Elvis Presley's first global number one smash was released as a single on January 27, 1956, his first on his new record label RCA Victor. A newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window inspired the song. Songwriter Mae Boren Axton presented the song to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville. Presley recorded it on January 10, 1956, in a session with his band, the Blue Moon Boys, the guitarist Chet Atkins and the pianist Floyd Cramer. "Heartbreak Hotel" comprises an eight-bar blues progression, with heavy reverberation throughout the track, to imitate the character of Presley's Sun recordings. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for seven weeks, becoming Presley's first million seller. In United Kingdom it peaked at no.2.