Paul Anka

Paul Anka

Paul Albert Anka, OC (born July 30, 1941, in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor of Lebanese origin. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1990.

Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s, with hits songs like "Diana," "Lonely Boy," and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder." He went on to write such well-known music as the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Tom Jones' biggest hit, "She's A Lady", and the English lyrics for Frank Sinatra's signature song, "My Way."

Early life

Anka's parents, who owned a restaurant, were of Lebanese Christian descent.^[a] He sang with the St. Elijah Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Church choir under the direction of Frederick Karam, with whom he studied music theory. He also studied piano with Winnifred Rees.

Career

Early success

Anka recorded his first single, "I Confess," at age 14. In 1957, he went to New York City where he auditioned for Don Costa at ABC, singing a lovestruck verse he had written to a former babysitter. The song, "Diana", brought Anka instant stardom as it rocketed to number one on the charts. "Diana" is one of the best selling 45s in music history. He followed up with four songs that made it into the Top 20 in 1958, making him, at 17, one of the biggest teen idols of the time. He toured Britain and then, with Buddy Holly, he toured Australia.

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1960 45 record single of Puppy Love

His talent went beyond singing, writing Buddy Holly's giant hit, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (reworked in 1962 from a song Anka wrote earlier called "Toot Sweet," which had been rewritten with lyrics and recorded by Annette Funicello in 1959 as "It's Really Love"), Tom Jones' biggest hit record, "She's A Lady", and the English lyrics for "My Way," Frank Sinatra's signature song and sung by many well known artists, including Greta Keller and Elvis Presley.

In the 1960s, Anka would begin acting in motion pictures as well as writing songs for them, most notably the theme for the hit movie The Longest Day. From his movie work, he wrote and recorded one of his greatest hit, "Lonely Boy". He then went on to become one of the first pop singers to perform at the Las Vegas casinos. Anka returns to Canada several times a year, regularly playing to sold out crowds at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Comeback

After more than ten years without a hit record, in 1974, he teamed up with Odia Coates to record the number 1 hit, "Having My Baby." They would record two more duets that both made it into the Top 10. In 1975, he wrote a jingle for Kodak called "The Times of Your Life". The jingle became so popular, he recorded it as a full song, and it became a hit a year later.

By the 1970s, Anka's career centered around adult contemporary and big-band standards, played regularly in Las Vegas. On September 6, 1990, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He returned to his home town to buy a part of the Ottawa Senators hockey team. In 2005, his album Rock Swings, comprising big-band arrangements of contemporary standards, provided a mainstream comeback of sorts and saw Anka awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto.

In 1999, he visited Lebanon for sell-out performances at the Forum de Beyrouth (The Beirut Forum).

Recognition

Paul Anka was elected to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1980. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. at 6840 Hollywood Blvd. Anka has also received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame,. in 2005. In 1991, the Government of France honored him with the title "Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters". He was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 2005.

In October of 1995, he appeared in Treehouse of Horror VI on The Simpsons.

On the CW show Gilmore Girls, Lorelai named her new dog Paul Anka. He also made a guest appearance as himself in the episode "The Real Paul Anka", which aired April 11, 2006.

He became infamous among musicians, and more recently, internet users for a mid-1970s after-show tirade which was secretly recorded by a "snake we later fired" (Anka: Fresh Air interview). The diatribe, in which Anka berates his crew and band members, has spawned a number of in-joke references and quotations, the main ones being: "The guys get shirts", "Don't make a maniac out of me", and "Slice like a hammer."

Personal life

He was married to Anne De Zogheb, the daughter of Lebanese diplomat Count Charles de Zogheb, from February 16, 1963 to September 28, 2000. Anka met De Zogheb in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1962. Of French and Egyptian descent, she was a fashion model on assignment and under contract to the Eileen Ford Agency. The couple married the following year in a ceremony at Orly Airport in Paris. De Zogheb quit modelling after they married. They have five daughters: Amelia, Anthea, Alicia, Amanda (wife of actor Jason Bateman) and Alexandra. They divorced in 2003.

Anka also has a son, Ethan, born to his former personal trainer, Swedish-born Anna Yeager.

Partial Discography

• "Diana" (1957)
• "Crazy Love" (1958)
• "You Are My Destiny" (1958)
• "It's Time to Cry" (1959)
• "Lonely Boy" (1959)
• "I Miss You So" (1959)
• "(All of A Sudden) My Heart Sings" (1959)
• "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" (1959)
• "Puppy Love" (1960)
• "Tonight My Love, Tonight" (1961)
• "Eso Beso (That Kiss)" (1962)
• "Having My Baby" (1974) - Duet with Odia Coates
• "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone" (1974) - Duet with Odia Coates
• "One Man Woman/One Woman Man" (1974) - Duet with Odia Coates
• "Times of Your Life" (1975)
• "Walk a Fine Line" (1983)
• "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" (1986) - Duet with Regine Velasquez
• "Somebody loves you" (1989)
• "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" (1998) - Duet with Celine Dion
• Rock Swings # 9 UK (2005)
• "Classic Songs, My Way" (2007)

See also

• Lonely Boy (film)
• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

Notes

a. ^{^} Some sources, like The Canadian Encyclopedia and Time, suggest that Paul Anka is of Syrian descent while several other sources, including Anka's official website, suggest that he is of Lebanese descent. This uncertainty might be due to the fact that Lebanon was historically a part of Greater Syria.

External links

• Official site
• Paul Anka at IMDb
• Paul Anka at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Videos
• Paul Anka Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos