After having released the SUN singles on their own label in November and December 1955 RCA Victor released their first own Presley single on January 27, 1956. "Heartbreak Hotel" entered Billboard's "Top 100" on March 3rd at number 68, stayed on the chart for 27 weeks and peaked at number one. "I Was The One" followed on March 10th, was listed 16 times and reached number 23. "Heartbreak Hotel" also was listed on the "Country Best Seller Chart" (1) and the "R&B Best Seller Chart" (5). The RIAA honored the US sales with a Platinum Award (1992) and a Double Platinum Award (1999). In the USA the single sold 2 million units and became the best selling single of the year. Worldwide "Heartbreak Hotel" / "I Was The One" moved 4 million copies wich translates 600 million paid streams. On Spotify "Heartbreak Hotel" was streamed approximately 155 million times and therefore remains a popular item of the Presley catalogue. The b-side clocks in at 5.5 million streams.

Obviously RCA Victor wasn't convinced of the success, they didn't even bother to produce an artwork. The single was simply put into a brown, RCA paper sleeve.

The single is not available on the streaming platforms since the tracks can be found on the albums "Elvis' Golden Records - Volume 1" and "For LP Fans Only".

RCA Victor also released the track on the ep "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956), the albums "Elvis' Golden Records - Volume 1" (1958) and "A Legendary Performer - Volume 1" (1974) as well as on the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1" (1970). Live performances can be found on the albums "Elvis" (1968) and "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden" (1972). The song was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden. Because Axton wanted to do the young singer a favor, she credited him as a writer and therefore gave him a third of the royalties. In the song the narrator was left by his girl and lives at Heartbreak Hotel, just down the end of Lonely Street. Elvis' vocals mirror the somewhat morbid mood of the tune, the echo also adds a special note. Elvis recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" on January 10, 1956 and chose take number 7 as the master. Producer Steve Sholes wasn't too happy about the track, because up to that point the young singer had been most successful with hyped-up versions of well known country songs. Besides that nobody at RCA Victor seemed to like "Heartbreak Hotel". It's not known weather Sholes trusted the instinct of the Hillbilly Cat or if he thought the first 45 would bomb anyway and he had better control of his artist if he could be made responsible for the flop. Whatever his thoughts might have been, after "Heartbreak Hotel" turned out to be a massive hit discussions of that kind were a thing of the past.

The ballad in mid-tempo was written by Aaron Schroeder, Claude DeMetrius, Hal Blair and Bill Peppers. Elvis recorded it on January 11, 1956 within ten takes. Because Steve Sholes mixed up the numbering and announced the takes 2, 3 and 7 twice, the master take was labled as "take 7b". The singer was left by his girl and now approaches her new partner. Obviously he once had found the girl completely untouched and taught her how to kiss, to caress and to get the tears flowing if necessary. And now, after his magnum opus is finished, it's gone. Shit happens! RCA Victor released the song on the ep "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956), the album "For LP Fans Only" (1959) and the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1" (1970).