He released his first hit for Decca, "Maybe Tomorrow", in 1959. By March 1960, he hit UK Number 9 with his own composition "Collette", followed by "That's Love" and his first album The Sound Of Fury (1960), which featured a young Joe Brown on lead guitar, with backup vocals by The Four Jays.

Fury concentrated less on Rock'n'Roll and more on mainstream ballads, such as "Halfway to Paradise" and "Jealousy" (both 1961, each of which reached number 2 in the British Singles Chart). The years 1962 and 1963 were Billy Fury's best years chartwise. However, he was not a typical teen idol; there was too much sexuality in his performances and his renditions were never lightweight in the mould of some singers like Craig Douglas or Jimmy Justice. Fury's fans and contemporaries in music knew he was a rocker and the real thing musically.

In 1962 Fury appeared in his first film Play It Cool, modelled on the early Elvis movies. The music highlight of the film is Fury's singing of the title track.

Having had more UK hits, such as "It's Only Make Believe" and "I Will", both in 1964, and "In Thoughts of You" in 1965, Fury began a lengthy absence from the charts in 1967, and underwent surgery for heart problems caused by rheumatic fever which led to his abandoning touring. Despite spending many weeks on the charts, Billy Fury never achieved a number one single, but he remained massively popular even after his hits stopped.