Elvis Presley Reached No. 1 for 1st Time 70 Years Ago

The King of Rock and Roll reached a new career milestone 70 years ago today.

On May 5, 1956, Elvis Presley earned No. 1 for a single and an album concurrently for the first time, a feat that had only been achieved by two artists before him.

Presley reached the top of the charts for his single "Heartbreak Hotel" and his self-titled debut album at the same time. While he would go on to repeat this achievement four more times before his 1977 death, only two artists came before him.

"Released as Presley's first single with label RCA Victor, 'Heartbreak Hotel' was recorded in Nashville with his band The Blue Moon Boys, guitarist Chet Atkins, and pianist Floyd Cramer," This Day in Music reported. "It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks, later becoming the rock'n'roll pioneer's first million-selling single, and reached the Top 5 of the Country and R&B charts simultaneously. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995.

As for the previous two artists, Vaughn Monroe's song "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and album On The Moon-Beam reached No. 1 on January 26, 1946, followed by MarioLanza's song "Be My Love" and album The Toast of New Orleans five years later.

"Heartbreak Hotel" was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden and released by Presley in January 1956, becoming his first single with his new record label, RCA Victor. The hit became Presley's first to sell a million copies and landed in the top 5 of Country and Western, Pop, and Rhythm 'n' Blues charts simultaneously.

Nearly 20 years after his death, "Heartbreak Hotel" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995.

"When I first heard 'Heartbreak Hotel,' I could hardly make out what was being said. It was just the experience of hearing it and having my hair stand on end. We'd never heard American voices singing like that," late Beatles icon John Lennon said, according to the biography Elvis Presley: The Man. The Life. The Legend. "They always sang like Sinatra or enunciate very well. Suddenly, there's this hillbilly hiccuping on tape echo and all this bluesy stuff going on. And we didn't know what Elvis was singing about … It took us a long time to work what was going on. To us, it just sounded as a noise that was great."

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This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 2:01 AM.