“‘I Believe’ is a favorite song of mine,” says Anka. “I sang it when I was a kid, in church. I redid it for today, it’s one of the best songs written about life and love.” Listen to “I Believe” via YouTube HERE. Watch a behind the scenes video of Anka in the studio HERE.
Paul Anka cemented his legacy as one of the greatest songwriters of all time early in his career and had earned 5 Top 20 hits before the age of 18. He is the only artist in history to have a song in the Billboard Top 100 during seven consecutive decades. The iconic artist continues to write, record and collaborate and his US Tour – A Man and His Music – resumes on March 4. Tickets available at www.paulanka.com.
INSPIRATIONS OF LIFE AND LOVE arrives just ahead of Valentine’s Day and showcases Anka’s unparalleled songwriting in a lushly orchestrated album which will be available physically in both vinyl and CD as well as digitally via Dolby Atmos. INSPIRATIONS OF LIFE AND LOVE was recorded mainly in Anka’s home studio in California, with symphony orchestra accompaniment recorded in Budapest.
The album follows Anka’s highly acclaimed documentary film Paul Anka: His Way which premiered on HBO December 1st and is streaming now on HBO Max. From teen idol to chart-topping songwriter, Paul Anka has spent seven decades as one of the most prolific musicians in the world–and he’s still going. Part road movie, part living biography, “Paul Anka: His Way” traces Anka’s journey through stardom and constant reinvention in an ever-changing industry.
1. I Just Can’t Wait
2. Anytime
3. Boulevard
4. It Was a Very Good Year
5. Let Me Try Again
6. Love Never Felt So Good
7. Freedom For You And Me (Freedom For The World)
8. I Believe
9. The Last Time I Saw You
10. (All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings
11. That’s Life
About Paul Anka:
Buddy Holly, Frankie Lymon, and Chuck Berry. Anka was the youngest entertainer to ever perform at the Copacabana. He went on to write for Connie Francis, Leslie Gore, and Buddy Holly (including the last song Holly ever recorded, “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”). Other hit songs include the Academy Award-nominated theme for the 1962 film in which he starred, The Longest Day. He notably penned the longest running theme in television history for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Songwriting and performing “are what gave me the confidence to keep going,” he says. In the early 60’s, he became a junior associate of Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Even with the British invasion, Anka still had chart records. He moved to Italy and outsold the Italians, selling an astonishing 4 million records there.
In the late 60’s, Anka wrote “My Way” for Frank Sinatra and by the 70’s, he had another string of hits like “(You’re) Having My Baby,” “Don’t Like To Sleep Alone,” and “Times Of Your Life” which confirmed his status as an icon of popular music. His later achievements as a recording artist included the charted song, “Hold Me ‘Til the Morning Comes,” a hit duet with Peter Cetera in 1983, the Spanish language album Amigos in 1996, and Body of Work, a 1998 duets album that featured Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, Tom Jones and daughter Anthea Anka. It was also revealed upon its release in 2009, that Anka co-wrote Michael Jackson’s posthumous #1 worldwide hit, “This Is It,” which has further cemented his place upon the most prolific and versatile songwriters of any generation.
Rock Swings and Classic Songs, My Way – ingeniously featured songs originally created by some of the biggest rock performers of the day. Anka, of course, did the songs ‘his way.’ Rock Swings went Top 10 in the UK, and was certified gold in the UK, France, and Canada, hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums chart and went on to sell half a million units worldwide.
In 2013, Anka released his New York Times Bestselling autobiography, published by St. Martin’s Press, entitled My Way. This autobiography is a remarkable story of a decades-long career as an entertainer, actor, and songwriter. During that time his album Duets was released by Sony Music Entertainment and featured artists such as Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Tom Jones, Celine Dion, and Michael Bublé (whose self-titled 2003 album Anka co-produced). Duets provides a musical journey through the life and times of Paul Anka and includes heartfelt liner notes written by Anka himself as an introduction to the classic songs he and his collaborators have chosen. Duets set a milestone in Billboard Chart history because with the CD, Anka became the only artist to have a CD on the Billboard Top 100 Chart for seven consecutive decades.
2014 saw the release of another song Anka co-wrote with Michael Jackson entitled “Love Never Felt So Good” off of Jackson’s album Xscape. The song was also recorded as a duet with Justin Timberlake. As lead song off of Jackson’s CD and it’s first single, it has received massive radio, sales, and critical success and reached #1 in over 50 countries. In 2018, Anka’s collaboration with Michael Jackson and Drake on the song “Don’t Matter to Me” was released on Drake’s “Scorpion”. The song alone had over 400 million downloads and reached the top 10 on Billboard charts.
At 84 years old, Paul Anka continues to write and record. His last two albums, Making Memories and Sessions, were released in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The albums featured new and never before recorded songs as well as new takes on old classics — notably “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” with Olivia Newton John, one of her last recorded songs, and “My Way” featuring Michael Buble and Andrea Bocelli.
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