Paul Anka

Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter and actor. His songs include "Diana", "You Are My Destiny", "Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" and "(You're) Having My Baby".

Anka also wrote the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; one of Tom Jones' biggest hits, "She's a Lady"; and the English lyrics to Claude François and Jacques Revaux's music for Frank Sinatra's signature song "My Way", which has been recorded by many artists including Elvis Presley. He co-wrote three songs with Michael Jackson: "This Is It" (originally titled "I Never Heard"), "Love Never Felt So Good", and "Don't Matter to Me", which became posthumous hits for Jackson in 2009, 2014, and 2018, respectively.

Paul Albert Anka was born in Ottawa, Ontario, to Camelia (née Tannis) and Andrew Emile "Andy" Anka Sr., who owned a restaurant called the Locanda. According to Paul's autobiography, My Way, both of his parents were of Lebanese Christian descent; however, he also states in his autobiography that his paternal ancestors came from Bab Tuma, in Syria. His father came to Canada from Damascus, Syria, and his mother was an immigrant from Lebanon from the village of Kfarmishki. His mother died when he was 18.

Paul Anka briefly studied piano under Winifred Rees and sang with the St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral choir under the direction of Frederick Karam, with whom he studied music theory in Ottawa. He attended Fisher Park High School in the city, where he was part of a vocal trio called the Bobby Soxers.

Anka recorded his first single, "I Confess", when he was 14. In 1956, with $100 given to him by his uncle, he went to Manhattan, New York City, where he auditioned for Don Costa at ABC Records, singing what was widely believed to be a lovestruck verse he had written to a former babysitter. In an interview with Terry Gross of NPR in 2005, he said that it was to a girl at his church whom he hardly knew. The resulting song "Diana" brought Anka stardom as it went to No. 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 which made it into the Top 20 in 1958, including "It's Time to Cry", which reached No. 4 and "(All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings", which was No. 15, making him (at 17) one of the biggest teen idols of the time. He toured Britain and 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. Shortly afterward Anka said:

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.