Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941, in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, actor, and recording artist whose career has extended from the first wave of rock and roll through the modern era of pop and adult contemporary music. He became one of the defining teen idols of the late 1950s, but his lasting importance rests equally on his work as a prolific songwriter and his ability to move between youthful pop, traditional vocal music, swing, and contemporary standards.
Anka began performing as a child and studied piano before forming a vocal group in Ottawa. As a teenager, he traveled to the United States in search of recording opportunities. His first recordings attracted little attention, but a meeting with producer Don Costa at ABC-Paramount changed his fortunes. In 1957, the label released "Diana," a song Anka had written himself. Its dramatic melody and mature, yearning vocal turned the 16-year-old into an international star. The single became a major chart success and established the model for Anka's early career: he was not merely a young singer chosen to perform material written by others, but a songwriter who shaped his own repertoire.
A rapid sequence of hits followed. "You Are My Destiny," "Crazy Love," "Lonely Boy," "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," "It's Time to Cry," and "Puppy Love" made Anka one of the most recognizable figures in popular music by the end of the 1950s. His songs often dealt with romance, family, separation, and youthful uncertainty, giving his records an emotional directness that distinguished them from more rebellious strains of early rock and roll. He also wrote "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," which became one of Buddy Holly's final major recordings.
Rather than allowing the decline of the teen-idol market to end his career, Anka deliberately moved toward adult audiences. He performed in major nightclubs and Las Vegas, appeared in films including The Longest Day (1962), and continued to record material ranging from orchestrated pop to country-influenced arrangements. He also developed a reputation as a commercially astute music professional, retaining control of parts of his catalog and broadening his activities beyond performing.
Anka's songwriting became particularly influential during the 1960s. He wrote the theme associated with Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, composed "She's a Lady" for Tom Jones, and adapted the English lyrics for "My Way," based on the French song "Comme d'habitude." Frank Sinatra's recording made "My Way" one of the most enduring standards of the modern popular songbook. These achievements established Anka as a behind-the-scenes creative force as well as a successful recording artist.
He returned to the top of the American charts in the 1970s with "(You're) Having My Baby," recorded with Odia Coates, followed by "One Man Woman/One Woman Man," "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone," and "Times of Your Life." Later work included the duet album A Body of Work, the standards project Rock Swings, and further collaborations with artists from several generations. He also co-wrote Michael Jackson's "This Is It," released in 2009.
Recognized by the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Canada's Walk of Fame, Anka remains notable for the unusual breadth of his career. He emerged as a teenage pop phenomenon, reinvented himself as an adult entertainer, and secured a separate legacy through songs that became standards for other performers.