All inducted songs
"I wrote "She's a Lady" on the back of a TWA menu, flying back from London"
She’s a Lady
  • Year Inducted: 2008
  • Written In: 1971
Songwriters
Paul Anka Songwriter
© Photo Credit Library & Archives Canada
Artists
Patricia Barber
Funkstar De Luxe
Highliners
Joe Jones
Tom Jones
Red Mitchell
The Persuasians
The Ventures
Paul Anka wrote She’s A Lady in 1971, while on a plane returning home from London, England.

Tom Jones’ manager, Gordon Mills, had asked Paul Anka to write a song that would be a guaranteed hit in the U.S., so as Anka sat on the plane, he began thinking, ‘Tom…women…’ and the rest is history.

Brimming with male bravado, She’s A Lady became a tremendous hit for Tom Jones, who recorded it in 1971 on his album Sing She’s A Lady. The song reached #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and became Jones’ biggest selling single of all time, giving Anka his first #1 hit in the USA and his only #1 hit in CashBox Magazine.

The success of She’s A Lady was another notch in Anka’s belt and yet another example of his versatility as a songwriter. The cheeky lyrics and swinging beat were perfect for Jones, a crooning Casanova known for his sexual energy on stage.

Other artists have produced unique renditions of this standard, including a house version by Funkstar de Luxe on his 2001 album Keep on Moving (It’s Too Funky in Here), and a jazzy, tongue in cheek version by Patricia Barber on her 1998 album Modern Cool.

Read full story
Related News
February 22, 2024

King Lou talks the genesis and legacy of Dream Warriors’ “My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style”

Blog
February 15, 2024

Neil Young and Crazy Horse Announce New Album and Tour

Blog
Our Partners