The Biggest No. 1 Rock Songs of the ’70s

The decade of the ’70s was perhaps rock’s most interesting.

This era began as a requiem, with final albums by the ’60s legends like the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, but quickly developed an attitude all its own. Or, make that several attitudes.

The music got harder with the advent of metal, punk and hip-hop, but also softer with the rise of country rock, singer-songwriters and yacht rock. It got weirder with prog and jazz-rock. It had a new groove too, as funk and disco ruled the dance floors.

The best albums from a single year, as noted in Never a Dull Moment: 1971 — The Year That Rock Exploded, could provide a mind-boggling array of genres and influences – from Led Zeppelin IV and Marvin Gaye‘s What’s Going On to David Bowie’s Hunky Dory and Carole King’s Tapestry.

Still, not all of them produced decade-defining singles. To do that, a song had to be both truly special and truly popular. Many of the era’s most influential performers, in fact, somehow never had a No. 1 hit at all. They remain important but aren’t discussed here because they didn’t rule the singles charts.

To make this list of the biggest No. 1 rock songs of the ’70s, a hit had to remain atop the charts for three or more weeks. Stacker looked back using the Billboard Hot 100 and the University of Waterloo‘s MusicBrainz encyclopedia.

They Hated Their Own Albums