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The legendary singer-songwriter compared his own rise to fame to that of Justin Bieber
NEED TO KNOW
- Paul Anka is comparing his rise to fame at 15 to Justin Bieber’s early success
- In a new interview, Anka credited his family’s support for keeping him grounded during his rapid rise to stardom
- The 84-year-old singer told PEOPLE recently that he sought solitude and peace of mind after multiple marriages and raising six children
Paul Anka is opening up about achieving success as a teen idol.
The legendary singer-songwriter, 84, appeared on a recent episode of The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan, comparing his rise to fame to that of Justin Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube at the age of 13.
“You know, you when Justin hit, it was all over Canada. The paper — they had a picture of me and a picture of him, cause we both live here. So there was a comparison,” Anka noted.
Anka was just 15 years old when he left his native Canada to kick-start a career that would include chart-toppers like “Diana” and “Lonely Boy.” In his 20s, he was taken under the wing of the Rat Pack, famously writing songs such as Frank Sinatra’s 1969 hit “My Way.”
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“So when it hit for me, you know, I was a young kid with this dream,” Anka explained. “I didn’t have any great looks. I didn’t have any height. I was an athlete, but it stopped because then I stopped growing. So, I found something that really turned my life upside down.”
Anka added that having the support of his family ensured he remained down to earth. “When you’re in the middle of all of that action, and I had a good upbringing, I had a great father. I had a great mother, you know, who was an ally of mine who, you know, I lost at 18. And that was the toughest part of my life. But you know they were always around me to keep me as level as one could, keeping that in mind.”
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Anka recently spoke to PEOPLE about choosing not to be in a relationship at this stage of his life, saying, “I’ve done the married thing. I’ll take all the good from it, some of the bad.”
“I love my solitude, and it’s an amazing place to be in, having peace of mind and growing older gracefully,” he added.
Anka was married to model Anne de Zogheb from 1963 to 2001, and the two share daughters Alexandra, 59, Amanda, 57, Alicia, 55, Anthea, 54, and Amelia, 48. He married Anna Åberg in 2008 and they divorced two years later after welcoming son Ethan, now 20 (Anka won full custody of Ethan in a 2017 court battle). From 2016 to 2020, Anka was married to Lisa Pemberton.
Read the original article on People
