Paul Anka

Pop singer Paul Anka was a clean-cut teen idol in the 1950s thanks to a flurry of Top 10 hits. He was also a versatile musician who wrote songs that were hits for other artists as part of a career stretching more than 65 years. • Anka recorded his first song, “I Confess”, in 1956 at the age of 14. But he didn’t find chart success until 1957 with the No. 1 hit “Diana”, which he also wrote. • His biggest period of chart success came in 1959–60, when five of his singles reached the Top 10, including the No. 1 hit “Lonely Boy” in 1959 and the No. 2 hits “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” (1959) and “Puppy Love” (1960). • Anka wrote the theme music for The Tonight Show, based on his own 1962 song “Toot Sweet”. He also wrote the English-language lyrics for “My Way”, originally a French song, which Frank Sinatra turned into a signature hit. • After a long stretch without a hit in the ’60s, Anka returned to the charts in 1974 with “(You’re) Having My Baby”, a duet with Odia Coates that hit No. 1. Anka and Coates teamed up on two subsequent Top 10 songs, “One Man Woman/One Woman Man” (No. 7 in 1974) and “I Don't Like to Sleep Alone” (No. 8 in 1975). • His 1983 song “Hold Me ’Til the Morning Comes” was Anka’s last single to reach the Top 40. Peter Cetera, then the singer for Chicago, sang backing vocals. • Anka resurfaced in pop culture with his 1998 collaborative album A Body of Work, featuring artists including Céline Dion, Patti LaBelle and Tom Jones. • In 2005 Anka released Rock Swings, a collection of jazz covers of rock songs originally recorded by artists like Bon Jovi, Nirvana, R.E.M. and Van Halen.