Throwback Thursday ‘Lonely’ by Akon (2005)

It was time to stop the speculation. Andy has been guessing every week of my Pandemic Inspired Throwbacks that Akon was coming up. So, it is finally time. Here it is.

Akon's "Lonely" was from his debut album, Trouble.

Akon's full name is Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam. That would be hard to fit on a CD so I understand why he just goes by Akon. Akon is of Senegalese descent. He is originally from New Jersey.

"Lonely" features a sample from "Mr. Lonely" by Bobby Vinton from 1962.

"Lonely" was in the running to be Akon's first single, but the record label thought it would be better to release "Locked Up" to give him some street cred first then aim for a crossover hit later. I guess it worked.

The music video for "Lonely" features Kat Graham as the love interest. It also featured a contest winner, Daniel Ellwood.

"Lonely" peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart.

According to Wikipedia, "The song was a number-one hit in several countries including Australia, Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Belgium, and Switzerland."

Akon went on to found two record labels Konvict Muzik and KonLive Distribution. These labels have launched the careers of Lady Gaga, T-Pain, R. City, and Kardinal Offishall, just to name a few.

In 2019, Akon released music with a Latin flare working with artists like Becky G and Anuel AA.

Akon has stayed busy during the Pandemic, on March 22, 2020, he released a song called "Girls Like U (The Akon Self-Isolation Remix)", which is a remix of the Maroon 5 song "Girls Like You".