pressing was assigned to plants in New Jersey, Indianapolis and Los Angeles. Copies (with a sleeve featuring a smiling Presley in a chartreuse shirt against a blue background) were sent to 5,000 disc jockeys. Orders for the single began at 900,000 copies the first week and climbed to 1,200,000 during the second. The song debuted on Billboard's Top 40 at number 35 on November 14, moved a week later to number two and topped the chart by November 28 (replacing Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay"). Presley's 15th chart-topping single, it held the top position until January 9, 1961. "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" peaked at number three on the R&B chart, remaining on it for ten weeks. The song topped the Cash Box singles chart and reached number 45 on the Cash Box country singles chart. A month after its UK release it topped the UK Singles Chart. Three months after its release, the single had sales of two million copies worldwide; that year, the Recording Industry Association of America certified it gold. A November 7, 1960 Billboard review called Presley's rendition a "warm and touching performance". In a later review, AllMusic praised Presley's vocal range, calling "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" a "tender ... sugary ballad ... full of soul and intense and intimate power" defining "one of Presley's darkest moments". Legacy The success of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" made the song one of Presley's live staples. He performed it live for the first time on March 25, 1961, at a Bloch Arena benefit in Honolulu for the USS Arizona Memorial, one of Presley's four live performances between his return from the Army and his shift in career focus to acting. Returning to music in 1968, Presley included the song on his playlist for the NBC special Elvis and performed it live the following year during his first Las Vegas engagement. A version of the song, recorded on August 26, 1969, and documenting Presley altering the words of the narration ("Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair") and laughing through the rest of the bridge, was released in 1980 as part of the Elvis Aron Presley box set. In 1982 this "laughing version" was a radio hit in the United Kingdom and reached number 25 on the British Singles Chart. A very emotional version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was performed and filmed in 1972