It's Now or Never (song)

"It's Now or Never"
Original 45 picture sleeve
Single by Elvis Presley
B-side"A Mess of Blues"
"Make Me Know It" (UK)
ReleasedJuly 5, 1960
RecordedApril 3, 1960
StudioRCA Victor, Nashville
GenrePop[1] [2]
Length3:15
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"Stuck on You" / "Fame and Fortune"
(1960) 		"It's Now or Never"
(1960) 		"Are You Lonesome Tonight"
(1960)
Elvis Presley UK singles chronology
"A Mess of Blues"
(1960) 		"It's Now or Never"
(1960) 		"Are You Lonesome Tonight"
(1960)
Music video
"It's Now or Never" (audio) on YouTube

"It's Now or Never" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and released as a single in 1960. The song is one of the best-selling singles by Presley (20 million copies), and one of the best-selling physical singles of all time.[3][4] It was recorded by Bill Porter at RCA Studio B in Nashville.[5] It is written in E major and has a tempo of 80 BPM.[6]

In 1960, "It's Now or Never" was a number-one record in the U.S. for Elvis Presley, spending five weeks at number one and the UK, where it spent eight weeks at the top in 1960 and an additional week at number one in 2005 as a re-issue, and numerous other countries, selling in excess of 20 million physical copies worldwide, Elvis Presley's biggest international single ever. Its British release was delayed for some time because of rights issues, allowing the song to build up massive advance orders and to enter the UK Singles Chart at number one, a very rare occurrence at the time. "It's Now or Never" peaked at number seven on the R&B charts.[7]

  1. ^ Listen to Pop! Exploring a Musical Genre. Abc-Clio. September 2018. ISBN 9781440863776.
  2. ^ Elvis for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. 5 June 2009. ISBN 9780470562086.
  3. ^ Collins, Ace (2005). Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits. Chicago Review Press. pp. 155–162. ISBN 9781569765074.
  4. ^ Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits. Chicago Review Press. April 2005. ISBN 9781569765074.
  5. ^ "Dub Steps: How Elvis Recorded "It's Now Or Never" – RCA Studio B". Studiob.org. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Key and BPM/Tempo of It's Now or Never by Elvis Presley". NoteDiscover. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 468.