Frank Sinatra Jr., who carried on his famous father's legacy with his own music career and whose kidnapping as a young man added a bizarre chapter to his father's legendary life, died Wednesday, March 16. He was 72, the Associated Press reports.

The younger Sinatra died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest while on tour in Daytona Beach, Florida, the Sinatra family said.

The statement, according to the AP, said the family mourns the untimely passing of their son, brother, father and uncle. No other details were provided.

His real name was Francis Wayne Sinatra — his father's full name was Francis Albert Sinatra — but he went professionally by Frank Sinatra Jr.

Sinatra Jr. followed his father into music as a teenager, eventually working for the senior Sinatra as his musical director and conductor. The elder Sinatra died of a heart attack May 14, 1998, at 82. Sinatra Jr. was able to provide a link to his father's music after his death, performing his songs and arrangements on tours and especially in Las Vegas.

When Sinatra Jr. was 19 in 1963, three men kidnapped him at gunpoint from a Lake Tahoe hotel. He was returned safely after two days when his family paid $240,000 for his release. Barry Keenan was arrested with the other two suspects, Johnny Irwin and Joe Amsler, and convicted of conspiracy and kidnapping. Keenan masterminded the kidnapping, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to life plus 75 years in prison, but was declared legally insane at the time of the crime, had his sentence reduced and was paroled in 1968 after serving 4 ½ years.

Sinatra Jr. had nearly two dozen TV and movie credits as an actor, including appearances on "The Love Boat" and "Marcus Welby, M.D." most recently providing his own voice for two episodes of "Family Guy."

He was scheduled to perform Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Florida, in a show featuring his father's songbook. The venue's website mentioned Sinatra Jr.'s death in canceling the show. He had other tour dates booked for May, September and October in the Midwest and East Coast.

Sinatra Jr. was married in 1998, but divorced in 2000. He is survived by a son, Michael.