This is a list of number-one songs in the United States during the year 1956 according to Billboard magazine. Prior to the creation of the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard published multiple singles charts each week. In 1956, the following five charts were produced:
Note: In the issues dated February 25, June 16, September 15, November 17, and December 22, Billboard reported a tie for the number-one single on the Top 100. In addition, Billboard considered the following B-sides as sharing the number-one spot with its A-side on one of its charts:
Issue date | Best Sellers in Stores | Most Played by Jockeys | Most Played in Jukeboxes | Honor Roll of Hits | Top 100 | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
January 7 | "Sixteen Tons" Tennessee Ernie Ford with Orchestra Conducted by Jack Fascinato | "Memories Are Made of This" Dean Martin with Orchestra conducted by Dick Stabile | "Sixteen Tons" Tennessee Ernie Ford with Orchestra Conducted by Jack Fascinato | "Sixteen Tons" | "Sixteen Tons" Tennessee Ernie Ford with Orchestra Conducted by Jack Fascinato | [4] |
January 14 | "Memories Are Made of This" Dean Martin with Orchestra conducted by Dick Stabile | "Memories Are Made of This" | "Memories Are Made of This" Dean Martin with Orchestra conducted by Dick Stabile | [5] | ||
January 21 | [6] | |||||
January 28 | "Memories Are Made of This" Dean Martin with Orchestra conducted by Dick Stabile | [7] | ||||
February 4 | [8] | |||||
February 11 | [9] | |||||
February 18 | "Rock and Roll Waltz" Kay Starr with Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra and Chorus | "The Great Pretender" The Platters | "The Great Pretender" The Platters | [10] | ||
February 25 | "Lisbon Antigua" Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra | "The Great Pretender" The Platters | "Rock and Roll Waltz" | "The Great Pretender" The Platters "Rock and Roll Waltz" Kay Starr with Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra and Chorus | [11] | |
March 3 | "Lisbon Antigua" Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra | "Rock and Roll Waltz" Kay Starr with Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra and Chorus | "Rock and Roll Waltz" Kay Starr with Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra and Chorus | [12] | ||
March 10 | "Rock and Roll Waltz" Kay Starr with Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra and Chorus | [13] | ||||
March 17 | "The Poor People of Paris" Les Baxter | "Poor People of Paris (Jean's Song)" | [14] | |||
March 24 | "The Poor People of Paris" Les Baxter | "Rock and Roll Waltz" | "The Poor People of Paris" Les Baxter | [15] | ||
March 31 | "Poor People of Paris (Jean's Song)" | [16] | ||||
April 7 | [17] | |||||
April 14 | "Lisbon Antigua" Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra | "The Poor People of Paris" Les Baxter | [18] | |||
April 21 | "Heartbreak Hotel"/"I Was the One" Elvis Presley | "The Poor People of Paris" Les Baxter | [19] | |||
April 28 | [20] | |||||
May 5 | "Heartbreak Hotel" Elvis Presley | "Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)" Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra & the Ray Charles Singers | "Heartbreak Hotel"/"I Was the One" Elvis Presley | "Heartbreak Hotel" | "Heartbreak Hotel" Elvis Presley | [21] |
May 12 | "Heartbreak Hotel" Elvis Presley | "Heartbreak Hotel" Elvis Presley | [22] | |||
May 19 | "Hot Diggity" | [23] | ||||
May 26 | "Heartbreak Hotel"/"I Was the One" Elvis Presley | "Heartbreak Hotel" | [24] | |||
June 2 | "Moonglow and Theme from Picnic" Morris Stoloff | "Heartbreak Hotel" Elvis Presley | "Moonglow and Theme from Picnic" | [25] | ||
June 9 | [26] | |||||
June 16 | "The Wayward Wind" Gogi Grant with Orchestra Under Direction of Buddy Bregman | "Heartbreak Hotel" Elvis Presley "The Wayward Wind" Gogi Grant with Orchestra Under Direction of Buddy Bregman | [27] | |||
June 23 | "The Wayward Wind" Gogi Grant with Orchestra Under Direction of Buddy Bregman | "The Wayward Wind" Gogi Grant with Orchestra Under Direction of Buddy Bregman | [28] | |||
June 30 | "The Wayward Wind" Gogi Grant with Orchestra Under Direction of Buddy Bregman | [29] | ||||
July 7 | "Wayward Wind" | [30] | ||||
July 14 | [31] | |||||
July 21 | [32] | |||||
July 28 | "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"/"My Baby Left Me" Elvis Presley | "I Almost Lost My Mind" Pat Boone | [33] | |||
August 4 | "My Prayer"/"Heaven on Earth" The Platters | "I Almost Lost My Mind" Pat Boone | [34] | |||
August 11 | [35] | |||||
August 18 | "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley | "My Prayer" The Platters | "My Prayer" | "My Prayer" The Platters | [36] | |
August 25 | "My Prayer" The Platters | [37] | ||||
September 1 | "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley | [38] | ||||
September 8 | "Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley | [39] | ||||
September 15 | "My Prayer" The Platters "Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley | [40] | ||||
September 22 | "Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley | "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" Elvis Presley | "Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley | [41] | ||
September 29 | "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" Elvis Presley | "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley | "Don't Be Cruel" | [42] | ||
October 6 | "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" Elvis Presley | [43] | ||||
October 13 | [44] | |||||
October 20 | [45] | |||||
October 27 | [46] | |||||
November 3 | "Love Me Tender" Elvis Presley | "Love Me Tender" Elvis Presley | "Love Me Tender" | "Green Door" Jim Lowe with The High Fives | [47] | |
November 10 | "Love Me Tender"/"Any Way You Want Me" Elvis Presley | [48] | ||||
November 17 | "Green Door" Jim Lowe with The High Fives | "Green Door" Jim Lowe with The High Fives "Love Me Tender" Elvis Presley | [49] | |||
November 24 | "Love Me Tender" Elvis Presley | "Love Me Tender" Elvis Presley | [50] | |||
December 1 | [51] | |||||
December 8 | "Singing the Blues" Guy Mitchell with Ray Conniff & his Orchestra | "Singing the Blues" Guy Mitchell with Ray Conniff & his Orchestra | "Love Me Tender"/"Any Way You Want Me" Elvis Presley | "Singing the Blues" Guy Mitchell with Ray Conniff & his Orchestra | [52] | |
December 15 | "Singing the Blues" Guy Mitchell with Ray Conniff & his Orchestra | "Singing the Blues" | [53] | |||
December 22 | "Singing the Blues" Guy Mitchell with Ray Conniff & his Orchestra "Love Me Tender" Elvis Presley | [54] | ||||
December 29 | "Singing the Blues" Guy Mitchell with Ray Conniff & his Orchestra | [55] | ||||
The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, online streaming, and radio play in the U.S.
"Earth Angel", occasionally referred to as "Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)", is a song by American doo-wop group the Penguins. Produced by Dootsie Williams, it was released as their debut single in October 1954 on Dootone Records. The Penguins had formed the year prior and recorded the song as a demo in a garage in South Central Los Angeles. The song's origins lie in multiple different sources, among them songs by Jesse Belvin, Patti Page, and the Hollywood Flames. Its authorship was the subject of a bitter legal dispute with Williams in the years following its release.
"Don't Be Cruel" is a song that was recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is currently ranked as the 173rd greatest song of all time, as well as the sixth best song of 1956, by Acclaimed Music.
Elvis is the second studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor on October 19, 1956 in mono. Recording sessions took place on September 1, September 2, and September 3 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, with one track left over from the sessions for Presley's debut album at the RCA Victor recording studios on January 30 in New York. It spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart that year, making Presley the first recording artist to have both albums go straight to number one in the same year. It would go on to spend 5 weeks at #1 in total. It was certified Gold on February 17, 1960, and Platinum on August 10, 2011, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Elvis' Golden Records is a compilation album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in March 1958. It compiled his hit singles released in 1956 and 1957, and is widely believed to be the first greatest hits album in rock and roll history. It is the first of five RCA Victor Elvis' Golden/Gold Records compilations, the first four of which were issued during Presley's lifetime. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart and was certified 6× platinum on August 17, 1999, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The singles discography of Elvis Presley began in 1954 with the release of his first commercial single, "That's All Right". Following his regional success with Sun Records, Presley was signed to RCA Victor on November 20, 1955. Presley's first single with RCA, "Heartbreak Hotel", was a worldwide hit, reaching the No. 1 position in four countries and the top 10 in many other countries. Other hit singles from the 1950s include "Hound Dog", "Don't Be Cruel", "Love Me Tender", "Too Much", "All Shook Up", "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear", "Jailhouse Rock", "Don't", "Hard Headed Woman" and "A Big Hunk o' Love". On March 24, 1958, Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, and was stationed in Germany. He left active duty on March 5, 1960.