Elvis Presley appears at the B and I Club in Swifton, Arkansas, and performs his new song, “Heartbreak Hotel”. He tells the audience, “It’s gonna be my first hit.” After he recorded it on January 10th, 1956, the single would lead the Billboard Top 100 for seven weeks, the Country and Western chart for seventeen weeks, and the Cashbox Best Sellers chart for six weeks. It would eventually sell over two million copies and be inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995, and was named one of the “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll” by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004

Video from the Milton Berle show, 4/3/1956