Paul Anka

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Paul Anka (2007)

Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941 in Ottawa ) is a Canadian singer , composer , songwriter and actor . In the 1950s he was a teen - idol . His song Diana is one of the most successful singles.

Life

Paul Anka is the son of Lebanese - Syrian parents who ran a restaurant in Ottawa . The grandfather is from Damascus , Syria. At the age of 14 he took part in singing competitions in Canada. In 1956 Paul Anka was visiting his uncle in Los Angeles , where he had the opportunity to audition with Ernie Freeman, the A&R director of Modern Records . Freeman had the minor sign a record deal. The single I Confess / Blau-Wile-Deveest-Fontaine (RPM # 472) was created in October 1956 , titled after an African village from John Buchan's novel Prestor Johnthat Anka had to analyze for school in the summer. Backing singers were the Cadets, who just had a big hit on Modern in the charts with Stranded in the Jungle . This made Anka the only white interpreter of this pure rhythm & blues label. It quickly turned out, however, that there was not much to do with Anka and his music, so that the title only realized 3000 pieces and then disappeared in the archives. With that, Anka's singing career seemed to be over.

In May 1957 Paul Anka played three other songs for producer and arranger Don Costa in New York City, as well as his own composition Diana . Costa picked up the title with Anka; more than ten million records were sold worldwide. Anka became a teen idol. Diana is one of the ten best-selling singles (as of 2010). Other top hits like Lonely Boy or Put Your Head on My Shoulder followed .

Anka continued to write songs, including for Buddy Holly . For Frank Sinatra he wrote My Way to the melody of the French chanson Comme d'habitude , for Tom Jones he composed She's a Lady . He regularly records and is an entertainer on stage in Las Vegas . In 2005 Anka started the Rock Swings project , which presented rock classics in the swing style. Anka also produced Michael Bublé's swing cover album . Due to the great success of the rock-swing album, he added another swing album in 2007: Classic Songs - My Way . It includes Anka's versions of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time and Bob Seger's Against the Wind , and Anka sings My Way in a duet with Jon Bon Jovi .

Anka has received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, the French Chevalier de Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, was named the Order of Canada and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2018. Since 1980 he has also been a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame , which was only launched in 1978.

In February 2019, Anka signed a long-term, multi-million dollar deal with Primary Wave Musik. The deal includes Anka's publications, his master rights and the exploitation of his name and likeness.

Trivia

  • In 1961 he took on a supporting role in the film The Longest Day .
  • In the Gilmore Girls series , Lorelai Gilmore owns a dog named Paul Anka. Anka appears in the 18th episode of the sixth season ( The real Paul Anka ) as himself in a dream Lorelais .
  • He can also be seen in the Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror VI, in the series A Colt for All Cases in the episode Money Laundering and in the television series Las Vegas in the episode Thieves and Forgers .
  • His private concerts in 2019 included a performance at the United States Embassy in Budapest .

Discography and chart quotes

Filmography (selection)

actor

literature

  • Paul Anka and David Dalton: My Way: An Autobiography; Saint Martin's Press Inc. April 2013; ISBN 978-0-312-38104-2 (hardcover); ISBN 978-1-250-03520-2 (e-book)
  • Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 11f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4

Web links

Commons : Paul Anka  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , 1985, p. 25
  2. ↑ EveryHit about Diana
  3. ↑ cmw.net/
  4. ^ Canadian Music Hall of Fame - Inductees. Canadian Music Hall of Fame , accessed August 6, 2017 .
  5. ↑ musicbusinessworldwide.com
  6. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/world/europe/david-cornstein-hungary-trump-orban.html
personal data
SURNAME Anka, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anka, Paul Albert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian singer, composer, songwriter and actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Ottawa