Paul Anka Had No Idea He'd Co-Written Michael Jackson's First Posthumous Hit. Then the Phone Rang
The music icon recounts the story in the new documentary 'Paul Anka: His Way,' which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
George Pimentel/WireImage, Phil Dent/Redferns
Paul Anka in 2019; Michael Jackson in 1996.Michael Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50 shocked the world, but the aftermath of the King of Pop’s passing packed an extra punch for Paul Anka.
The legendary crooner and composer was surprised to discover that he’d co-written Jackson’s first posthumous hit — and he had no idea until it was already on the airwaves.
Anka, 83, recounts the story in the new documentary Paul Anka: His Way, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 10.
Directed by John Maggio and produced by Blue Ant Studios, PA Doc and Ark Media, the film details Anka's epic 70-year journey from a Canadian teen idol to an international superstar and one of pop music’s preeminent maestros.
He’s responsible for chart-toppers like the future TikTok anthem “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” “You Are My Destiny” and “Diana” under his own name, as well as Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady,” Buddy Holly’s “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore" and the theme to Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.
But even Anka was surprised to learn that he’d co-written the first Jackson song released after his death: “This Is It.”
The pair first became acquainted in the ‘70s, when Jackson — then performing with his brothers as the Jackson 5 — frequently attended Anka’s shows in the glittering showrooms of the Las Vegas strip. By the dawn of the new decade, Jackson was forging his own path as a solo artist and sought out Anka as a collaborator.
“Michael came up and stayed in my guest house and we went to the studio,” Anka recalls in the documentary. “We wrote and spent time together and we got three or four things down. I got his vocal and piano [recorded].” One of the tracks they worked on during those 1980 sessions was tentatively called 'I Never Heard.' "
The title proved prophetic. With the record-breaking success of Jackson’s decade-defining album Thriller in 1982, the songs penned with Anka were shelved indefinitely, and the musician largely forgot about them until he was contacted in the wake of Jackson’s death, when a posthumous release called “This Is It” was making news.
“One day I got a call from TMZ," Anka explains in the doc. "[They said,] ‘We’re told you wrote this song with Michael.’ I said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, I never wrote a song called 'This Is It.' Send it to me.' After a few bars, he realized that this “new” Jackson song was actually a completed version of “I Never Heard” that had been polished off with instrumental overdubs and given a new title.
Anka’s name was hastily added to the credits, thus adding to his list of hits.
Another Anka/Jackson co-write would surface five years later in 2014 with the release of “Love Never Felt So Good.” Featuring guest vocals by Justin Timberlake, the track would become Jackson’s last Top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 to date.
Elements of a third song from the sessions — incomplete and thought to be untitled — was incorporated into the Drake cut "Don't Matter To Me," which was included on the rapper's 2018 album Scorpion.
A theatrical release date for Paul Anka: His Way has not yet been announced. The Toronto Film Festival continues through Sunday.
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