Elvis Presley recorded his first hit on January 10, 1956, for RCA Records in Nashville, Tennessee. He recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" along with a few other songs. The single was released on January 27 and hit number one on the record charts by April. This single sold over one million copies.
Billboard released a statement on December 29, 1956, that revealed that Elvis had more songs in the Top 100 than any other artist in history. That same week, the Wall Street Journal released figures that showed album and merchandise sales for Presley's first year grossed more than $22 million.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Elvis Presley released over 150 different albums and singles during the course of his life, all of which went gold, platinum or multi-platinum. Forty percent of the sales are estimated to have taken place in other countries.
Of all his recordings, nearly 149 ended up in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. Of these, 114 were top 40 hits, while 40 were top 10. Eighteen of Elvis Presely's recordings went to number one. These spent a combined total of 80 weeks at number one.
During the period of time between 1958 and 1960, Elvis Presely's recording career was put on hold during a stint in the U.S. Army. Before he went into the military, he recorded enough material for six albums to be released during the hiatus.