Paul Anka at 84: New Album, HBO Documentary and a Life of Iconic Songs

Entertainer celebrates seven decades of timeless hits — and going viral on TikTok

A.J. Baime

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Published January 08, 2026

From starting as a teen idol crooning “Diana” seven decades ago to becoming a TikTok phenomenon for a new generation of young people, Paul Anka has been charting songs that define our times while also writing iconic ballads for other performers, including “My Way,” which Frank Sinatra turned into his signature encore. At 84, Anka has not slowed down: He’s the subject of a recent HBO documentary and has a new album coming out in February. Anka tells AARP how he’s determined not to waste any of our “biggest asset” — time.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You are the only artist ever to have hit songs on the Billboard charts for seven straight decades. You have recently finished a new album, Inspirations of Life and Love. Are you ever going to slow down?

I can’t believe I’m still doing this. Somewhere in that universe, whoever’s bestowing this on all of us has taken real good care of me. I’m thankful for it. I love what I’m doing, and I really do it well. I work where I want to work, when I want to work. I want to stay active ’cause I can still do it and I’m having a great time.

You grew up in Ottawa, Canada, and became a smashing success at 15 with your first single, “Diana.” What was that like?

Most everybody in my business I met were from modest backgrounds. Sometimes they couldn’t even pay bills. All of a sudden they get in this incredible business of fame and money. Everything I dreamed about happened. But I had to deal with it when I went onstage. I was scared to death. I got to Vegas and … I started feeling confident onstage. I didn’t have that in the beginning.

paul anka with a microphone, wearing a white suit jacket

“I can’t believe I’m still doing this,” says Paul Anka. The entertainer recently finished a new album, “Inspirations of Life and Love.” “I love what I’m doing, and I really do it well.”

Mark Weiss/Courtesy of Paul Anka Productions

America grew up with your songs, from “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” to the theme song for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. But the lyrics for “My Way,” which you wrote for Frank Sinatra, are in a different league. How did you write the words to that song?

We had a dinner in Florida, and he said he was quitting show business. He was doing one more album. He always used to tease me: “When are you gonna write me a song, kid?” So it was midnight. Thunderstorm outside. I’m at the piano, and struggling with … How do I start this? Here I was, what, 24? I metaphorically started writing as if Sinatra was writing it, but I don’t know where it came from. I learned at an early age that good is the enemy of great. So it had to be really great. Spiritually, it just hits you. It was a turning point in my career.

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Is making music different today than it was in the 1950s?

At that time, the business was in its infancy. It was a bunch of musicians in a studio, a couple of people behind a desk, and everybody rehearsed until you got what you thought was going to be the record. We would take 12, 13, 14, 15, 25 takes if we had to. We didn’t have the technology to help us like there is today. But what was cool about it was the blood, the sweat, that went into making that record live. Live! And when you listen to it sonically today on some of these LPs, you can feel it. Even the mistakes sound good. Today, technology has made it a different industry.

How do you keep fit?

When I started — working in Vegas with the Rat Pack — I couldn’t stand the smoking. I couldn’t stand drinking. I’ve always exercised, always been athletic. I keep evolving: the way I eat, the way I take care of my throat. It’s a lifestyle I don’t deviate from. I drink olive oil every morning. I drink lemon juice when I get up. I make a concoction of green apple, celery and cucumber. I don’t eat a lot of meat. I watch the bread intake, the sugar intake. You know, once you pass that 50 mark, that 60 mark, you’re always in the red zone.

One of the things you talk about in your documentary is the importance of family. As a performer, how do you find family balance?

Performers, unfortunately, their time allocation is often dictated. You’re in Africa for four months. You’re on the road. So when you take Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, you carve out holiday periods and you make a decision: I’m going to do that because time is our biggest asset, and if you waste it, you’re a fool. I’ve got five daughters, I’ve got a son, I’ve got nine grandchildren all over the world, and I have to allocate the time to be with them. Being around long enough, you see that family is the one thing that stays constant. The most real person in your life is your mother. I lost mine at 18, and it was very traumatic for me. So family has always been important.

dick clark interviewing a young paul anka in 1960

Dick Clark talks to Anka about his career during a visit to the singer-composer’s home in Tenafly, New Jersey, in 1960.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

You are known for collaborating with performers, from Buddy Holly to Michael Bublé. Your work with Michael Jackson stands out. What was it like working with him?

I watched Michael Jackson grow up. He and his family used to come to Caesars Palace in Vegas and see me and Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. They were a show-business family. I had an album, and I asked Michael: “I’d love you to be on it.” So in 1983, we sat down at my house in Carmel [California], where I lived at the time, and it was the most different collaboration I’ve ever had with anyone. I was trying to create a little different vibe for him, working with the talent of his vision.

How did you become a TikTok phenomenon?

I get a knock on my door, some girlfriends of my son. They start singing “Put Your Head on My Shoulder.” I go, “Are you kidding? What’s up?” My son said, “TikTok.” What? TikTok? He puts me on this TikTok thing, and people are singing the song, and there’s 50 million views. Well, now, when I go onstage, I’m playing to 30 percent young people, in their late teens, mid-20s. What a gift, right? How blessed can you be? You don’t see that coming.

Can you keep your career going forever?

If I don’t like it anymore, if the health fails, I’m out. I’m playing with the house’s money now, you know?

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