Over the five decades, Paul Anka has forged a career that's unlike any other in the history of pop. He's seamlessly made the transition from '50s teen idol to celebrated songwriter to a contemporary torchbearer for all that swings. The multi-talented musician has had a song on Billboard's charts in every decade since 1957 when he was only 17. According to BMI, since the inception of his career, Anka's songs have been performed well over 90 million times worldwide and his LP and single sales collectively number more than 80 million. He's recorded over 126 albums in a wide variety of languages, selling close to 15 million albums, internationally. Anka also has been named the 21st most successful artist in Billboard's history, putting him alongside music greats Elvis Presley and The Beatles. With well over 900 songs to his credit, Mr. Anka's most memorable are "Put Your Head On My Shoulder”, “Lonely Boy”, "My Way," and the now famous theme from "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."
Plenty of other artists have him to thank for some big hits, too. His impressive body of work includes such titles as "She's a Lady" (for Tom Jones), "Puppy Love" (Donny Osmond’s 1970s remake of Anka’s original), "It Doesn't Matter Any More" (for Buddy Holly) and "Teddy" (for Connie Francis). As for "My Way," which Anka famously turned from a little-known French song into a perennial showstopper for his late friend Frank Sinatra, it can be heard at any given moment in a karaoke bar somewhere on the planet.
Born in 1941 into a tight-knit Lebanese-Canadian family in Ottawa, Anka didn't waste much time getting his life in music started. He sang in the choir at St. Elijah Syrian Orthodox Church and briefly studied piano. He honed his writing skills with journalism courses, even working for a spell at the Ottawa Citizen. By 13, he had his own vocal group, The Bobbysoxers.
In 1956, he released his first single, "Blau-Wile Deverest Fontaine." While not his biggest hit, Anka kept plugging away, going so far to sneak into Fats Domino's dressing room to meet the legend. The following year, he released "Diana," which made him a star. He began penning hits for a variety of popular singers and found himself amongst the 'Cavalcade of Stars' surrounded by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Frankie Lyman, Chuck Berry and even future girlfriend Annette Funicello.
Becoming a junior associate of Sinatra and the Rat Pack had its privileges. By the '70s, the success of "My Way" and a string of hits like "(You're) Having My Baby" confirmed his status as an icon of popular music. His later achievements as a recording artist included "Hold Me 'Til the Morning Comes," a hit duet with Peter Cetera in 1983, the Spanish-language album “Amigos” in 1996, and “Body of Work”, a 1998 duets album that featured Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, Tom Jones and daughter Anthea Anka (who is married to TV and film actor Jason Bateman). Anka even co-wrote Michael Jackson's posthumous #1 worldwide hit, "This Is It," which has further cemented his place upon the most prolific and versatile songwriters of any generation.
Anka's most recent albums “Classic Songs, My Way and Rock Swings” (2005) further reinforce his enduring popularity. “Rock Swings” which featured jazzed-up renditions of popular hits like Van Halen's "Jump," Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun," Pet Shop Boys' "It's a Sin" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hit #2 on Billboard's Jazz Chart, sold half-a-million albums worldwide and set a milestone for Anka as being the only artist in history to have a record on Billboard's Top 50 chart for six consecutive decades.
Paul Anka will be at the Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida on Saturday December 31, 2011
