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.
The Biggest No. 1 Rock Songs of the ’70s
Gallery Credit: Stacker
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