Vinton wrote and composed "Mr. Lonely" during his chaplain's assistant service in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. The song was recorded during the same 1962 session that produced "Roses Are Red (My Love)," and the two songs launched Vinton's singing career. It was released as an album track on the 1962 "Roses Are Red (and other songs for the young & sentimental)" LP. Despite pressure from Vinton to release it as a single, Epic instead had Buddy Greco release it and it flopped. Two years and millions of records sold later, Bobby prevailed on Epic to include "Mr. Lonely" on his "Bobby Vinton's Greatest Hits" LP. Soon DJs picked up on the song and airplay resulted in demand for a single release. "Mr. Lonely" shot up the charts in the late fall of 1964 to reach number 1 on the Hot 100 on 12 December 1964. Epic then released the LP "Bobby Vinton Mr. Lonely," giving the song a unique claim to fame since it now appeared on three Bobby Vinton albums released within two years. The song continued to spin gold for Vinton, its author-composer, in the 50+ years to date since reaching number 1; Harmony Korine named his 2007 film "Mister Lonely" after the latter and features the song in the film's opening, and it was also the basis for Akon's 2005 hit, "Lonely."