(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Tue 4 November 2025 19:32, UK
Making a song that isn’t worth covering sounds like a bizarre ambition, but it means you’ve made your mark so well that no other artist’s cover would be worth recording. That’s the opinion of Keith Richards, at least, the iconic guitarist behind some of The Rolling Stones’ biggest hits.
There isn’t much left in the music world for Richards to dominate. One of the most beloved guitarists of his generation, through a mixture of hedonism and true riff mastery, Richards’ position as the archetypal rocker is unshaken. He is, without doubt, the truest version of a rock star the world has ever known. But while his antics have made him a legend, it was his music that earned him a legacy.
While he never seemed to pay much attention to the world, Richards is a student of music, especially rock and roll. He has immersed himself in all reaches of the culture and it has given him a pretty great understanding of what makes a tune truly perfect.
And it was Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ that taught him that the best songs are rarely covered. Outside of this revelation, Richards said the song was like nothing he’d ever heard before and had a significant impact on his musicality.
In Richards’ 2010 autobiography, Life, the guitarist touched on a lot of his artistic inspirations, which range from Duke Ellington to Billie Holiday. But Richards saved his most supreme praise for Elvis, whose sound was the “last trigger” for him, the first example of rock and roll at its finest he heard.
Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. (Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
‘Heartbreak Hotel’ was significant to Richards, who wrote extensively about its unique sonic quality as part of his autobiography. Released in 1956, the song was the first Elvis release when he signed with his new record label, RCA Victor. “It was a totally different way of delivering a song, a totally different sound, stripped down, burnt, no bullshit, no violins and ladies’ choruses and schmaltz, totally different,” the Stones guitarist wrote.
“It was bare, right to the roots that you had a feeling were there but hadn’t yet heard,” Richards added. “I’ve got to take my hat off to Elvis for that.” Richards was always a fan of Elvis’ guitarist, Scotty Moore, but he didn;t often doff his cap to ‘The King’ like many of his contemporaries had.
The sheer star power of the ‘King of Rock n’ Roll’ also taught Richards to revel in the silence, which he described as an artist’s “canvas” and “frame”. He explained that it was what singers needed to work on and not try to deafen out the quiet moments on stage. “That’s what ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ did to me. It was the first time I’d heard something so stark. Then I had to go back to what this cat had done before,” he wrote.
Comparing the Stones’ work with that of Elvis, Richards believed people didn’t cover ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ or his band’s output because the originals were the supreme versions, not to be improved or reinvented, which is not to say musicians haven’t tried.
In Keith Richards on Keith Richards: Interviews & Encounters, he explained: “People haven’t covered our songs too much, but I take that as a compliment,” he said. “You don’t really hear versions of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ either. What it means is that your version is pretty much seen as the ultimate.”
As far as ultimates go, it’s hard to argue ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ was anything but, sailing to number one on the Billboard Top 100 for a staggering eight weeks. When it was later included on The Essential Elvis Presley compilation album, the song then spent another 90 weeks on the charts, making it a rock and roll mainstay, as well as a lifelong favourite of Richards.
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