Paul Albert Anka, OC is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.
Anka became famous in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s with hit songs like "Diana", "Lonely
Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby".
He wrote such well-known music as the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
and one of Tom Jones's biggest hits, "She's a Lady", as well as the English lyrics for
Frank Sinatra's signature song, "My Way".
He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2005.
In 1983, he co-wrote the song "I Never Heard" with Michael Jackson.
It was retitled and released in 2009 under the name "This Is It".
An additional song that Jackson co-wrote with Anka from this 1983 session, "Love Never Felt
So Good", was since discovered and was released on Jackson's posthumous album Xscape in 2014.
The song was also released by Johnny Mathis in 1984.
Anka became a naturalized US citizen in 1990.
Early life Anka was born in Ottawa, Ontario.
His parents, Camelia and Andrew Emile "Andy" Anka, Sr., owned a restaurant called the Locanda.
They were both of Greek Orthodox Lebanese descent.
He sang with the St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church choir under the direction of Frederick
Karam, with whom he studied music theory.
He studied piano with Winnifred Rees.
He attended Fisher Park High School, where he was part of a vocal trio called the Bobby
Soxers.
Career Early success
Paul Anka recorded his first single, "I Confess", when he was 14.
In 1957 he went to New York City where he auditioned for Don Costa at ABC, singing what
was widely believed to be a lovestruck verse he had written to a former babysitter.
In an interview with NPR's Terry Gross in 2005, he stated that it was to a girl at his
church whom he hardly knew.
The song "Diana" brought Anka stardom as it rocketed to #1 on the Canadian and U.S. music
charts.
"Diana" is one of the best selling singles ever by a Canadian recording artist.
He followed up with four songs that made it into the Top 20 in 1958, including "It's Time
to Cry", which hit #4 and "(All Of a Sudden) My Heart Sings", which reached #15, making
him one of the biggest teen idols of the time.
He toured Britain, then Australia with Buddy Holly.
Anka also wrote "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" – a song written for Holly, which Holly
recorded just before he died in 1959.
Anka stated shortly afterward:
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" has a tragic irony about it now, but at least it will help look
after Buddy Holly's family.
I'm giving my composer's royalty to his widow – it's the least I can do.
Paul Anka's talent included the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Anka composed Tom Jones's biggest hit record, "She's a Lady", and wrote the English lyrics
to "My Way", Frank Sinatra's signature song.
In the 1960s Anka began acting in motion pictures as well as writing songs for them, most notably
the theme for the hit film The Longest Day, in which he made a cameo appearance as a US
Army Ranger.
For his film work he wrote and recorded one of his greatest hits, "Lonely Boy".
He also wrote and recorded "My Home Town", which was a #8 pop hit for him the same year.
He then went on to become one of the first pop singers to perform at the Las Vegas casinos.
In 1960 he appeared twice as himself in NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven.
In 1960, Anka signed with RCA Victor.
He bought the rights and ownership of his ABC-Paramount catalog in 1963, but like most
North American recording artists saw his career stalled by the British Invasion.
By the late 1960s, his career focused on adult contemporary and big-band standards, played
regularly in Las Vegas.
In the early 1970s he signed with Buddah Records.
After more than ten years without a top 25 hit record, he signed with United Artists
and in 1974 teamed up with Odia Coates to record the #1 hit, "(You're) Having My Baby".
The two would record two more duets that made it into the Top 10, "One Man Woman/One Woman
Man" and "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone", and the #15 duet "(I Believe) There's Nothing
Stronger Than Our Love".
In 1975 he recorded a jingle for Kodak written by Bill Lane and Roger Nichols called "Times
of Your Life".
It became so popular Anka recorded it as a full song, which peaked at #7 in the U.S.
pop chart in 1976.
The follow-up was another hit that Anka wrote for Sinatra, "Anytime", peaking at #33.
Anka's last Top 40 hit in the U.S. was in the summer of 1983: "Hold Me 'Til The Mornin'
Comes", which included backing vocals from then-Chicago frontman Peter Cetera; it hit
#2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart.
Comeback His 1998 album A Body of Work was his first
new U.S. studio release since Walk a Fine Line in 1983; vocalists and performers included
Celine Dion, Kenny G, Patti LaBelle, and Skyler Jett.
The album included a new version of "Hold Me 'Til the Morning Comes", once again performed
with Peter Cetera.
In 2005, his album of big-band arrangements of contemporary standards, Rock Swings, provided
a mainstream comeback of sorts that saw him awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in
Toronto.
On October 12, 2009, Anka stated that Michael Jackson's new release titled "This Is It"
was a collaborative effort between the two in 1983.
According to Anka, after recording the song, Jackson decided not to use it and the tune
was then recorded and released by Sa-Fire.
After Anka threatened to sue for credit and a share of royalties, the administrators of
Jackson's estate granted Anka 50% of the copyright.
An additional song that Jackson co-wrote with Anka from this 1983 session, "Love Never Felt
So Good", was discovered shortly thereafter.
His album Songs of December charted at #58 in Canada in November 2011.
Italy Already locally famous as a teenage idol for
his songs in English, Anka hit the Italian market with "Summer's Gone" in 1960; it was
released as "Dove Sei".
The record got immediate success, reaching #4 on Italian hit lists, opening a promising
foreign career.
Anka then underwent an intense collaboration with Italian musicians of the time, including
composer/director Ennio Morricone, singer/songwriter Lucio Battisti, and lyricist Mogol.
His official discography reports nine singles released by RCA Italy, but the Italian charts
list at least six other songs he interpreted or recorded in Italian.
His top hit was "Ogni giorno" which scored #1 in 1962, followed by "Piangerò per te"
and "Ogni volta", which reached both #2, in 1963 and 1964.
"Ogni volta" was sung by Anka during the Festival di Sanremo of 1964 and then sold more than
one million copies in Italy alone; it was also awarded a gold disc.
He returned to San Remo in 1968 with "La farfalla impazzita" by Battisti-Mogol.
On that occasion the same title was interpreted by Italian crooner Johnny Dorelli.
The pair of singers, however, were eliminated before the final stage of the competition.
Anka, maybe only coincidentally, left the Italian scene shortly thereafter.
In 2003 Anka came back with an exclusive concert in Bologna, organized by the Italian company
Mapei during the CERSAIE exhibition.
He recorded a version of "My Way" with alternate lyrics dedicated to the sponsor of the evening.
In 2006 he recorded a duet with 1960s Italian hitmaker Adriano Celentano, a new cover of
"Diana," with Italian lyrics by Celentano-Mogol and with singer/songwriter Alex Britti on
the guitar.
The song hit #3.
Other countries With less success than in Italy, Anka tried
the French market as well.
At least two songs by Anka with French lyrics are known: one reported by the Italian charts
and another reported by his official discography with Mireille Mathieu.
A single release in Japanese is also reported on his discography.
In 1993 he recorded a duet with Philippine singer Regine Velasquez entitled "It's Hard
to Say Goodbye", included in her album, Reason Enough.
This song was re-recorded several years later by Anka and Celine Dion and was included in
his album A Body of Work.
Personal life Anka was married to Anne de Zogheb, the daughter
of Lebanese diplomat Charles de Zogheb, from February 16, 1963, until 2001.
They met in 1962 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she was a fashion model on assignment
and under contract to the Eileen Ford Agency.
Zogheb, brought up in Egypt, is of English, Lebanese, French, Dutch and Greek descent.
The couple married the following year in a ceremony at Paris-Orly Airport.
She quit modelling after their second child was born.
They have five daughters: Amelia, Anthea, Alicia, Amanda, and Alexandra.
In 2008, Anka married his personal trainer, Anna Åberg, in Sardinia.
They divorced in 2010 and share custody of their son, Ethan.
Anna was featured in the Swedish TV show Svenska Hollywoodfruar.
In 1972, a street in Ottawa was named Paul Anka Drive.
In 1981, the Ottawa City Council named August 26 as "Paul Anka Day" to celebrate his quarter-century
in show business.
On September 6, 1990, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Anka has written an autobiography, My Way, co-written with David Dalton, with a foreword
by Paul Holmgren.
Acting career Anka's first acting role in a major film was
in a cameo as an army private in The Longest Day.
He also composed the title song to the movie.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he starred in such teen exploitation films as
Girls Town and Look in Any Window, in which he played a peeping tom.
He later played an Elvis-hating casino pit manager in 3000 Miles To Graceland and a yacht
broker in Captain Ron.
He guest-starred as a murder suspect in The Case of the Maligned Mobster.
In October 1995, he appeared in the episode Treehouse of Horror VI on The Simpsons.
He made a guest appearance as himself in the episode "Red's Last Day" on That '70s Show.
He made several appearances on the NBC TV series Las Vegas.
Other film and television appearances Anka was the subject of the 1962 National
Film Board of Canada documentary Lonely Boy, considered a classic work of cinema verite.
He wrote and performed songs in a 1985 Canadian children's Christmas cartoon, George and the
Christmas Star.
In American Idol's seasons 2 and 3, he made a special appearance and sang an adapted version
of "My Way" that mocked the format of the show, as well as participants, judges, and
the host.
The performance was praised as "One of the Best Moments in American Idol".
Popular culture In the mid-1980s, Anka was secretly recorded
while launching a tirade against his crew and band members, berating them for behavior
that he considered unprofessional.
When asked about it on the interview program Fresh Air, he referred to the person who did
the recording as a "snake we later fired".
The recording became widely known after being uploaded to the Internet and a number of quotes
from it have since become famous, including "The guys get shirts!"; "Don't make a maniac
out of me!"; and "Slice like a fucking hammer!".
Some of the quotes were reproduced verbatim by Al Pacino's character in the 2007 film
Ocean's Thirteen.
He was mentioned in the "Fish Licence" sketch in the tenth episode of Series 2 of Monty
Python's Flying Circus, which was first broadcast on December 1, 1970.
Dealing with a postal clerk who thought it absurd to give all of one's pets the same
name, Praline, countered that there was nothing wrong with it, citing Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
as an example.
To support his argument, he submitted as evidence an entry from the book "Kemal Ataturk, the
Man by E.W.
Swanton with a foreword by Paul Anka".
On Gilmore Girls, Lorelai Gilmore named her Polish Lowland Sheepdog after Anka.
Series co-creator Daniel Palladino chose the name after hearing the Rock Swings album at
a coffeehouse.
In the cold open to the episode The Real Paul Anka, both Paul Ankas were featured in a dream
sequence Lorelei describes to her daughter, Rory.
On That 70's Show, Paul Anka made a brief cameo in the episode 'Red's Last Day'.
Filmography Discography
Albums 1957: Diana
1958: You Are My Destiny 1958: Crazy Love
1959: Puppy Love 1959: Put Your Head on My Shoulder
1959: My Heart Sings 1959: I Miss You So
1959: Lonely Boy 1959: It's Time to Cry
1961: Tonight My Love, Tonight 1963: Three Great Guys
1969: Diana 1969: Goodnight My Love
1974: Anka 1975: Feelings
1976: The Painter 1977: The Music Man
1978: Listen to Your Heart 1979: Headlines
1981: Both Sides of Love 1983: Walk a Fine Line
1987: Freedom For The World 1989: Somebody Loves You
1989: 30th Anniversary Collection 1996: Amigos
2005: Rock Swings # 9 UK 2007: Classic Songs, My Way
2011: Songs of December 2013: Dianacally Yours
2013: Duets Singles
* with George Hamilton IV and Johnny Nash ** with Odia Coates
See also
Canadian rock Music of Canada
References
External links Official site
Paul Anka at the Internet Movie Database Paul Anka at AllMovie
Paul Anka at the Songwriters Hall of Fame