1969 Hit Song Stopped Frank Sinatra From Retiring

In 1969, Frank Sinatra released what would become one of his signature hits, “My  Way.” The song, which was a lyrical adaptation of the French song “Comme D’Habitude,” was written by Paul Anka.

“My Way” was a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 27 in 1969, while reaching No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart. The song hit No. 5 in the U.K. and stayed on the charts for more than a year. It also became one of Sinatra’s signature songs—and it stopped him from a premature retirement.

Speaking with CBS News in February 2026, Anka, 84, looked back on writing “My Way” after he got word that Ole Blue Eyes was planning to retire.

“It started to write itself,” he said of the song, which took him about five hours to complete. “It was such a hit, he stayed ten more years!” Anka added of Sinatra. “And then after that came ‘Let Me Try Again.'”

According to People magazine, “My Way” originated when Anka heard “Comme D’Habitude” on the radio while vacationing in France and became “captivated” by it. The young songwriter contacted the publishers to cut a sweet deal for adaptation, recording, and publishing rights to the song.

Soon after, a dire dinner meeting with Sinatra spawned Anka’s hit adaptation of the song.

“He wasn’t in a good mood — he was breaking up with his wife, Mia Farrow, so he wasn’t in the best of shape,” Anka recalled on a 2024 episode of the Our Way podcast. “We were at dinner, and he said, ‘Kid, I’m quitting show business. I’ve had enough. I’m tired, the Rat Pack’s over. I’m doing one more album — and  you never wrote me a song.’”

Anka recalled going home and writing moving lyrics to the French melody he’d acquired. “I was kind of metaphorically writing it with [Frank] in mind because I was moved by the fact that he was leaving,” Anka shared. “So I wrote it as if he were writing it.” 

He soon presented the song to Sinatra—and the rest is history.

In 2026, Anka told Deadline that he was devastated when Sinatra told him he was retiring. “I’m a music guy, but this is my guy and he’s quitting,” Anka recalled. “I can’t f—ing believe it. So when he said that to me, I was crushed.”

“My dream was to make a song for him,” Anka added. “I thought I had run out of time. I had one shot left. I’d bought this melody I heard and liked, and I thought about Frank looking back at his career, and it just poured out of me.”

Sinatra announced his retirement in 1971 but returned to the music scene two years later and continued to perform for decades. Sinatra’s final solo studio album, L.A. is My Lady, was released in 1984, and his last live show was in 1995. The music legend died in May 1998 at age 82.

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