JANUARY
Top hit
My Sweet Lord/Isn't It A Pity · George Harrison
Top album
All Things Must Pass · George Harrison
Year
…
Loading the story…
One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Album-era ambition
1971
Carole King and Marvin Gaye turn personal truth into mass communion while Led Zeppelin and the Who prove rock can fill stadiums without apology.
Rock Gets Bigger
Singer-songwriters, soul, and FM ambition share the spotlight — the albums grow longer, the feelings get louder, and every hit feels like a statement. Carole King and Marvin Gaye turn personal truth into mass communion while Led Zeppelin and the Who prove that rock can fill stadiums without apologizing. This is the year pop learned that intimacy and enormity could share the same turntable.
- singer-songwriter
- classic rock
- soul
- FM radio
- stadium rock
- Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' — soul as social document
- Carole King's 'Tapestry' defines the confessional album
- Led Zeppelin IV enters the classic-rock canon
- Don McLean's 'American Pie' turns pop into mythology
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
Knock Three Times · Dawn
Top album
All Things Must Pass · George Harrison
MARCH
Top hit
One Bad Apple · The Osmonds
Top album
Pearl · Janis Joplin
APRIL
Top hit
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) · The Temptations
Top album
Pearl · Janis Joplin
MAY
Top hit
Joy To The World · Three Dog Night
Top album
Jesus Christ Superstar · Various Artists
JUNE
Top hit
Brown Sugar · The Rolling Stones
Top album
Sticky Fingers · The Rolling Stones
JULY
Top hit
It's Too Late/I Feel The Earth Move · Carole King
Top album
Tapestry · Carole King
AUGUST
Top hit
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart · Bee Gees
Top album
Tapestry · Carole King
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey · Paul
Top album
Tapestry · Carole King
OCTOBER
Top hit
Maggie May/Reason To Believe · Rod Stewart
Top album
Every Picture Tells A Story · Rod Stewart
NOVEMBER
Top hit
Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves · Cher
Top album
Santana III · Santana
DECEMBER
Top hit
Family Affair · Sly
Top album
Santana III · Santana
