Diana (song)

"Diana"
Single by Paul Anka
B-side	"Lonely Boy"
Released	1957 (1957)
Label	ABC Records

This article is about the Paul Anka song. For the Bryan Adams song of the same name, see Diana (Bryan Adams song).

"Diana" is a song written and made famous by Paul Anka in 1957. It was inspired by a high school friend named Diana Ayoub.^[1] The original Paul Anka 1957 recording reached number one on the Billboard "Best Sellers In Stores" chart (although it climbed no higher than number 2 on Billboard's composite "Top 100" chart) and has reportedly sold over 9 million copies.^[2] "Diana" also hit number one on the R&B Best Sellers list chart.^[3]

Recorded in May 1957 at Don Costa studio in New York.

After signing with RCA Records, Paul Anka rerecorded Diana, along with many other hits in 1963. All these versions were also published in Italian for a special LP. The song has also been covered multiple times; Ricky Martin sang a duet with Anka himself on the album Amigos, while the horror punk band Misfits recorded a version on their album Project 1950. Another duet was in 2006 with Anka and the famous Italian singer and entertainer Adriano Celentano with a new Italian text made by Giulio Rapetti (well-known as Mogol).

Chart performance

Chart (1957)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard R&B Singles Chart	1
Canadian Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	1
Australia Singles Chart	1

Preceded by "All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley	UK number one single August 30, 1957 for 9 weeks	Succeeded by "That'll Be the Day" by Buddy Holly and The Crickets
Preceded by "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On" by Jerry Lee Lewis	Billboard R&B Best Sellers in Stores number-one single September 23, 1957 - September 30, 1957 (two weeks)	Succeeded by "Honeycomb" by Jimmie Rodgers

References

1. ^ Paul Anka doesn't live here anymore: Part 1 paulanka.com
2. ^ Paul Anka, History of Rock and Roll. (URL accessed May 14, 2006)
3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 32.