became the anthem of a wounded nation. The more the industry tried to silence him, the louder the people sang along. He spent his career being the “Big Dog Daddy,” the man who refused to back down. In a world of carefully curated public images, he was a sledgehammer of truth. He played for the troops in the most dangerous war zones when others were too scared to go. He left this world too soon, but he left us with one final lesson: Never apologize for who you are, and never, ever apologize for loving your country.

Country

TWO YEARS LATER — AND THE SMILES STILL REMAIN . It’s been two years since the world said goodbye to Toby Keith — and while the loss still lingers, so does the energy he left behind. Toby wasn’t a quiet presence. He was laughter in a loud room, music turned up past midnight, and songs that felt like shared memories the moment they played. His voice still lives where it always belonged — in crowded bars, long drives, backyard gatherings, and stories passed from one fan to another. People don’t just remember him; they relive him every time a chorus rises and strangers sing together like old friends. That’s the real legacy he left: connection. The freedom to be honest, to feel deeply, to celebrate life even when it wasn’t perfect. Today isn’t only about missing him. It’s about pressing play again — letting the music carry the memories forward. Which Toby Keith song brings back your happiest memory — and where were you the first time you heard it?

Country Oldies Musics

THEY WALKED ONSTAGE KNOWING IT WAS THE LAST TIME — AND NO ONE WAS READY FOR THE SILENCE THAT FOLLOWED. October 26, 2002. The Salem Civic Center felt more like a church than an arena as The Statler Brothers gathered for their final show after 40 years together. No scandal. No farewell drama. Just four men deciding it was time to go home. When Harold Reid stepped forward, the crowd expected humor. Instead, they saw tears. He looked at Don, Phil, and Jimmy — and the room understood. They sang “Amazing Grace.” No instruments. Just four voices holding each other for the last time. In the front row, a man in a faded 1975 concert shirt removed his hat and pressed it to his chest. He wasn’t just watching a band retire. He was watching his own youth step off the stage. The lights dimmed. The bus rolled away. They didn’t say goodbye to the music — they just stopped walking with it.