Pick a Day

Music History Events: Releases

October 6, 1956 Elvis Presley releases "Love Me Tender," the title song to his first movie. It goes on to become his fifth #1 hit in America.

July 13, 1956 Elvis Presley releases "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" as a double-A-side single. It sells four million copies to become the top-selling single of 1956, and makes Elvis a superstar. He's soon booked on every major variety show and launches a movie career.

July 7, 1956 The Platters release "My Prayer."

July 2, 1956 Elvis Presley records "Hound Dog" at the RCA studios in New York City. Needing a B-side, Elvis and his team listen to some demos and find a song called "Don't Be Cruel," which they also record in the session. The two songs are released 11 days later as a double-A-side single and set numerous records for sales and chart position.

June 5, 1956 Gene Vincent releases "Be-Bop-a-Lula."

May 14, 1956 The Platters release The Platters.

May 1, 1956 Johnny Cash releases "I Walk The Line," a pledge of fidelity to his first wife. When the song becomes a hit, Cash finds it much harder to be true and strikes up an affair with June Carter, whom he later marries.

January 27, 1956 21-year-old Elvis Presley releases "Heartbreak Hotel," which becomes his first #1 hit in America.

January 1, 1956 Carl Perkins releases "Blue Suede Shoes."

December 15, 1955 Johnny Cash releases his second single, "Folsom Prison Blues." It becomes far more popular in 1968 when Cash releases a live version recorded at the titular California penitentiary and released on his album Live From Folsom Prison.

September 17, 1955 After DJs keep complaining that Les Paul's "Magic Melody" single ends abruptly, Capitol Records releases the shortest single of all time, Les Paul's "Magic Melody Part 2," which is merely the final two notes of the old "shave and a haircut" tag. Released only as a promo, it lasts exactly one second.

January 12, 1955 A teenaged Etta James releases her first single, the #1 R&B hit "The Wallflower," re-titled from the scandalous-sounding "Roll With Me, Henry."

July 19, 1954 Elvis Presley releases his first single: "That's All Right" backed with "Blue Moon Of Kentucky."

March 12, 1953 Popular WDIA disc jockey Rufus Thomas signs with an upstart Memphis label called Sun Records in order to release a song called "Bear Cat," an answer record to Big Mama Thornton's hit "Hound Dog."

October 6, 1947 Gene Autry releases "Here Comes Santa Claus," a song he wrote after riding in a Christmas parade and hearing children scream out for Santa.

October 4, 1943 Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five release "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?"

January 2, 1941 The Andrews Sisters release "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."

July 14, 1939 Jimmy Dorsey releases "Brazil."

November 24, 1937 The Andrews Sisters release "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön."

March 7, 1917 "The Dixie Jass Band One Step," by Nick LaRocca's Original Dixieland Jass Band (Victor 18255), becomes the first jazz recording released for sale in the US.

July 29, 2022 Beyoncé releases her seventh solo album, Renaissance, with the hit "Break My Soul." Like her previous six albums, it goes to #1 in America.

November 5, 2021 ABBA release Voyage, their first album in 40 years, and also their last. They decided to make it while preparing for their show Voyage, which features digital avatars ("Abba-tars") of the band members. The album goes to #1 in most European countries and also Australia.

September 30, 2021 Tony Bennett, 95, releases an album of standards with Lady Gaga called Love For Sale, making him (according to Guinness) the oldest person to release an album of new material.

May 21, 2021 Olivia Rodrigo releases her debut album, Sour, which includes her debut single, "Drivers License," and also the hits "Deja Vu," "Good 4 U," and "Brutal."

January 8, 2021 Morgan Wallen releases Dangerous: The Double Album, with the hit "7 Summers." It debuts at #1 in America and stays there for 10 weeks, the longest run at the top since Drake's Views in 2016.

January 8, 2021 Seventeen-year-old Olivia Rodrigo, known as an actress on various Disney shows, releases her debut single, "Drivers License," a heart-rending song that tops the charts in many territories, including America, where it stays at #1 for eight weeks.

December 18, 2020 Paul McCartney releases McCartney III. He's a one-man band on the album, playing all the instruments and writing all the songs, which he also did on the prequels, McCartney in 1970 and McCartney II in 1980.

August 28, 2020 Katy Perry releases her sixth album, Smile. It's bundled with the video game Katy's Quest, which she is seen playing in the video for the title track.

July 31, 2020 The Psychedelic Furs release Made Of Rain, their first album since 1991, the year they disbanded. The group re-formed in 2000 but didn't get around to releasing new music until 20 years later.

July 24, 2020 Taylor Swift releases her eighth album, Folklore. Instead of leading into it with a big publicity campaign, it's announced just a day earlier. Like her previous six albums, it goes straight to #1 in America.