Net Worth of Paul Anka

What is the net worth of Paul Anka? Paul Anka is known as a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor who has accumulated a net worth of $80 million over the course of his career. Paul Anka has carved quite an excellent reputation for himself in the world of music thanks to the fact that he has sung and written some of the most well-known classics in the annals of musical history.

In the 1950s, blockbuster songs such as “Diana,” “Lonely Boy,” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” propelled Paul Anka to the forefront of the music industry. In addition, he penned “She’s a Lady,” which became one of Tom Jones’ most successful singles and used as the theme music for “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” Later in her career, Anka collaborated with Michael Jackson on the songs “Love Never Felt So Good,” and “This Is It”. Both of these songs achieved widespread popularity after Jackson’s untimely death.

Net Worth of Paul Anka: Biography

Camelia and Andrew Emile “Andy” Anka Sr., the parents of Anka, had a restaurant in Ottawa, Ontario, which was known as the Locanda. Anka was born there. Both of his parents were from Lebanon, making him of Lebanese ancestry. Both of his parents were immigrants; his father arrived in Canada from Bab Tuma, which is located in Damascus, Syria, while his mother immigrated from Lebanon. When he was 18 year old boy, his mother passed away.

Frederick Karam, with whom Anka learned music theory, directed the choir at the St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, where Anka was a member of the choir and sang under his guidance. He learned to play the piano from Winifred Rees. He went to Fisher Park High School, where the Bobby Soxers were a singing group that he was a member of during his time there.

Net Worth of Paul Anka: Career

At the age of 14, Paul Anka recorded his debut song, which was titled “I Confess.” It was commonly believed that he auditioned for Don Costa at ABC Records in 1956 by singing what was believed by many to be a lovestruck rhyme he had composed to a former babysitter. His uncle had given him $100 so that he could make the trip to New York City to audition for him. In an interview that took place in 2005 with Terry Gross from NPR, he mentioned that it was to a girl from his church who he didn’t know very well. Anka rose to prominence as a result of the resulting song “Diana,” which topped the music charts in both the US and Canada markets. One of the singles by Canadian music artists with the highest number of copies sold is titled “Diana.” After that, he released four songs in 1958 that charted within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, including “It’s Time to Cry,” which reached No. 4, and “(All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings,” which charted within the top 15, establishing him as one of the most popular teen idols of the era at the age of 17. He first went on tour with Buddy Holly in Great Britain, and then they went to Australia. Anka also penned the song “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore,” which Buddy Holly recorded right before he passed away in 1959. The song was written for Holly and dedicated to him.

It was reworked in 1962 from a song that Paul Anka had written earlier called “Toot Sweet,” and it had been rewritten with lyrics and recorded by Annette Funicello in 1959 as “It’s Really Love.” One of the talents that Paul Anka possessed was the ability to compose the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. In 1960, he wrote the song “Teddy,” which became a top 20 success for Connie Francis. Frank Sinatra’s hallmark song, “My Way,” was originally a French song called “Comme d’habitude,” and Anka was the one who penned the song’s English lyrics. In the 1960s, Paul Anka began composing music for movies in addition to performing in them. His most famous work to date is the theme song for the successful film The Longest Day, which was also the official march of the Canadian Airborne Regiment. In this film, Anka had a cameo appearance as a US Army Ranger. “Lonely Boy” was one of his biggest songs, and he composed and recorded it specifically for his film work. In the same year, he also had a No. 8 pop hit with the song “My Home Town,” which he had written and recorded himself. After that, he went on to establish himself as one of the pioneering pop singers to ever perform in the casinos of Las Vegas. In 1960, he made two appearances as himself in the NBC crime thriller Dan Raven, which was only on the air for a limited time.

In 1963, Anka purchased the rights and ownership of his ABC-Paramount catalog and re-recorded his earlier songs for RCA Victor, which he had joined in 1960. This was Anka’s first major career move after leaving ABC-Paramount. Anka’s career was interrupted by the British Invasion of the mid-1960s, just as it was for a great number of American music artists at the time. By the end of the 60s, he had primarily concentrated on adult contemporary music and big-band standards, and he had also started making frequent appearances in Las Vegas.

Anka made his debut with Buddah Records in the early 1970s, releasing two albums: the first was simply titled Paul Anka, and the second was titled Jubilation. The former album was issued for the first time in 1971, and it featured the track “She’s a Lady.” This was a song that Anka had written, and it would go on to become Tom Jones’s most successful single that same year. Anka’s rendition was not a commercial success when it was released.

Anka finally secured a recording contract with United Artists after going more than a decade without a top 25 single. In 1974, he eventually made his comeback with the number one hit “(You’re) Having My Baby,” which he performed in collaboration with the singer Odia Coates. Both “One Man Woman/One Woman Man” and “I Don’t Like to Sleep Alone” made it into the top 10 as additional duets performed by Anka and Coates respectively. A second duet, titled “(I Believe) There’s Nothing Stronger Than Our Love,” reached number 15 on the charts. In 1975, Anka scored another hit with “Times of Your Life,” a jingle he recorded for Kodak. This time, the song was a commercial success. 

Because of the jingle’s immense popularity, Anka decided to transform it into a full song, which ultimately reached number seven on the pop chart in the United States. Other hits included the song “Anytime (I’ll Be There),” which Anka composed for Frank Sinatra. “Hold Me ‘Til the Mornin’ Comes,” which was released in 1983 and was Anka’s final top 40 smash in the United States, was also one of her hits.

The album “A Body of Work” was released by Anka in 1998. It was his first new American studio release since the album “Walk a Fine Line” was released in 1983. The album featured guest appearances and contributions from a variety of artists, including Patti LaBelle, Celine Dion, and Kenny G, among others. The next year, in 2005, saw the release of an album titled “Rock Swings,” which featured big-band versions of popular rock tunes. Later on, Anka would go on to create the albums “Songs of December,” which peaked at number 58 in Canada, and “Duets,” which was released in 2013.

Life and Relationships

Between the dates of February 16, 1963 and 2001, Anka was married to Anne de Zogheb, who was the daughter of a Lebanese ambassador by the name of Charles de Zogheb. In 1962, the couple first met in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she was working as a fashion model on assignment for the Eileen Ford Agency and under contract with the company. Zogheb was raised in Egypt, but his family is originally from Lebanon, England, France, the Netherlands, and Greece. The following year, the couple married in a ceremony that took place at Paris-Orly Airport.

On September 6, 1990, he was granted citizenship in the United States through the process of naturalization.

Anka tied the knot with Anna Berg, his personal trainer, in Sardinia, Italy, in the year 2008. After getting a divorce in 2010, Paul was awarded exclusive custody of their child. Svenska Hollywoodfruar featured Anna as a guest star on an episode that aired in Sweden (Swedish Hollywood Wives).

Anka’s autobiography, titled My Way, was released in 2013, and it was written in collaboration with David Dalton.

Anka and Lisa Pemberton tied the knot in the month of October 2016 in the city of Beverly Hills, California. In the year 2020, they got a divorce.

Awards

Paul Anka Drive was given its name in 1972 and is located in Ottawa. To honor Paul Anka’s quarter-century career in the entertainment industry, the City Council of Ottawa proclaimed August 26 as “Paul Anka Day” in 1981.

In 1975, Anka was presented with the Juno Award for Composer of the Year, which is an honor bestowed upon songwriters. Numerous other categories of the Juno Awards have recognized his work with nominations. 1980 marked the year that he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

In October of 2004, Anka was conferred the rank of Officer in the Order of Canada.

In 2005, Anka was honored by having their star on the Walk of Fame in Canada.