JANUARY
Top hit
I Heard It Through The Grapevine · Marvin Gaye
Top album
The Beatles [White Album] · The Beatles
Year
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One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Festival era arrives
1969
Half a million muddy souls make Woodstock legend while studio albums grow ambitious enough to outlast the festival mud and amplifiers.
Woodstock Summer, Studio Dreams
Half a million people muddy their way into legend on a dairy farm while back in the city, bands are building albums meant to outlast the moment. Motown keeps the groove immaculate even as rock splits into heavy, cosmic, and confessional camps. The decade ends not with a whimper but with a wall of amplifiers and the sense that anything could happen next.
- Woodstock
- album rock
- Motown
- heavy rock
- festival culture
- Woodstock defines the festival era — August 15–18
- The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' closes the sixties in style
- Led Zeppelin's debut reshapes hard rock
- The Jackson 5 audition for Motown and begin their ascent
Hot 100 · weeks at #1
Top songs
Album chart · weeks at #1
Top albums
Through the year
Tap a month to drill into chart weeks.
FEBRUARY
Top hit
Crimson And Clover · Tommy James And The Shondells
Top album
The Beatles [White Album] · The Beatles
MARCH
Top hit
Everyday People · Sly
Top album
The Beatles [White Album] · The Beatles
APRIL
Top hit
Dizzy · Tommy Roe
Top album
Wichita Lineman · Glen Campbell
MAY
Top hit
Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) · The 5th Dimension
Top album
—
JUNE
Top hit
Get Back · The Beatles
Top album
—
JULY
Top hit
Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet · Henry Mancini And His Orchestra
Top album
—
AUGUST
Top hit
In The Year 2525 · Zager
Top album
Johnny Cash At San Quentin · Johnny Cash
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
Honky Tonk Women · The Rolling Stones
Top album
Johnny Cash At San Quentin · Johnny Cash
OCTOBER
Top hit
Sugar, Sugar · The Archies
Top album
Green River · Creedence Clearwater Revival
NOVEMBER
Top hit
Suspicious Minds · Elvis Presley
Top album
Abbey Road · The Beatles
DECEMBER
Top hit
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye · Steam
Top album
Abbey Road · The Beatles