`HEARTBREAK HOTEL' TURNS 45 TOMORROW (JAN. 25)

`HEARTBREAK HOTEL' TURNS 45 TOMORROW (JAN. 25)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Wireless Flash) -- Tomorrow (Jan. 25) is a heartbreaking date for Elvis Presley fans: It's the 45th anniversary of the day "Heartbreak Hotel" was released. On January 25, 1956, RCA released the tune, which had been recorded just two weeks earlier in a Memphis studio with Chet Atkins sitting in on guitar. The song was written in 22 minutes after composers Mae Axton and Tommy Durden read a news story about a suicide victim whose final note was: "I walk a lonely street." Axton soon called Presley and told him, "I have your first million-seller" and when the King finally heard it, he liked it so much, he listened to it 10 times in a row. Presley wasn't the only one who liked the song. "Heartbreak Hotel" ended up topping the charts for eight weeks in a row and was the No. 1 single of 1956.