"Diana" by Paul Anka.

OK, girls and boys, back to the 50s: This 15-year-old Ottawan met the 18-year-old muse for his first hit at Lebanese community and church events (she was not his baby sitter, as per early rumors) and became his first teen crush, even though she was completely unaware that the song was written about her. Master jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli contributed the trademark "calypso riff" on the recording. #1 Billboard for 2 weeks in late '57 selling over 9 million copies, #1 R&B and #1 UK. One of the best-selling singles ever by a Canadian artist. Artist? Song? Answer: "Diana" by Paul Anka. Diana Ayoub, the inspiration for this classic, passed away in Ottawa in 2022 at the age of 83. We had the privilege of seeing 7-string (!) jazz guitar virtuoso Bucky Pizzarelli and his son John in Ames many years ago - unforgettable concert! We also saw Paul Anka at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, IA some years ago. He looked great and the voice is still there! How Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka are still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is beyond me. Don't get me started! Paul Anka did a series of shows at the Caribe Hilton Hotel in P.R. in 1961, when I was 9. I still have no idea how this happened but I was staying at my maternal grandmother's house in Caparra Heights being watched by the teenage girl next door. She puts me in her car (possibly unbeknownst to my grandmother!) and we drive to the Caribe Hilton, where she meets her girlfriends. She leaves me in her car at the parking lot (this was 1961) and, next thing I know, there goes Paul Anka running down the hotel hallway chased by a throng of adoring screaming teenage girls. To make a long story short, both Paul and I survived and I'll never know if my grandmother and my parents ever heard of this adventure - I most certainly never told anyone! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Q0fuBwt-g