Breaking: Paul Anka Co-Writer on This Is It, CNN Reports
Written by: George Bounacos
Paul and David Foster in Las Vegas in 2009. Image by Getty Images via Daylife
CNN is reporting that legendary crooner Paul Anka co-wrote and performs on Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the late singer’s final release.
Anka, a powerful songwriter also had chart success dating back to 1951′s Diana. He last appeared as an artist on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts 26 years ago singing Hold Me ‘Til The Morning Comes, a song he co-wrote with producer David Foster. Anka also penned songs for Buddy Holly and multiple Spanish artists in addition to his own tracks, but his compositions My Way and The Tonight Show Theme.
Anka told reporters yesterday that he wrote This Is It in 1983, and that he and Jackson recorded the song together a decade later in Anka’s studios. The 69 year old singer, a week away from returning to the charts more than 50 years after he too struck gold as a teen singer, has told multiple media sources that the Jackson camp has acknowledged the song’s pedigree and the album will feature Anka’s piano as well as show the appropriate songwriting credit.
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You beat me to it. I think the latest is that he’s getting 50% of the split.
I also heard he gave it to a singer many years ago, though the title wasn’t the same.
Anka and Jackson wrote several songs together in the early Eighties. Apparently the song was given to Sa-Fire, who was relatively popular in the late Eighties/early Nineties. Don’t know what the writing credit was, though…
Paul Anka is a brilliant songwriter so no kick there. Heck, look at Rod Temperton. Brilliant. Musician. Songwriter par excellence, and not just for MJ.
Heck, Mikey knows that I think Desmond Child is the most underrated guy in pop music today.
But it was really, really sloppy to drop the most anticipated single of the last decade without knowing the song’s pedigree. Did I mention it was sloppy?
Yep, totally sloppy.
Extremely sloppy. Of course, being the cynic that I am, I think that they knew the songwriting credit all along and just blew this up to amplify the buzz around the song.