Elvis Presley Earns First No. 1 Hit — Country Music Memories

Sixty-six years ago today (Feb. 25, 1956) was an historic day for Elvis Presley: It was on that date that the King of Rock and Roll scored his first No. 1 hit with “I Forgot to Remember to Forget.”

“I Forgot to Remember to Forget,” which was from Presley’s A Date With Elvis album, stayed at the top of the country charts for two weeks. Written by Charlie Feathers and Stan Kesler, “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” was one of only 10 singles that the Mississippi native released on Sun Records.

Kesler was a regular studio player looking for more work when he began writing songs. He had already written Presley’s “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone” when he had the idea for “I Forgot to Remember to Forget.”

“At that time, I was on the kick of catchy titles,” Kesler recalled. “When I began to think about that phrase, it just expanded into ‘I forgot to remember to forget her.’ From there, I started working on it, and it all fell together.”

Allegedly, Presley wasn’t a fan of the song, because of its country feel, until drums were added to the mix. Still, ”I Forgot to Remember to Forget” stayed on the charts for 39 weeks, making it one of the most successful singles of Presley’s career.

“I Forgot to Remember to Forget” was a hit for other artists as well: Jerry Lee Lewis recorded it twice, the first time in 1956, and the Beatles, Johnny Cash, BJ Thomas, Wanda Jackson, Bob Dylan and Chris Isaak are also among the artists who have recorded the tune. Presley also included the song on his The Sun Sessions album in 1976.