NEW YORK (Verve
Music Group) -
Paul Anka marks his 47th year in show business with his latest record, Rock Swings, to be released June 7, 2005 on
Verve Music Group in the U. S. and May 31 in Canada. Rock Swings is a concept album that takes rock songs from the 80s and 90s and "swings" them by adding big band arrangements. Anka brings his own unmistakable voice and interpretative skills to such hits as Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Van Halen's "Jump," Oasis' "Wonderwall," R.E.M.'s "
Everybody Hurts" and Bon Jovi's "It's My Life."
Anka will be a guest on
Howard Stern on June 8th and will be taping segments of Entertainment
Tonight and Larry King Live that will air around the release date. Paul will also be doing an in-store signing at 6 p.m. on June 8th at Tower Records Lincoln Center, 1965 Broadway at 66 St. in New York. Germany is the one territory that has released Rock Swings to date where it has sold in excess of 50,000 units debuting in Billboard's Top 10, charting at No 1 on Amazon Germany and receiving rave reviews from a new generation of young rock critics.
"Frankly, the idea behind this project did not hit home until I heard it, at which point I was absolutely blown away," commented Ron Goldstein, President/CEO,
Verve Music Group. "I should have known that when Paul does something, it is the ultimate in taste and perfection. Rock Swings is simply a terrific album and we're proud to be associated with it."
Paul Anka is one of the most enduring artists in pop culture. In an illustrious career that has spanned five decades as a entertainer, he has become the 21 biggest-selling artist of all time-producing 125 albums, three No 1 pop singles, 33 Top 40 hits and has written or co-written nearly 1000 songs. Since the inception of his career Anka's songs have been performed well over 150 million times and his record sales number more than 60 million. This ensures him a place amongst a few select artists in history to have a record on Billboard's Top 50 charts for five consecutive decades.
At age 16, this gifted teen wrote and recorded his first No 1 hit, "
Diana" and became a teen idol. Highly prolific, some of his other hits include Frank Sinatra's theme song "My Way," "You Are My Destiny," "All Of A Sudden My
Heart Sings," "Crazy Love," "Lonely Boy," "Hello, Young Lovers," "Little Girl," "Love Me Warm and Tender," "Feelings." "Put You Head On My Shoulder," "Puppy Love" and "(You're) Having My Baby."
Anka also composed the most recognized television theme song in history for The
Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and was nominated for an Oscar for his composition for the movie, The Longest Day.
On June 5 and 10 respectively, Anka will be inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto and awarded the prestigious Order of Canada in Ottawa.
