Top songs of 1971

What was the number one song of 1971?

The number one song of 1971 was “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night, the top song on Billboard's year-end Hot 100 for 1971. It spent 6 weeks at number one on the weekly chart, starting with the chart dated April 17, 1971.

“Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night was number one for the most weeks of 1971: 6 of the year's 52 weekly charts, starting with the chart dated April 17, 1971.

Born in 1971? The birthday number one finder shows the song at number one in the exact week of your birthday, and the number one on every birthday since.

Chart data: Billboard Hot 100, as compiled on Wikipedia (number ones of 1971, year-end Hot 100 of 1971).

How many songs reached number one in 1971?

18 songs reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 1971. Counting “My Sweet Lord / Isn't It a Pity”, which was already at number one when the year began, 19 songs held the top spot across the year's 52 weekly charts.

Of the songs that first reached number one in 1971, “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night stayed there longest: 6 weeks in total, from the chart dated April 17, 1971.

Weeks at No. 1 counts every week the song spent at the top, including weeks in other years; the number in brackets is the weeks on charts dated 1971. Dates are chart issue dates.

Which artists had more than one number one in 1971?

No act had more than one number one in 1971, counting lead and featured credits: each of the 19 songs at number one that year was by a different act.

What were the biggest songs of 1971?

The five biggest songs of 1971 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 were “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night, “Maggie May / Reason to Believe” by Rod Stewart, “It's Too Late / I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King, “One Bad Apple” by The Osmonds and “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” by Bee Gees.

The year-end chart ranks songs by how they performed on the weekly Hot 100 across Billboard’s chart year, so a song that peaked late in the year can rank lower than its weekly peak suggests, or count toward the next year’s list. The top 30 below show each song’s length where we could match the recording.

Numbers 31 to 100

31. “My Sweet Lord / Isn't It A Pity” George Harrison
32. “Sweet and Innocent” Donny Osmond
33. “Put Your Hand in the Hand” Ocean
34. “Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)” Daddy Dewdrop
35. “For All We Know” The Carpenters
36. “If You Could Read My Mind” Gordon Lightfoot
37. “Help Me Make It Through the Night” Sammi Smith
38. “Rainy Days and Mondays” The Carpenters
39. “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” Cher
40. “Never Can Say Goodbye” The Jackson 5
41. “Rose Garden” Lynn Anderson
42. “Don't Pull Your Love” Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
43. “It Don't Come Easy” Ringo Starr
44. “Mr. Bojangles” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
45. “I Love You for All Seasons” The Fuzz
46. “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get” The Dramatics
47. “That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be” Carly Simon
48. “If You Really Love Me” Stevie Wonder
49. “Spanish Harlem” Aretha Franklin
50. “I Don't Know How to Love Him” Helen Reddy
51. “Yo-Yo” The Osmonds
52. “Bridge over Troubled Water” Aretha Franklin
53. “Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted” The Partridge Family
54. “Draggin' the Line” Tommy James
55. “Proud Mary” Ike & Tina Turner
56. “Beginnings / Colour My World” Chicago
57. “Stay Awhile” The Bells
58. “Sweet City Woman” The Stampeders
59. “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” Lobo
60. “Another Day / Oh Woman, Oh Why” Paul McCartney
61. “If” Bread
62. “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” Marvin Gaye
63. “One Toke Over the Line” Brewer & Shipley
64. “She's Not Just Another Woman” 8th Day
65. “Bring the Boys Home” Freda Payne
66. “I Just Want to Celebrate” Rare Earth
67. “Never Ending Song of Love” Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
68. “Easy Loving” Freddie Hart
69. “Liar” Three Dog Night
70. “Stick-Up” Honey Cone
71. “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” Mac and Katie Kissoon
72. “(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story” Andy Williams
73. “Wild World” Cat Stevens
74. “When You're Hot, You're Hot” Jerry Reed
75. “Funky Nassau” The Beginning of the End
76. “If Not for You” Olivia Newton-John
77. “Groove Me” King Floyd
78. “Watching Scotty Grow” Bobby Goldsboro
79. “Woodstock” Matthews Southern Comfort
80. “Amazing Grace” Judy Collins
81. “I Hear You Knocking” Dave Edmunds
82. “Lonely Days” Bee Gees
83. “Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again” The Fortunes
84. “Won't Get Fooled Again” The Who
85. “Trapped By a Thing Called Love” Denise LaSalle
86. “Mama's Pearl” The Jackson 5
87. “Timothy” The Buoys
88. “I Woke Up In Love This Morning” The Partridge Family
89. “Theme from Shaft” Isaac Hayes
90. “If I Were Your Woman” Gladys Knight & the Pips
91. “I Am...I Said” Neil Diamond
92. “The Wedding Song (There Is Love)” Paul Stookey
93. “Don't Knock My Love” Wilson Pickett
94. “Love Her Madly” The Doors
95. “Here Comes the Sun” Richie Havens
96. “Sweet Mary” Wadsworth Mansion
97. “Right on the Tip of My Tongue” Brenda & the Tabulations
98. “One Less Bell to Answer” The 5th Dimension
99. “Riders on the Storm” The Doors
100. “It's Impossible” Perry Como

Chart data: Billboard Hot 100, as compiled on Wikipedia (number ones of 1971, year-end Hot 100 of 1971).

What songs should go on a 1971 mix CD?

A 1971 mix that fits one 80-minute CD holds 22 of the year's biggest songs, opening with “Knock Three Times” by Tony Orlando and Dawn and closing with “Maggie May / Reason to Believe” by Rod Stewart, for 76:23 of music.

We built it from the year-end top 30 and every number one of 1971, taking songs in year-end order until the disc was full, then sequenced it to follow the year: the number ones in the order they reached the top, with the year’s other big hits placed between them. With a 2-second gap before each track it runs 77:07, under the 79 minutes we fill a CD to.

Lengths are the recordings matched in Deezer’s catalog. Single edits, album versions and remasters can run a little longer or shorter, so check your own playlist before you burn it.

Turn 1971 into a CD. Send us this list, or your own 1971 songs, and we burn it to a real audio CD, test-play it and post it. It makes a good gift for a birth year, a graduation year or a wedding year.

To change the songs, paste the list into the playlist length calculator to keep it under 80 minutes, then print an insert with the CD case template. Our guide to making a mixtape covers sequencing, and nostalgic gift ideas has more ways to give a year as a present.

What was popular music like in the 1970s?

Popular music in the 1970s ran from singer-songwriters and soft rock to soul, funk and, by the end of the decade, disco. The Bee Gees, Donna Summer and Chic all reached number one with disco records in 1978 and 1979, while ballads and soft rock filled the charts between them.

From 1970 to 1979, 253 songs reached number one on the Hot 100, and 1 song stayed there for 10 weeks or more. Of those 253, “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone spent the most weeks at number one: 10 in total. Bee Gees had the most number ones that reached the top in these years, with 9. The typical number one of these years ran 3:40 (the median of the 229 with a known length).