Top Songs of 1971

The musical landscape of 1971

The charts reflected a broad musical marketplace: intimate singer-songwriter records, soul, hard rock, country-pop and polished mainstream pop all competed for attention.

The Top 20 is spread across 20 different credited artists, giving the year an unusually broad cast of performers.

What to listen for

Pay attention to the range of vocal styles and to the growing contrast between personal songwriting and large-scale studio production.

This list contains 20 different credited artists. The number gives a quick indication of whether the year was concentrated among repeat hitmakers or spread across a wider field.

Billboard Year-End Top 20 songs of 1971

Build a 1971 playlist

Start with “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night, then alternate familiar high-ranking records with contrasting selections from the lower half of the list.

Open the playlist builder

How this page should be used

Year-End charts summarize performance across an extended chart year. They are not simply a list of songs that reached number one, and historical methodology has changed. Treat this page as a guided listening resource and compact chart-history reference rather than a mathematical comparison with other eras.