| "It's Now or Never" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Original 45 picture sleeve | ||||
| Single byElvis Presley | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | July 5, 1960 | |||
| Recorded | April 3, 1960 | |||
| Studio | RCA Victor,Nashville | |||
| Genre | Pop[1][2] | |||
| Length | 3:15 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "It's Now or Never" onYouTube | ||||
"It's Now or Never" is a song recorded byElvis Presley and released as a single in 1960. The song is Presley's biggest hit, with 20 million copies sold worldwide, it is one of thebest-selling singles of all time.[3][4] It was recorded byBill Porter atRCA 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 internationalsingle 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 theR&B charts.[7]
"It's Now or Never" is one of two popular songs based on the Italian song of theNeapolitan language, "'O Sole mio" (music byEduardo di Capua); the other is "There's No Tomorrow", recorded by U.S. singerTony Martin in 1949, which inspired Presley's version. The lyrics were written byAaron Schroeder andWally Gold. The song was published by Elvis Presley's company Gladys Music, Inc.
In the late 1950s, while stationed inGermany with theU.S. Army, Presley heard Martin's recording. It is also likely that he was inspired to record this because of his fondness forMario Lanza who had first popularized "'O Sole Mio" to American audiences and who had died the year before "It's Now or Never" was recorded.[8] According toThe New York Times, quoting from the 1986 bookBehind the Hits, "he told the idea to his music publisher,Freddy Bienstock, who was visiting him in Germany... Mr. Bienstock, who many times found songwriters for Presley, returned to hisNew York City office, where he found songwriters, Mr. [Aaron] Schroeder and Wally Gold, the only people in that day. The two wrote lyrics in half an hour. Selling more than 5 million records, the song became number one in countries all around and was Presley's best selling single ever... a song [they] finished in 20 minutes to a half hour was the biggest song of [their] career."[9]
Barry White credited this song as his inspiration for changing his life and becoming a singer following his release from prison.[10] In the promotional video forthe Beatles' 1968 single "Hey Jude," the members of the band jokingly perform a few lines of the song.
A live version featuring "'O Sole mio" is available on the 1977 live albumElvis in Concert. "'O Sole mio" is sung by tenor Sherrill Nielsen, who was inThe Imperials and later one of the collaborators of Elvis Presley.
In early 2005, the song was re-released along with the other Presley singles in the UK, and again reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for the week of 5 February 2005. The re-release held the record for the lowest selling number-one single in UK chart history untilOrson's "No Tomorrow" in 2006.[11] The song also appears in the TV miniseriesElvis, a 2005 CBS special.
In 2015, a new version of the song was recorded accompanied by new orchestral arrangement by theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra, and was released on their album of that yearIf I Can Dream.
"It's Now or Never" entered the USBillboard Hot 100 at No. 44 on July 18, 1960. After climbing to No. 14 and then a two-week stay at No. 3, the song climbed to No. 1 for a five-week stay, beginning August 15. In that same week, the B-side to the single, "A Mess of Blues" - peaked at No. 32 independently. During its run at the top of the US charts, "It's Now or Never" kept "Walk, Don't Run" byThe Ventures at No. 2 before succumbing to "The Twist" byChubby Checker on September 19. Presley fell to No. 3, spending a further seven weeks inside the top 40 before dropping out on November 14 (the same week that his follow-up, "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", debuted on the chart). As an A-side, Presley's former bass player's groupBill Black Combo charted with their version of "Don't Be Cruel" around the same time.
In the UK, the single gained an eventual release in late October 1960, following copyright discussions. It became the first song to enter the newRecord Retailer charts at No. 1 - later adopted as theUK Singles Chart. During an eight-week run at the top, Presley was held off strong competition fromShirley Bassey ("As Long As He Needs Me") andThe Drifters ("Save the Last Dance for Me") before claiming the coveted Christmas number one for 1960. A week later, he was deposed byCliff Richard and the Shadows' "I Love You". Presley dropped to No. 2 and would leave the top 10 as "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" began its ascent to No. 1. After 18 weeks, "It's Now or Never" left the UK top 40 on 15 March 1961. Due to the single's delayed UK release, "A Mess of Blues" had already attained A-side status and peaked at No. 2 on 21 September 1960.
"It's Now or Never" would be one of several songs to return to the UK top 40 in the wake of Presley's death, reaching No. 39 on 3 August 1977.
On 5 February 2005, the song returned to the top of the UK charts for one more week as part of a week-by-week reissue series of his formerchart-toppers. This gave Presley his 21st UK number one single, his fourth of the new millennium. Overall, "It's Now or Never" has managed 22 weeks in the UK top 40.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
All-time charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Finland | — | 31,000[38] |
| Germany (BVMI)[39] | Gold | 1,000,000[39] |
| Netherlands | — | 160,000[40] |
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[41] | Silver | 25,000[41] |
| Sweden | — | 100,000[42] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Physical sales | Gold | 1,300,000[43] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[44] Digital sales since 2004 | Silver | 200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[46] | Platinum | 5,000,000[45] |
| Summaries | ||
| Belgium, Holland & Luxembourg | — | 200,000[47] |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "It's Now or Never" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byJohn Schneider | ||||
| from the album Now or Never | ||||
| B-side | "Stay" | |||
| Released | May 1981 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:22 | |||
| Label | Scotti Brothers | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| John Schneider singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Americancountry music singer and actorJohn Schneider released in 1981 a cover of the song as his first single and the title track of his debut albumIt's Now or Never. Schneider's version was a top five hit on theBillboardHot Country Singles chart and peaked at No. 14 on theBillboardHot 100.
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| CanadianRPM Country Tracks | 7 |
| CanadianRPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 5 |
| New Zealand (RIANZ)[48] | 49 |
| U.S.Billboard Hot 100[49] | 14 |
| U.S.Billboard Hot Country Singles[50] | 4 |
| U.S.Billboard Adult Contemporary[51] | 5 |
| Year-end chart (1981) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[52] | 82 |
An instrumental version is used in a scene fromMasahiro Shinoda's 1964 filmPale Flower.
Presley's version appears in a 2017 TV commercial forJose Cuervo.
At the 20th anniversary concert of theSuntory Hall in Japan in 2006, Italian tenorsVincenzo La Scola andGiuseppe Sabbatini and American tenorNeil Shicoff sang a bilingual version of the song together. For their respective solo parts, the two Italians sang the original Neapolitan lyrics, while Shicoff sang two segments of "It's Now or Never"; and all three joined for the final chorus with the Neapolitan lyrics.[53]
Josh Groban covered the song for his 2020 albumHarmony.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)eduardo di.
It turned out to be the biggest hit of his already phenomenal career; global sales were reported 20 million (five million in the U.S.A., one million in Britain, one million in Germant and the remainder from other countries, including Sweden and Japan)
