Paul Anka

Paul threw himself into music during his school days, he sang with the St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church choir under the direction of Frederick Karam, with whom he studied music theory. He also studied piano with Winnifred Rees and attended Fisher Park High School where he was part of a vocal trio called the Bobby Soxers. It's no surprise that by the age of 14 the young singer had already recorded his first single, 'I Confess'.

After moving to New York he found noteirity with the song 'Diana' which peaked at #1 on the Canadian and U.S. music charts and remains one of the highest selling singles ever by a Canadian recording artist. The young artist became a word-wide heartthrob and toured the UK and Australia with Buddy Holly. In 1959 he had three top five singles in the US, his most successful of that year 'Lonely Boy' topped the charts and also peaked at #3 in the UK charts. He continued to enjoy chart success across the world until the mid-80's when he took a break from recording new music.

In 1998 he returned with the album entitled 'A Body of Work' which was his first new U.S. studio release since 'Walk a Fine Line' in 1983; vocalists and performers included Celine Dion, Kenny G, Patti LaBelle, and Skyler Jett. In 2009 when Michael Jackson returned with track 'This Is It' Anka stated that the track was a collaborative effort between the two in 1983. According to Anka, after recording the song, Jackson decided not to use it and the tune was then recorded and released by Sa-Fire. After Anka threatened to sue for credit and a share of royalties, the administrators of Jackson's estate granted Anka 50% of the copyright.