List of Elvis Presley Hit Singles

List Of Elvis Presley Hit Singles

This is a list of hit singles and extended plays by Elvis Presley. The US singles charts are explored in detail. While it is not the only measure, the number of hits an artist had is an important indicator of success and popular impact. The number of hits Elvis Presley had in the US became a topic of discussion in several news articles when it was announced by Billboard magazine in April 2008 that Mariah Carey and Madonna had surpassed Elvis Presley in the number of "Number 1" and "Top Ten" hits, with 18 and 37 hits respectively.

Both of these claims were disputed by music historian Joel Whitburn and Elvis Presley Enterprises. Whitburn lists Elvis as having 18 number 1 hits (placing him in a tie with Mariah Carey at that time) and 38 top ten hits (one more than Madonna at that time). Elvis Presley Enterprises claims Elvis had 40 top ten hits. The differences depend on whether a double-sided hit single is counted as one hit single, or two hit songs.

Before the age of Compact Discs and digital music downloads, singles were released on vinyl 45 RPM records, with one song on each side (an A-side and a B-side or flip side). Both songs of many Elvis singles became hits and were listed on the charts. "Hound Dog / Don't Be Cruel" was a double sided hit single that topped the Billboard Sales chart for 11 weeks in 1956. At the time, "Hound Dog" was listed as the number 1 A-side for the first 5 weeks, and "Don't Be Cruel" was listed as the number 1 A-side for the last 6 weeks. Now Billboard lists it as a single double sided hit. This article lists Elvis Presley’s hits, both A-sides and B-sides, on the Billboard singles charts (Pop/Hot 100, Country, Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary, and Rhythm and Blues), as well as rival music publications, Cash Box and Record World.

Another measure of an artist’s popular impact is sales. While Elvis is recognized by many in the recording industry as the best selling artist of all time, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the US recording industry’s official certifiing agent for sales, stirred up controversy in November 2007 when it announced that country singer Garth Brooks had become the best selling solo artist in US history .

Elvis Presley Enterprises has disputed the RIAA’s claim, pointing out several ommissions in the RIAA’s figures. The RIAA bases its claim on album sales only, and does not include single sales in determining the highest selling solo artist, despite the fact that the RIAA also certifies single sales. While Elvis’ album sales are significant, his single sales were also significant as can be seen in the tables below. During much of Elvis’ career in the 1950s and 1960s, single sales were considered the primary market for the industry, while albums were a secondary market. It was not until the late 1960s and early 1970s that albums became the primary market for the industry.

RIAA does not certify sales of less than 500,000 units for albums and singles. Elvis has had numerous albums and singles which have sold hundreds of thousands of units each but have not reached the 500,000 threshold. Taken together, these could add up to millions in total sales that are not recognized by the RIAA.

RIAA sales certifications are not automatic. The record company must pay a fee and request an audit from the RIAA in order to certify sales. During Elvis’ life, RCA submitted few of Elvis’ recordings for RIAA certification. Instead of paying for RIAA certification, RCA and other companies would simply award their own “Gold Record” to artists based on their internal sales figures. As a consequence, some of Elvis’ early sales information has been lost. RCA and BMG have researched archives and old files in an effort to reconstruct Elvis’ sales figures. This has led to Elvis receiving numerous RIAA certifications posthumously.

Also included in this article is a list of Elvis’ hit Extended Play (EP) releases, also known as Short Form Albums. EP’s were smaller than a full album but contained more songs than a single; usually 4 songs, though some EP’s had as many as 8.