Paul Albert Anka,
OC (born July 30, 1941) is a
Canadian
singer (from Syrian and Lebanese parents), 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", which has been covered by many including
Elvis Presley.
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".
[1]
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.
| Paul Anka |
|---|
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Paul Albert Anka |
| Born |
July 30, 1941 (age 73)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres |
Pop, soft rock, jazz, doo-wop |
| Occupation(s) |
Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments |
Vocals, piano, guitar |
| Years active |
1955–present |
| Labels |
ABC-Paramount, EMI Columbia, RCA, United Artists, Columbia |
| Website |
Official website |
Early life
Anka was born in
Ottawa,
Ontario to Camelia (née Tannis) and Andrew Emile "Andy" Anka, Sr., who owned a restaurant called the Locanda.
[2] His parents were both
Antiochian Orthodox Christians.
[3] Anka's father was Syrian, his mother was Lebanese.
[4]
Anka 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.
[5][6]
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.
[7]
The song "
Diana" brought Anka stardom as it rocketed to #1 on the Canadian and U.S. music charts.
[8] "Diana" is one of the best selling singles ever by a Canadian recording artist.
[9]
He followed up with four songs that made it into the Top 20 in 1958,
[10]
including "It's Time to Cry", which hit #4 and "(All Of a Sudden) My
Heart Sings", which reached #15, making him (at 17) 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.[11]
Paul Anka's talent included the
theme for
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (reworked in 1962 from a song Anka wrote earlier called "
Toot Sweet"; it had been rewritten with lyrics and recorded by
Annette Funicello in 1959 as "
It's Really Love").
[12]
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 (originally the French song "Comme d'habitude").
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 (which also was the official march of the
Canadian Airborne Regiment, 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,
[13] 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" (#7) and "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone" (#8),
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 (lyrics) and
Roger Nichols (melody) 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 (I'll Be There)", 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.
[14]
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.
[15]
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.
[16]
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,
[17]
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,
[18]
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" ("Every Time") 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.
[19]
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.
[citation needed]
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.
[20] 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 ("Faibles Femmes", 1959
[17]) and another reported by his official discography ("Comme Avant"
[18]) with
Mireille Mathieu.
A single release in
Japanese
("Kokoro No Sasae"/"Shiawase E No Tabiji") 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.
[citation needed]
Personal life
Anka was married to Anne de Zogheb, the daughter of a
Lebanese diplomat, Charles de Zogheb, from February 16, 1963, until 2001.
[21]
The couple 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,
[22] is of
Lebanese,
English,
French,
Dutch, and
Greek[22] 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 (married to actor
Jason Bateman), and Alexandra.
In 2008, Anka married his personal trainer,
Anna Åberg, in
Sardinia.
[23] They divorced in 2010 and share custody of their son, Ethan. Anna was featured in the Swedish
TV show
Svenska Hollywoodfruar (Swedish Hollywood wives).
In 1972, a street in Ottawa was named Paul Anka Drive.
[24]
In 1981, the
Ottawa City Council named August 26 as "Paul Anka Day" to celebrate his quarter-century in show business.
[25]
On September 6, 1990, he became a
naturalized citizen of the United States.
[26]
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
(1962). 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 (1959) and
Look in Any Window (1961), in which he played a peeping tom.
He later played an Elvis-hating casino pit manager in
3000 Miles To Graceland (2001) and a yacht broker in
Captain Ron (1992).
He guest-starred as a murder suspect in
The Case of the Maligned Mobster (1991).
In October 1995, he appeared as himself in the episode "
Treehouse of Horror VI" on
The Simpsons.
He made guest appearances as himself in the episode "Red's Last Day" on
That '70s Show and in "The Real Paul Anka" episode of
Gilmore Girls. 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.
[27]
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".
[citation needed]
Popular culture
In the mid-1980s,
[28]
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!".
[29]
Some of the quotes were reproduced verbatim by
Al Pacino's character in the 2007 film
Ocean's Thirteen.
[28]
He was mentioned in the "
Fish Licence"
sketch in the tenth episode of Series 2 (23rd overall) of
Monty Python's Flying Circus, which was first broadcast on December 1, 1970.
Dealing with a
postal clerk (
Michael Palin) who thought it absurd to give all of one's
pets the same name,
Praline, (
John Cleese) 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".
[30]
On
Gilmore Girls,
Lorelai Gilmore named her
Polish Lowland Sheepdog after Anka.
[31]
Series co-creator
Daniel Palladino chose the name after hearing the
Rock Swings album at a
coffeehouse.
[32]
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.
[33][34]
On
That 70's Show, Paul Anka made a brief cameo in the episode 'Red's Last Day'.
Source: Wikipedia.org
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