JANUARY
Top hit
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head · B.j. Thomas
Top album
Abbey Road · The Beatles
Year
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One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Confessional pop rises
1970
The Beatles break up, confessional voices rise with acoustic guitars, and FM radio starts treating albums like novels you listen to in the dark.
The Singer-Songwriter Era Arrives
The Beatles break up and the spotlight drifts toward solitary voices with acoustic guitars and something to confess. Motown and soul keep the dance floor honest while FM radio starts treating albums like novels you listen to in the dark. The charts still love a hit, but the culture is learning to sit with a record for more than three minutes.
- singer-songwriter
- FM radio
- Motown
- album era
- early seventies
- The Beatles officially disband
- Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' dominates
- The Jackson 5's 'I Want You Back' launches a new Motown era
- Diana Ross leaves the Supremes for a solo crown
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
Venus · The Shocking Blue
Top album
Led Zeppelin II · Led Zeppelin
MARCH
Top hit
Bridge Over Troubled Water · Simon
Top album
—
APRIL
Top hit
Bridge Over Troubled Water · Simon
Top album
—
MAY
Top hit
ABC · Jackson 5
Top album
McCartney · Paul Mccartney
JUNE
Top hit
Everything Is Beautiful · Ray Stevens
Top album
McCartney · Paul Mccartney
JULY
Top hit
The Love You Save/I Found That Girl · Jackson 5
Top album
Let It Be (Soundtrack) · The Beatles
AUGUST
Top hit
(They Long To Be) Close To You · Carpenters
Top album
Cosmo's Factory · Creedence Clearwater Revival
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
War · Edwin Starr
Top album
Cosmo's Factory · Creedence Clearwater Revival
OCTOBER
Top hit
Ain't No Mountain High Enough · Diana Ross
Top album
Cosmo's Factory · Creedence Clearwater Revival
NOVEMBER
Top hit
I'll Be There · Jackson 5
Top album
Led Zeppelin III · Led Zeppelin
DECEMBER
Top hit
I Think I Love You · The Partridge Family Starring Shirley Jones
Top album
Abraxas · Santana
