The number one song in the U.S. during this week back in 1990 was "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles. This would become the only major hit for the Canadian singer with this bluesy rock tune paying loving tribute to the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley.
She was born Alannah Byles in 1958 on Christmas Day in Toronto, Canada and the daughter of William Douglas Byles, an early pioneer in the country's broadcasting industry. Her childhood was focused on learning to write and play music. At eighteen, Byles began to pursue a career in music, performing with bands doing rock covers and polishing up her own original material. After changing her surname to "Myles", she managed to get her demos in the hands of executives at Atlantic Records and was signed to the label in 1987.
While working on songs for her debut album, songwriter, Christopher Ward (who was Myles' boyfriend at the time) was inspired during his trip to Memphis by a bus filled with Elvis Presley fans riding to Graceland. He brought a song idea to Myles' producer, David Tyson and made a demo with Myles. However, the record label would give the song to American country singer, Robin Lee to record. Myles still went ahead and made her own version of "Black Velvet" for her album.
"Black Velvet" by Myles was released first in Canada in 1989, reaching the top-ten on the pop chart. After the song was released to the rest of the world by 1990, "Black Velvet" become a major international top-ten hit, peaking at number one in four countries, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US. Myles would win the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the song and the Canadian Juno Award for Single of the Year. Robin Lee's version of "Black Velvet" was released two months after Myles' and also found some success, charting at number twelve on the Billboard Hot Country Songs.
This song has remained the biggest hit for Myles in the US although she would later have three more top-ten singles in her native Canada including her first number one song there, "Song Instead of a Kiss" in 1992.
And as a bonus, here is Robin Lee's more country version of "Black Velvet":
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