Winner of 1 JUNO Award, 12 nominations
It’s been over two decades since Paul Anka emerged as a rock ‘n’ roll teenage prodigy. Now he is very much an adult phenomenon-singer, songwriter, entertainer, businessman.
Paul Anka still works very hard at his craft. He likes to spend eight months of every year doing concerts, playing in Las Vegas and performing on TV specials. His songwriting, which he considers the most important part of his talent goes on continuously.
Paul Anka was born in Ottawa, a Canadian citizen, but at 13 he was in Los Angeles recording for RPM Records. He recalls, “The record stiffed out completely. So that fall, I went back to Canada-a failure at 13!” The big break came two years later, just short of Paul’s 16th birthday. This time he was in New York with $100 make-or-break money and a tape with four of his songs. AandR man (and later to become musical director for Paul) Don Costa liked what he heard, in particular a song written to Paul’s younger brother’s babysitter, Diana.
Diana was an instant smash, a giant selling record world wide and it propelled Paul Anka into an international name. For the next five years Paul Anka lived the life of a super successful rock ‘n ‘roll idol. By his 19th birthday, the former 13-year old failure was a millionaire. Diana was followed by a string of other hits including You Are My Destiny, Puppy Love, Lonely Boy.
Paul estimates that since 1957 he has written well over 400 songs. Paul recalls, “I think the only time I got really concerned was in 1966. I was still performing but I was living on my past as far as I was concerned.” Then in 1968, Paul Anka was handed a French ballad, Comme d’Habitude. He immediately purchased the rights and wrote a brand new English lyric. He took it to Frank Sinatra and My Way became the song now most closely associated with the superstar.
His newest venture-a brand new album on RCA Records, Listen to Your Heart.
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