70 Years Ago, Rock And Roll Topped the Charts for the First Time

On March 23, 1956, Elvis Presley made music history when his debut album shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and changed the trajectory of popular music forever.

The album includes twelve tracks, including the singer's breakout hit single, "Blue Suede Shoes". It climbed to the top spot on the U.S. charts and remained there for ten consecutive weeks, making it the first ever chart-topping rock and roll record.

Elvis Presley was famously recorded in New York, Nashville, and Memphis throughout the early '50s, during the singer's meteoric rise to fame within the rock and roll scene. Elvis was an emerging talent on the international stage, but it wouldn't be until his debut record that he finally became the worldwide star he's known as today.

The self-titled debut was also the first rock and roll album to reach one million sales. The genre had previously been hugely popular in the American south, particularly in Memphis and Nashville, but Elvis was the one to kickstart it into a global trend.

Presley was already making waves on the Billboard Hot 100 with his rock and roll singles "Baby Let's Play House" and "I Forgot To Remember To Forget", which had climbed to No. 5 and No. 1, respectively. "Heartbreak Hotel" had also been a huge hit for the singer prior to the album's release.

Although Presley was renowned for his melodic voice and dazzling stage presence, the songwriting duties were typically left to others. The tracks on Elvis Presley were not written by the performer; they are mostly covers, with writing credits going to Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Jesse Stone, and many more.

In 2012, Elvis Presley was ranked No. 56 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list—just behind Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, and The Beatles.