She began her career as a singer and actress in the early 1960s, initially with little success. In 1960, she married "teen idol" Tommy Sands but divorced him in 1965.

Her career peaked in the late 1960s with a string of pop music hits. Her best-known hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" - which popularized and made her synonymous with Go-Go boots - was written by Lee Hazlewood and included session drummer Hal Blaine and guitarist Billy Strange on the recording - as did most of her other hits. "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and the music video featuring shapely, young women in tight sweaters, go-go boots and mini-skirts is considered a classic example of high camp.

Sinatra had 21 singles that charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the mid- to late-1960s: "So Long, Babe" (1965 - #86); "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (1966 - #1); "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?" (1966 - #7); "Friday's Child" (1966 - #36); "In Our Time" (1966 - #46); "Sugar Town" (1966 - #5); "Summer Wine" with Lee Hazlewood (1967 - #49); "Somethin' Stupid" with Frank Sinatra (1967 - #1); "Love Eyes" (1967 - #15); "You Only Live Twice" (1967 - #44); "Jackson" with Lee Hazlewood (1967 - #14); "Lightning's Girl" (1967 - #24); "Lady Bird" with Lee Hazlewood (1967 - #20); "Tony Rome" (1967 - #83); "Some Velvet Morning" with Lee Hazlewood (1968 - #24); "100 Years" (1968 - #69); "Happy" (1968 - #74); "Good Time Girl" (1968 - #65); "God Knows I Love You" (1968 - #97); "Here We Go Again" (1969 - #98); "Drummer Man" (1969 - #98);

Her album, "Sugar," released in late 1966, was banned in Boston due to its cover image of Sinatra in a bikini.

"These Boots" has been covered by many artists such as Geri Halliwell, Dave Mustaine's Megadeth, Jessica Simpson, Lil' Kim, Little Birdy, Billy Ray Cyrus, and KMFDM.

Nancy also co-starred in a number of films, including Roger Corman's The Wild Angels with Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern, and Speedway with Elvis Presley, made guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and starred in a number of television specials, most notable among them the 1967 Emmy Award-winning special Movin' with Nancy, in which she appeared with her father and his Rat Pack pals Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.. In the 1970s, she slowed down her musical activity and ceased acting in order to concentrate on being a wife and mother. She returned to the studio in 1981 to record a country album with Mel Tillis called, "Mel & Nancy."

At the age of 54, she posed for Playboy in their May 1995 issue, released a new CD, One More Time, and made guest appearances on TV shows to promote the new material. The Playboy appearance caused a great deal of controversy and some complaints from her family. The pictorial was quite explicit with Nancy even showing pubic hair. Her father Frank reportedly became furious when someone told him that he had, "seen your daughter's pussy."

She has written two biographies about her father, Frank Sinatra: My Father and Frank Sinatra, An American Legend.

In 2003, one of her songs, a cover of the Sonny Bono-penned hit, "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)") was used in the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Vol. One. In 2005, the same song was sampled separately by the Audio Bullys and Radio Slave into dance tracks (renamed into "Shot You Down" and "Bang Bang", respectively) and by a song entitled "Bang Bang" by hip-hop artist Young Buck. Taking her father's advice when she began her recording career ("Own your own masters"), she owns or holds an interest in most of her material, including videos.

In 2004, she collaborated with Morrissey, recording a version of his top-ten hit, "Let Me Kiss You," which was featured on her eponymous album released in the fall of that year.

Nancy Sinatra will receive her own star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in May 2006.