New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Legendary singer and songwriter
Paul Anka is ringing in the 2021 holiday season with a truly special celebration: the 10-year anniversary of his beloved Songs of December album. Songs of December (Anniversary Edition) features all the treasured favorites from the original record, plus two new songs for fans to enjoy. It is set for release on November 5, 2021 on Green Hill Productions, a subsidiary of Primary Wave Music.
First released on November 15, 2011, Songs of December was Anka's first Christmas album in decades. A true holiday classic, the record features lush romantic versions of popular Christmas songs hand-picked by Anka himself such as "Let It Snow," "Baby It's Cold Outside," and "I'll Be Home for Christmas." All were recorded with a full orchestra in the renowned Capitol Studios and sung by a music legend. In addition to the original tracks, Songs of December (Anniversary Edition) features two additional songs including the brand new "You and I Together (No Gift Could Be Better)," which Anka recorded alongside MAGIC! frontman Nasri, as well as "
Winter Wonderland" recorded with Latin superstar Emmanuel.
One of the last remaining artists to work with the Rat Pack,
Paul Anka turned 80 this year and shows no signs of slowing down. This summer, he released Making Memories, a brand-new collection of reimagined classics and new recordings that included duets from
Olivia Newton-John, Il Divo. The album came on the heels of the 50th anniversary of "My Way," a new version of the classic hit featuring Michael Bublé and Andrea Bocelli.
Anka, who has been called the "Justin Bieber of his time," first rose to fame in 1957 when he scored a meeting with Don Costa, the A&R representative for ABC-Paramount Records, playing him a batch of songs that included "Diana." The song was an enormous success, Anka's first number one hit, and made him a star at the young age of 15. Since then, Anka has had a hit record in every decade over the last 70 years, from "
My Way" and "You Are My Destiny" to "
This Is It" and many more. He has inspired and influenced many musicians from
Drake to The
Weeknd to Michael Bublé to Michael Jackson.
In addition to his new music, Anka is currently gracing stages across the country on the "Anka Sings Sinatra" tour. This unique and highly-anticipated tour features Anka paying tribute to his friend, one of the greatest entertainers ever to take the stage: Frank Sinatra.
"SONGS OF DECEMBER (ANNIVERSARY EDITION)" TRACK LISTING
Let It Snow
Christmas Song
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Winter Wonderland
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
White Christmas
Have Yourself A Merry
Little Christmas
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Blue Christmas
Silver Bells
Silent Night/A Cradle in Bethlehem
Winter
Wonderland - featuring Emmanuel
You and I Together (No Gift Could Be Better) - featuring Nasri
TOUR SCHEDULE 2021-2022:
2021
November 6 Niagara Falls, ON Fallsview Casino
November 7 Ledyard, CT Mohegan Sun
November 10 Ridgefield, CT Ridgefield Playhouse
November 12 Lynn, MA Lynn Auditorium
November 13 Bensalem, PA Parx Casino
November 16 Staten Island, NY St.
George Theatre
November 19 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Center for the Arts
2022
February 17 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
February 19 The Villages, FL The Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center
February 20* Sarasota, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
February 22 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Broward Center: Au-Rene Theater
March 5 Los Angeles, CA Saban Theatre
March 10 Las Vegas, NV The Smith Center for the Performing Arts
March 12 Palm Springs, CA Fantasy Springs Casino
March 14** Scottsdale, AZ Arizona Musicfest
* Greatest Hits Show
Born July 30, 1941, in Ottawa, Canada, into a close-knit family,
Paul Anka didn't waste time getting his life in music started. From an early age he sang in a choir, studied piano and honed his writing skills with journalism courses, even working as a cub reporter at the Ottawa Citizen. By 13, he had his own vocal group, the Bobbysoxers. Blinded by determination, he would take his mother's car and drive to perform at every amateur night he could across the river in Quebec. Soon after, he won a trip to New York by winning a Campbell's soup contest that required him to spend three months collecting soup can labels. After visiting the music hub of New York, was there that his dream to make it as a singer composer was solidified. There was not a doubt in his young tenacious mind. In 1956, he convinced his parents to let him travel to Los Angeles to visit his uncle, where he hitchhiked to a meeting with
Modern Records that led to the release of Anka's first single, "Blau-Wile Deveest Fontaine."
The inspiration for the song came from a book he was reading for a report he had to write for
Fisher Park school by the former Governor General of Canada, John Buchan. Although it was not a hit, Anka kept plugging away. He went so far as to sneak into Fats Domino's dressing room in Ottawa to meet him and his manager. In the dressing room, Fats Domino and
Chuck Berry were sitting there and Anka sang his music to them. They told him to stay in school.
When Anka returned to New York in 1957, he scored a meeting with Don Costa, the A&R representative for ABC Paramount Records, playing him a batch of songs that included "
Diana". Costa was duly enthusiastic about the potential of the young singer and songwriter. The rapid and enormous success of "
Diana", his first number one hit, made him a star at the young age of 15. Soon Paul found himself traveling by bus with the 'Cavalcade of Stars' with the top names of the day. He honed his craft surrounded by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis,
Buddy Holly, Frankie Lymon, and Chuck Berry.
Anka was the youngest entertainer to ever perform at the Copacabana. After a few hit songs, Anka confident in his talent as a writer wisely knew that being a songwriter meant the power was in the pen. As a result, 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. If this wasn't enough, it was revealed upon its release in 2009, that Anka cowrote 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. Not one to rest on his laurels, 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.
On November 15, 2011, Anka released his first Christmas album in decades. Songs of December featured lush romantic versions of popular Christmas songs such as "
Let It Snow", "
Baby It's Cold Outside" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas". All were recorded with a full orchestra in the renowned Capitol studios and sung by a music legend. It is a true holiday classic. In April 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 the same time, his new 14-song album entitled Duets was released by Sony
Music Entertainment and featured artists such as Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Tom Jones,
Celine Dion, and Michael Bublé (who Anka was with from the start of his career as well as co-producer on his self-titled album in 2003).
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.
In 2014, Anka saw the release of another song he 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. 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. In 2020, Anka wowed the judges and audiences alike during his time on the hit television competition show, The Masked Singer.
