At just 16 years old, Canadian singer-songwriter Paul Anka wrote the song that would turn him into an international star. Diana was more than his breakthrough: it became one of the defining teen-pop records of the 1950s and demonstrated that Anka was already an accomplished songwriter at an unusually young age.
Anka recorded the song in May 1957 at RCA Victor Studios in New York, with Don Costa producing the session. It was released on July 2, 1957, through ABC-Paramount, with Don't Gamble with Love on the B-side.
The inspiration behind Diana was personal. Anka later explained that the song was inspired by Diana Ayoub, a girl he had met through his church and community activities and on whom he had developed a crush. The song transforms that youthful infatuation into the plea of a teenage boy desperately asking an older girl to notice him.
There is an interesting story behind how the recording came to exist. Anka traveled from Ottawa to New York to present his songs to ABC-Paramount executive Don Costa. He played Diana for Costa, who was sufficiently impressed to bring other executives into the room. The teenager soon had a recording contract, although his father had to sign the paperwork because Anka was still a minor.
The record captured the sound of the emerging rock-and-roll era while retaining the melodic sophistication of traditional pop. Anka's youthful voice is surrounded by a full studio arrangement featuring musicians including guitarist George Barnes, pianist Moe Wechsler, bassist Jerry Bruno, drummer Panama Francis, and guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli.
The response was extraordinary. Diana topping the Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores on August 31, 1957 and R&B Best Sellers in Stores on September 14, 1957. In the United Kingdom, it went all the way to No. 1, where it remained for nine weeks according to the Official Charts Company. In the UK it reached the number one spot on the Official Chart on August 30, 1957, a position it held for 9 weeks.
The song also topped the charts in Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Spain, among other markets. Its enormous international success established Anka as one of the most important young songwriters and performers of the era.
Diana is remarkable not simply because it became a huge hit, but because of who wrote it. Paul Anka was only 16 when he created the song and only 16 when he recorded it. The success launched a career that would eventually make him one of the most prolific songwriters of popular music, but Diana remains the youthful recording that started it all.
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