We normally concentrate on ranking movies….but we thought it would be fun to do a Music Ranking Page. The first thing we did was do a quick mathematical equation that would help statistically rank songs. Parts in that equation include how many weeks the song stayed in the Top 40, what the songs peak position was and how long it stayed at that peak position.
Our main sources of information came from Joel Whitburn and his many Top 40 Hits books. We then figured we should pick a “guinea pig” to be our first subject. After a little debate…we decided to go with The King….Mr. Elvis Presley. Elvis’ Top 40 resume is impressive. He had over 100 Top 40 songs; including 18 number one songs and almost 40 Top 10 songs. So…that was the process…..and the following massive table ranks all of Elvis’s songs from 1st to 107th.
Elvis Presley Songs That Made The Billboard Top 40
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Elvis Presely Songs by our UMR rank
- Sort Elvis Presley Songs by the title of the songs
- Sort Elvis Presley Songs by the date they reached the Billboard charts for the first time
- Sort Elvis Presley Songs by our Ultimate Movie Rankings Score
- Sort Elvis Presley Songs by the peak position on the Billboard charts
- Sort Elvis Presley Songs by the number of weeks on the Billboard Top 40
| Rank | Song | Debut on Charts | UMR Score | Peak Position | Number 1 Weeks | Top 40 Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don't Be Cruel | August 4, 1956 | 99.99 | 1 | 11 | 24 | |
| All Shook Up | April 6, 1957 | 98.66 | 1 | 9 | 22 | |
| Heartbreak Hotel | March 10, 1956 | 97.33 | 1 | 8 | 22 | |
| Jailhouse Rock | October 14, 1957 | 95.00 | 1 | 7 | 19 | |
| Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear | June 24, 1957 | 91.66 | 1 | 7 | 18 | |
| Hound Dog | August 4, 1956 | 90.89 | 1 | 1 | 23 | |
| Love Me Tender | October 20, 1956 | 90.87 | 1 | 5 | 19 | |
| Don't | January 27, 1958 | 86.83 | 1 | 5 | 16 | |
| It's Now Or Never | July 25, 1960 | 86.73 | 1 | 5 | 16 | |
| I Want You, I Need You, I Love You | June 2, 1956 | 85.66 | 1 | 1 | 19 | |
| Are You Lonesome To-night? | November 14, 1960 | 85.56 | 1 | 6 | 14 | |
| Too Much | January 26, 1957 | 81.50 | 1 | 3 | 14 | |
| Stuck On You | April 11, 1960 | 81.45 | 1 | 4 | 13 | |
| Hard Headed Woman | June 30, 1958 | 80.03 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |
| Return To Sender | October 27, 1962 | 80.00 | 2 | 0 | 14 | |
| Suspicious Minds | September 20, 1969 | 79.26 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| Love Me | November 24, 1956 | 79.20 | 2 | 0 | 14 | |
| Surrender | February 20, 1961 | 77.26 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| Good Luck Charm | March 24, 1962 | 77.03 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| Wear My Ring Around Your Neck | April 21, 1958 | 75.32 | 2 | 0 | 13 | |
| A Big Hunk Of Love | July 13, 1959 | 74.66 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| Can't Help Falling In Love | December 18, 1961 | 73.26 | 2 | 0 | 12 | |
| Burning Love | September 9, 1972 | 73.21 | 2 | 0 | 12 | |
| One Night | November 10, 1958 | 72.94 | 4 | 0 | 14 | |
| Now And Then There's A Fool Such As I | March 30, 1959 | 71.54 | 2 | 0 | 11 | |
| Crying In The Chapel | May 8, 1965 | 70.24 | 3 | 0 | 11 | |
| In The Ghetto | May 17, 1969 | 70.00 | 3 | 0 | 11 | |
| I Need Your Love Tonight | March 30, 1959 | 69.21 | 4 | 0 | 10 | |
| You're The - Devil In Disguise | July 13, 1963 | 66.32 | 3 | 0 | 8 | |
| Little Sister | August 28, 1961 | 66.26 | 5 | 0 | 10 | |
| Don't Cry Daddy | December 13, 1969 | 66.12 | 6 | 0 | 11 | |
| She's Not You | August 11, 1962 | 65.13 | 5 | 0 | 9 | |
| I Got Stung | November 10, 1958 | 65.08 | 8 | 0 | 12 | |
| Marie's The Name - His Latest Flame | September 4, 1961 | 63.88 | 4 | 0 | 7 | |
| I Feel So Bad | May 22, 1961 | 62.54 | 5 | 0 | 7 | |
| The Wonder Of You | May 23, 1970 | 62.47 | 9 | 0 | 11 | |
| I Beg Of You | February 3, 1958 | 62.29 | 8 | 0 | 7 | |
| Bossa Nova Baby | November 2, 1963 | 62.08 | 8 | 0 | 7 | |
| If I Can Dream | December 14, 1968 | 62.02 | 12 | 0 | 11 | |
| My Wish Come True | July 13, 1959 | 61.52 | 12 | 0 | 10 | |
| You Don't Have To Say You Love Me | November 7, 1970 | 60.88 | 11 | 0 | 8 | |
| One Broken Heart For Sale | February 23, 1963 | 59.62 | 11 | 0 | 7 | |
| I'm Yours | September 18, 1965 | 59.42 | 11 | 0 | 7 | |
| Ask Me | October 24, 1964 | 59.34 | 12 | 0 | 8 | |
| Such An - Easy Question | July 3, 1965 | 58.77 | 11 | 0 | 6 | |
| Kissin' Cousins | March 7, 1964 | 58.62 | 12 | 0 | 7 | |
| Promised Land | November 9, 1974 | 58.15 | 14 | 0 | 9 | |
| Way Down | July 16, 1977 | 57.66 | 18 | 0 | 12 | |
| Loving You | July 8, 1957 | 56.21 | 20 | 0 | 13 | |
| Puppet On A String | December 4, 1965 | 55.24 | 14 | 0 | 6 | |
| Follow That Dream | May 19, 1962 | 55.14 | 15 | 0 | 7 | |
| Ain't That Loving Baby | October 24, 1964 | 54.49 | 16 | 0 | 8 | |
| Kentucky Rain | February 21, 1970 | 54.32 | 16 | 0 | 8 | |
| Flaming Star | April 24, 1961 | 53.22 | 14 | 0 | 5 | |
| I Was The One | March 17, 1956 | 53.01 | 19 | 0 | 10 | |
| Such A Night | August 8, 1964 | 52.41 | 16 | 0 | 6 | |
| Fame and Fortune | April 25, 1960 | 52.15 | 17 | 0 | 7 | |
| Steamroller Blues | May 5, 1973 | 52.13 | 17 | 0 | 7 | |
| If You Talk In Your Sleep | June 29, 1974 | 52.00 | 17 | 0 | 7 | |
| Treat Me Nice | October 21, 1957 | 51.44 | 18 | 0 | 6 | |
| I Gotta Know | November 24, 1960 | 51.43 | 20 | 0 | 8 | |
| Separate Ways | December 23, 1972 | 51.33 | 20 | 0 | 8 | |
| Doncha' Think It's Time | May 5, 1958 | 50.66 | 15 | 0 | 2 | |
| I Really Don't Want To Know | January 2, 1971 | 50.48 | 21 | 0 | 8 | |
| There Goes My Everything | January 2, 1971 | 50.02 | 21 | 0 | 8 | |
| Love Letters | July 9, 1966 | 49.88 | 19 | 0 | 5 | |
| My Boy | February 15, 1975 | 49.56 | 20 | 0 | 6 | |
| When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold | December 29, 1956 | 48.22 | 19 | 0 | 4 | |
| Blue Suede Shoes | April 28, 1956 | 48.14 | 20 | 0 | 5 | |
| Do The Clam | March 13, 1965 | 47.98 | 21 | 0 | 6 | |
| My Way | December 3, 1977 | 47.96 | 22 | 0 | 7 | |
| Anyway You Want Me | November 10, 1956 | 45.66 | 20 | 0 | 4 | |
| What'd I Say | May 30, 1964 | 45.41 | 21 | 0 | 5 | |
| Playing For Keeps | February 9, 1957 | 44.88 | 21 | 0 | 4 | |
| Rock-A-Hula Baby | December 18, 1961 | 43.26 | 23 | 0 | 5 | |
| Frankie And Johnny | April 9, 1966 | 42.78 | 25 | 0 | 5 | |
| Poor Boy | January 5, 1957 | 40.66 | 24 | 0 | 3 | |
| Don't Ask Me Why | July 14, 1958 | 40.13 | 25 | 0 | 4 | |
| Hurt | May 1, 1976 | 39.56 | 28 | 0 | 5 | |
| Guitar Man | February 28, 1981 | 39.42 | 28 | 0 | 5 | |
| There'll Be Peace in the Valley For Me | April 29, 1957 | 38.03 | 25 | 0 | 1 | |
| Wild In The Country | June 19, 1961 | 37.96 | 26 | 0 | 2 | |
| U.S. Male | April 20, 1968 | 37.90 | 28 | 0 | 4 | |
| It Hurts Me | March 14, 1964 | 37.23 | 29 | 0 | 4 | |
| Viva Las Vegas | May 30, 1964 | 37.22 | 29 | 0 | 4 | |
| King Of The Whole Wide World | October 6, 1962 | 36.51 | 30 | 0 | 4 | |
| Anthing That's Part Of You | April 7, 1962 | 36.46 | 31 | 0 | 5 | |
| Moody Blue | February 5, 1977 | 36.40 | 31 | 0 | 5 | |
| My Baby Left Me | June 9, 1956 | 35.02 | 31 | 0 | 3 | |
| Witchcraft | November 9, 1963 | 33.55 | 32 | 0 | 3 | |
| I've Lost You | August 22, 1970 | 33.41 | 32 | 0 | 3 | |
| Next Step Is Love | August 22, 1970 | 33.14 | 32 | 0 | 3 | |
| Indescribably Blue | February 18, 1967 | 33.00 | 33 | 0 | 4 | |
| Where Did They Go, Lord | March 27, 1971 | 32.94 | 33 | 0 | 4 | |
| Rags To Riches | March 27, 1971 | 32.87 | 33 | 0 | 4 | |
| A Mess Of Blues | August 1, 1960 | 26.55 | 32 | 0 | 2 | |
| Lonely Man | March 13, 1961 | 26.41 | 32 | 0 | 2 | |
| Tell Me Why | January 22, 1966 | 26.32 | 33 | 0 | 3 | |
| Clean Up Your Own Back Yard | August 2, 1969 | 24.22 | 35 | 0 | 4 | |
| Kiss Me Quick | May 23, 1964 | 23.22 | 34 | 0 | 2 | |
| T-R-O-U-B-L-E | June 7, 1975 | 22.61 | 35 | 0 | 3 | |
| Memories | April 12, 1969 | 22.13 | 35 | 0 | 2 | |
| I'm Leavin' | August 24, 1971 | 21.88 | 36 | 0 | 2 | |
| Big Boss Man | November 4, 1967 | 20.77 | 38 | 0 | 2 | |
| I've Got A Thing About You Baby | March 23, 1974 | 20.34 | 39 | 0 | 2 | |
| Spinout | November 5, 1966 | 19.55 | 40 | 0 | 2 | |
| Until It's Time For You To Go | March 11, 1972 | 19.42 | 40 | 0 | 1 |
If you are interested in seeing Elvis’ movies ranked….then we have just the page for you. Ranking 32 Elvis Movies Best to Worst.
There will never be another Elvis Presley. On My Wedding Day Early Next Year, I Shall Play , You Just Can’t be Believing, a lovely Song, and a lot of Elvis’s songs will be played. We are 68 & 73 years Young.
I grew up in Houston and I remember my mother and my Aunt Bunny going to the coliseum n the 50’s to see Elvis. they came home raving. about his show. When I was about 15, we went to see him at the Houston Rodeo and did so again often in the Astrodome. Despite the bad acoustics, it was great. Fat of thin, his voice was so distinctive. I am just sorry that we lost him.
Hey Kenneth….thanks for sharing your memory of seeing The King in concert at the Houston Rodeo and Astrodome. That sounds like a great memory. Glad you found our Elvis Top 40 Song page.
Sadly Billboard itself when it does all time lists starts when the Hot 100 merged 4 pop charts into 1 in 1958. They don’t count any 1956 or 57 songs in these counts and Elvis drops to the #4 alltime artist. You could check out Joel’s Cash Box and Record World charts books for comparatives (he may have other top 40’s on them) or Joel’s three way book for 1954 to 1982 comparing all the charts. Record World ceased publication in 1982 and Cash Box in 1996. Now he has a Radio & Records (a more industry chart) book coming out in February.
I bought my first 2 Joel Whitburn books back in 1974.
You’re miss Elvis’s Blue Christmas which just made Billboard’s top 40 this December. One week at the end of the year they had 4 Christmas songs in the top 10, 3 of them 55 years or older. Both Gene Autry and Perry Como each had 2 top 40’s this December with old hits.
Hey Dan. Thanks for all the information on Elvis and his music. I have one Joel Whitburn (hey another Joel…lol) but it was written in 1987….so all the Elvis songs that got re-released after then did not make our list. I figured this page would be right up your alley. Back in my Hub Pages days, I did a similar page on Beatles songs. I will have to check the pre 1958 books if I continue going doing this music road. Good feedback.
Hello,
He is the King, he is one of the best, and when i was in USA I listened him a lot, with Fleetwood Mac, Country music and the groupe America with songs like Sister…
I was in Vegas for a trip and of course i thinK to him specially in front of the MGM.
Bye
Pierre
Thanks Pierre…I agree he is the King for sure.