“Diana” is a song written and made famous by Paul Anka in 1957, recorded in May 1957 at Don Costa studio in New York. Reportedly inspired by a high school friend of Anka’s named Diana Ayoub, in an interview with NPR’s Terry Gross in 2005, he stated that it was inspired by a girl at his church who he hardly knew.

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 nine million copies. “Diana” also hit number one on the R&B Best Sellers list chart. It also reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and sold 1.25 million copies in the UK.

After signing with RCA Records, Paul Anka re-recorded “Diana”, along with many other hits in 1963. All these versions were also published in Italian for a special LP.