Elvis: 30 #1 Hits (stylised as ELV1S: 30 #1 HITS) is a greatest hits collection of songs by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Records on September 24, 2002. It is the first Elvis Presley album to feature the remix of "A Little Less Conversation" by JXL that was released earlier in the year and reached No. 1 in the UK and Australia, and went on to become a number-one hit in over 20 countries.

A companion album, 2nd to None, was released the next year. By 2003, the album had received certifications in more than 15 regions and had sold millions of copies worldwide. Its most recent certification, a 6× Platinum award, for US sales in excess of six million copies, was announced by the RIAA on March 8, 2018.

Compilation, production and releases

Elvis: 30 #1 Hits was compiled by Ernst Mikael Jørgensen and Roger Semon using chart data from the pop singles charts in Billboard, Cashbox, New Musical Express, and Record Retailer. Not all of Presley's number ones are included as it is only a one-disc set. It was part of a massive campaign by RCA and BMG to celebrate Elvis on the 25th anniversary of his death.

The compilation was produced and mixed in stereo and 5.1 by David Bendeth with remastering by Ted Jensen on the first thirteen songs (the mono recordings) and George Marino on the last sixteen songs. The songs were engineered by Ray Bardani, and were transferred from master tapes by Brent Spear. The 18 recordings recorded in stereo (1960 and later) were digitally remixed from the original multitrack recordings.

In 2003, it became the first and, so far, only Elvis album to be issued in the newly created DVD audio-only disc format. The stereo tracks (1960 and later) were remixed into 5.1 surround sound for the first time and the 13 tracks recorded in mono (before 1960) were remastered and presented in a simulated 5.1 format. The songs were presented in reverse order, with "A Little Less Conversation" as track 1, and "Heartbreak Hotel" as track 31. There are also bonus tracks which are sections of three songs ("It's Now or Never", "Crying in the Chapel", and "Burning Love"), giving an A:B comparison of the original master and the remaster. A 2003 reissue of the album featured a bonus disc with outtakes and rehearsals of several songs. A Wal-Mart release had a bonus disc with Presley's post-army interview, while a Japanese release had a bonus disc with three versions of "A Little Less Conversation".

Release and reception

Commercial reception

The album opened at number one in 17 territories around the world, taking the top spot in countries including the US, the UK, Canada, France, Australia and Brazil and shipped 4.7 million units worldwide in its first week. In its first week of release, 1.2 million units were shipped in Europe: 300,000 units in the UK (where 115,000 were sold the first week) and more than 200,000 units were shipped in Germany, France and Spain. It was the largest sum the chart had seen since Dixie Chicks bowed five weeks ago with 780,000 units, it also was the largest sales week for an archival album since The Beatles' 1. The album was Presley's first album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was his first number one since 1973. The album remained on the chart for one hundred and twelve weeks.

| rev2 = Christgau’s Consumer Guide

| rev2Score = A+

| rev3 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3Score =

| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev4Score = A−

| rev5 = The Guardian

| rev5score =

| rev6 = Q

| rev6score =

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7Score =

ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits received mostly favorable reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album a mostly positive review, but wrote that it still lacked a lot of good material and that several factors were working against it, such as the number of hits Elvis had and the songs that did not make it to No. 1. Robert Christgau gave the album his highest rating out of all of Presley's albums that he has reviewed and felt that the album showed that Presley's life was "a continuous whole".

Track listing

Limited edition versions

2003 deluxe bonus disc

  1. "Heartbreak Hotel" (rehearsal)
  2. "All Shook Up" (rehearsal)
  3. "Teddy Bear, Don't Be Cruel" (rehearsal)
  4. "A Big Hunk o'Love" (take 2)
  5. "Stuck on You" (take 1)
  6. "It's Now or Never" (takes 2 & 3)
  7. "Surrender" (take 2)
  8. "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" (rehearsal & take 2)
  9. "She's Not You" (take 2 & wp take 4)
  10. "(You're The) Devil in Disguise" (take 2 & 3)
  11. "In the Ghetto" (take 1)
  12. "Burning Love" (take 2)
  13. "Way Down" (take 2)
  14. "In the Ghetto" (vocal only outtake)
  15. "A Little Less Conversation" (JXL 12" Extended Remix)

WalMart bonus disc

  1. The Elvis Post Army Interview

Japan bonus disc

  1. "A Little Less Conversation" (Original)
  2. "A Little Less Conversation" (JXL 12" Extended Remix)
  3. "A Little Less Conversation - JXL Mix" (Video) (CD-rom content)

2022 Expanded Edition

  1. "That's All Right"
  2. "Blue Suede Shoes"
  3. "Little Sister"
  4. "Bossa Nova Baby"
  5. "Viva Las Vegas"
  6. "If I Can Dream"
  7. "Kentucky Rain"
  8. "Always On My Mind"
  9. "Unchained Melody" (Live at Ann Arbor, MI)

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+Weekly chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2002)

!scope="col"|Peak<br />position

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)

|style="text-align:center;"|3

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| 10

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Polish Albums (OLiS)

| 7

|-

! scope="row"| Singaporean Albums (RIAS)

| 2

|-

!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)

| 1

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2007)

!scope="col"|Peak<br />position

|-

|-

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2018–19)

!scope="col"|Peak<br />position

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2002 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2002)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|Argentinian Albums (CAPIF)

| 15

|-

!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 9

|-

!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 8

|-

!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)

|style="text-align:center;"|17

|-

!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)

| 30

|-

! scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)

| 5

|-

! scope="row"|Canadian Country Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)

| 2

|-

!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 23

|-

!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 24

|-

!scope="row"|Irish Albums (IRMA)

| 11

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| 41

|-

!scope="row"|Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)

| 6

|-

!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 7

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)

| 9

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

| 36

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 6

|-

! scope="row"|Worldwide Albums (IFPI)

|3

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2003 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2003)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 26

|-

!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 66

|-

!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 1

|-

!scope="row"|Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)

| 51

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)

| 85

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

| 35

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 6

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2004 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2004)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)

| 170

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

| 181

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 33

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2005 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2005)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)

| 123

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2007 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2007)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)

| 175

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2017 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2017)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 78

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2018 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2018)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 53

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)

| 91

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2021 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2021)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 59

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)

| 62

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2022 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2022)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 28

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 182

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 14

|-

!scope="row"|US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)

| 22

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2023 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2023)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 38

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 182

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 34

|-

!scope="row"| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)

| 36

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2024 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2024)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 45

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 166

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 31

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+2025 year-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2025)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 56

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 63

|}

|}

Decade-end chart

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+Decade-end chart performance for ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits

!scope="col" style="width:18em;"|Chart (2000–2009)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 70

|}

Certifications and sales

References