Paul Anka

The Canadian performer best known for his version of "My Way" was once a pop idol in the rock'n'roll turmoil of the late 1950s, with a string of hits to sway the hearts of teenage girls. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, on July 30, 1941, into a family of restaurateurs of Lebanese origin, he sang in church as a youth, then in high school in a vocal trio called The Bobby Soxers. Signed by ABC Records after an audition, he scored his first big hit with "Diana", a song of his own that topped the Canadian and American charts in 1957, soon followed by a slew of hits, including "You Are My Destiny". You Are My Destiny" (1958) "Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" and "It's Time to Cry" in 1959, and "Puppy Love", "My Hometown " and "Hello, Young Lovers " in 1960. Just out of his teens, the teen idol also wrote "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" for Buddy Holly or "Teddy" for Connie Francis, and composed the theme for Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, in between film appearances, notably in The Longest Day (1962). One of the first singers to perform in Las Vegas, he joined the RCA Victor label and continued to fill the charts until 1963, before turning to country. In 1969, he adapted Claude François' hit "Comme d'habitude" into English and offered it as "My Way" to Frank Sinatra, who made it his signature song, before Paul Anka's version, which he also recorded as a duet with Gabriel Byrne, Julio Iglesias and Jon Bon Jovi. Back in the charts in a more adult style, Paul Anka enjoyed a renaissance with the duet "(You're) Having My Baby" with Odia Coates, which reached No. 1 in 1974. He maintained his position with other songs, including "Times of Your Life", featured in a commercial, and reached the following decade with "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes" (1983). After the album of Spanish duets Amigos in 1996, he returned in 2005 with Rock Swings, featuring covers of Pet Shop Boys, Oasis, Nirvana, R.E.M., The Cure and Michael Jackson, a performance renewed in Classics Songs, My Way (2007). Two more albums follow before the nostalgic Making Memories in 2021 and Sessions in 2022. Paul Anka has also appeared in some thirty films, from Let's Rock (1958) to Times Square Ball (2024).