Elvis Presley died on 16 August 1977. His final single, Way Down, had been released on 6 June. It reached No. 1 in the UK on 3 September, 18 days after his death; in the USA it only reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Suspicious Minds was released on 26 August 1969. It was Elvis's 18th and last No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the first since Good Luck Charm in 1962. According to Wikipedia, Suspicious Minds "was one of the singles that revived Presley's chart success in the US, following his '68 Comeback Special [a televised concert, marking Presley's return to live performance after seven years during which his career was centered on the film industry]."
In the UK, Suspicious Minds was (embarrassingly) kept off the No. 1 spot by Rolf Harris's Two Little Boys. But Elvis did have one more UK No. 1 in his lifetime: The Wonder of You, in August 1970. After Way Down in September 1977, his next (posthumous) UK No. 1 was the JXL remix of A Little Less Conversation in 2002. Surprisingly, although this was a No. 1 hit in 12 or more countries worldwide, it only reached No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2005, every one of Elvis's 18 UK No. 1 hits was re–released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of his musical career. Three of them reached No. 1 for a second time: Jailhouse Rock, I Got Stung / One Night (a double A–side on both occasions) and It's Now or Never.
The re–released Jailhouse Rock was the UK's 999th No. 1 single, and I Got Stung / One Night had the good fortune to be the 1,000th. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums noted that "This 46–year–old No. 1 returned to the top with the lowest weekly sale ever for a chart–toper (sic) at 20,463. Side one was a 'cleaned–up' version of a 1956 R&B hit by Smiley Lewis, and Elvis thought so little of the flip side that he refused to sing it on stage."
It's Now or Never was the UK's 1,002nd No. 1 on its 2005 re–release. The 1,0001st was Goodies, by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo. (No ... me neither.)
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