Singer Paul Anka may not be hanging up his microphone just yet, but the music legend admits he’s aware that “my day is coming.” The 84-year-old icon, whose career has spanned more than six decades, reflected on longevity, discipline and legacy in a recent interview, sharing the advice he often gives fellow performers facing vocal decline. “I say, ‘Keep your dignity and stop shortchanging the consumer and ride out a hero and a winner,'” he told Page Six.
© Deadline via Getty ImagesFortunately for fans, that moment still appears far off for the ‘Puppy Love’ singer. Paul continues to tour internationally, and his voice remains impressively strong – something he credits to the lifestyle choices he made early on. Having observed The Rat Pack up close in their Vegas heyday, he said he learned exactly what not to emulate. “I never became a drinker. I never became a smoker… I made up my mind that if I were going to continue to try and create… I gotta be in good health… and it’s paid off.”
© Getty Images for Fontainebleau LHis wellness routine is as focused as his work ethic. “I drink olive oil,” he revealed. “I drink lemon juice at a certain time…I fast once a week. I exercise, [I do] what I have to do.” He added that avoiding stress is just as important as physical habits. “I’m in this passage where I don’t want any people to put any stress in my life. Go away! Don’t need you. That’s the big killer.”
While Paul’s legacy is already cemented, he has enjoyed an unexpected resurgence in recent years thanks to TikTok, where teenagers rediscovered his 1959 hit ‘Put Your Head on My Shoulder.’ The viral moment boosted his global audience dramatically. “It broadened the parameters,” he said, noting that at a recent show in Mexico, “Thirty per cent of them are just teenagers with albums and screaming.”
© Getty ImagesHis renewed popularity arrives just as HBO Max prepares to release Paul Anka: His Way on 1 December. The documentary traces his extraordinary career, including the story of how he acquired a French melody, wrote new English lyrics and created ‘My Way’, the song that would become Frank Sinatra’s signature anthem – all at just 24 years old.
The film also explores how Paul penned the Tonight Show theme and willingly gave original host Johnny Carson half the publishing rights. He has zero regrets. “It was found money,” he said, estimating it brought in “some stupid number,” around a million dollars a year, and jokingly calling it the “School Song” because it paid for the college educations of his six children.
© WireImagePaul has been married three times: first to model Anne de Zogheb, whom he wed in 1963 and with whom he shares five daughters – Alexandra, Amanda (who is married to Arrested Development star Jason Bateman), Alicia, Anthea and Amelia. After their divorce in 2000, Anka married his second wife, Anna Åberg, in 2008; together they welcomed a son, Ethan, before divorcing in 2010. In 2016, he married Lisa Pemberton, though the couple separated several years later.
Still writing, still performing and still evolving, Paul will release a new album early next year titled Inspirations of Life and Love. Even as he contemplates retirement someday, he remains firmly – and impressively – in his creative stride.