JANUARY
Top hit
Saturday Night · Bay City Rollers
Top album
Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits · Chicago
Year
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One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Disco meets mainstream
1976
Fleetwood Mac owns the summer, disco learns to speak to daylight crowds, and rock still fills arenas while rhythm sections refuse to sit down.
Disco Crosses Over
The mirror ball meets the tour bus — Fleetwood Mac owns the summer while dance music learns to speak to everyone, not just the after-midnight crowd. Rock still fills arenas with Wings and the Eagles, but the radio dial is tilting toward rhythm sections that won't sit down. The crossover isn't a compromise; it's a takeover in slow motion. The crossover isn't a compromise — it's a takeover in slow motion, one mirror ball at a time.
- disco crossover
- Fleetwood Mac
- soft rock
- funk
- dance music
- Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' sessions intensify
- The Bee Gees pivot toward dance with 'You Should Be Dancing'
- Rod Stewart's 'Tonight's the Night' dominates pop radio
- Wild Cherry's 'Play That Funky Music' bridges rock and funk
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
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover · Paul Simon
Top album
Desire · Bob Dylan
MARCH
Top hit
Love Machine (Part 1) · The Miracles
Top album
Desire · Bob Dylan
APRIL
Top hit
Disco Lady · Johnnie Taylor
Top album
Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 · Eagles
MAY
Top hit
Let Your Love Flow · The Bellamy Brothers
Top album
Presence · Led Zeppelin
JUNE
Top hit
Love Hangover · Diana Ross
Top album
Black And Blue · The Rolling Stones
JULY
Top hit
Silly Love Songs · Wings
Top album
At The Speed Of Sound · Wings
AUGUST
Top hit
Don't Go Breaking My Heart · Elton John
Top album
Breezin' · George Benson
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
You Should Be Dancing · Bee Gees
Top album
Fleetwood Mac · Fleetwood Mac
OCTOBER
Top hit
Play That Funky Music · Wild Cherry
Top album
Frampton Comes Alive · Peter Frampton
NOVEMBER
Top hit
Rock'n Me · Steve Miller
Top album
Songs In The Key Of Life · Stevie Wonder
DECEMBER
Top hit
Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright) · Rod Stewart
Top album
Songs In The Key Of Life · Stevie Wonder
