Chart events
- „In the Blue of Evening“ by Frank Sinatra reached No. 1 on the U.S. chart.
- The Weavers reached No. 1 on the chart with the song “Goodnight Irene”.
- Roy Brown and His Mighty Mighty Men reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B Best Sellers chart with “Hard Luck Blues”. Brown also wrote “Good Rockin’ Tonight”, a 1948 hit for Wynonie Harris that is regarded by many rock historians as a precursor to the rock ’n’ roll era and was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1954.
- Mantovani and His Orchestra were at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Song From The Moulin Rouge” from the film of the same name. It was the first instrumental recording to reach No. 1 on the UK chart.
- Frankie Laine reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the song “I Believe”.
- The Crew-Cuts se svou verzí skladby „Sh-Boom“, známé také jako „Life Could Be a Dream“, dostali na první místo amerického žebříčku, kde zahájili sedmitýdenní pobyt na vrcholu.
- “A Fool for You” by Ray Charles and his group reached No. 1 on the R&B chart.
- Chuck Berry's “Maybellene” entered the Billboard Top 100 at No. 13, two weeks after reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard R&B chart, and later climbed to No. 5. The song is now regarded as one of the pioneering rock 'n' roll singles.
- Elvis Presley released the single “I Forgot to Remember to Forget / Mystery Train”, which later became his first No. 1 hit. It remained at the top of the country chart for five weeks.
- “Maybellene” by Chuck Berry debuted on the charts.
- The song “Ain't That A Shame” reached No. 10 on the US pop chart and became the first R&B song to reach the Top 10. Three weeks later, Pat Boone's cover version reached No. 1.
- Chuck Berry reached No. 5 on the U.S. pop chart with "Maybellene", while the song spent eleven weeks at No. 1 on the rhythm and blues chart.
- The Platters scored their second U.S. No. 1 hit with “My Prayer.” The song was originally based on the French song “Avant de Mourir” from 1926.
- Doris Day was at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera).” It was her second UK No. 1 hit.
- Doris Day began a six-week run at No. 1 on the UK chart with “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).”
- Richard Goodman and Bull Buchanan, recording as Buchanan and Goodman, entered the charts with “Flying Saucer.” It was the first song to use the “Break In” technique, in which excerpts of other hits are inserted into a recording. The song later reached No. 3.
- The soundtrack album to the musical drama Carousel reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart.
- Elvis Presley released the double-sided single “Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog.” Both songs reached No. 1 on the US chart and together remained there for a record 11 weeks. The record was not broken until 1992 by Boyz II Men's “End of the Road.”
- Elvis Presley reached No. 1 on the US pop chart with “Don't Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog,” where the songs remained for eleven weeks.
- The Platters reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “My Prayer.”
- The Five Satins made their chart debut on the Billboard R&B chart with “In the Still of the Night”, which they recorded in the basement of a church in New Haven, Connecticut. It was originally released as the B-side of “The Jones Girl” on the small Standard label, but after significant local success it was reissued by Ember Records. The single reached No. 3 on the R&B chart and No. 24 on the pop chart and sold more than one million copies. The song is often credited with popularizing the term “doo-wop” because of its distinctive “doo-wop, doo-wah” refrain.
- The Platters spent another week at number one on the R&B chart with the classic song “My Prayer”.
- The Platters' “My Prayer” was at No. 1 on the US R&B chart.
- All ten songs in the British singles chart Top 10 came from American artists, including Elvis Presley, The Platters, Doris Day, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers and Gogi Grant.
- Elvis Presley reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart with “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear.”
- Debbie Reynolds reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart with the song “Tammy” from the film Tammy and the Bachelor. The song received a gold record and became the year's best-selling single. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to “All the Way” from The Joker Is Wild.
- Debbie Reynolds’ “Tammy” reached number one, where it remained for five weeks.
- Paul Anka reached number one on the UK singles chart with “Diana”. It was his only UK chart-topper and also the first UK number-one hit by a teenage solo artist. At the time of the success he was only a few days short of his 16th birthday, and he wrote the song about his brother's babysitter.
- The title song from the film “Tammy and the Bachelor”, simply titled “Tammy” in Debbie Reynolds' version, was No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 and Cashbox's best-selling records chart. Debbie was accompanied only by piano on the single, while the film version featured a full orchestra.
- Paul Anka began a nine-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Diana”.
- Billboard combined the existing sales, jukebox, and radio charts into the unified Hot 100. The first song to top the new chart was “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson.
- “Splish Splash” by Bobby Darin reached No. 3 on the U.S. chart.
- Ricky Nelson became the first artist to top the newly created U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “Poor Little Fool.”
- The Coasters remained at No. 1 on the R&B chart for an eleventh week with “Searchin'.”
- Bill Haley attempted to follow up his hit “Skinny Minnie” with “Lean Jean.” The recording reached only No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Elvis Presley's “Hard Headed Woman” became the first rock'n'roll single to receive RIAA Gold certification. At the time, a Gold single required documented US sales of at least one million copies.
- Domenico Modugno's song “Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu (Volare)” reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, beginning a five-week reign at the top. The song became the year's best-selling record.
- The Elegants moved from No. 14 to No. 2 on the chart with “Little Star.”
- The Kalin Twins reached No. 1 on the British singles chart with their version of “When”. The song also topped the charts in France and the Netherlands and reached the Top 5 in North America that year.
- The Staten Island group The Elegants reached number one on the US singles chart with “Little Star”, a reworking of the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. For the next 18 months they promoted the song through television appearances and concerts, but their subsequent recordings “Please Believe Me”, “True Love Affair” and “Little Boy Blue” failed to repeat its success.
- Tommy Edwards moved from number 96 to number 40 on the US chart with “It's All In The Game”.
- Domenico Modugno reached No. 1 with “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)”, which was the second chart-topping position in Billboard magazine's history.
- The Elegants moved from No. 14 to No. 2 with “Little Star”.
- “A Big Hunk O' Love” became Elvis Presley’s 14th consecutive gold record.
- Lloyd Price reached No. 1 on the US chart with “Stagger Lee”.
- Elvis Presley reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Big Hunk O' Love.” The song was recorded during Elvis’s only recording session while serving in the US Army, in four takes, with the released version assembled from the third and fourth takes.
- Fats Domino entered the Billboard singles chart with “I Want to Walk You Home,” which later climbed to No. 8. Although he had 18 million-selling singles during his career, he never reached No. 1.
- Brook Benton reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Thank You Pretty Baby.”
- “The song “There Goes My Baby” performed by The Drifters with Ben E. King reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart and No. 2 on Billboard. The recording was among the first to combine orchestral strings with a Black vocal group and later ranked No. 196 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs.
- Elvis Presley had the song “A Big Hunk O’ Love” at No. 1 on the chart for a second consecutive week, bringing his career total to 60 weeks at the top.
- The Browns began a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with „The Three Bells“. The song also reached No. 1 in Australia and No. 6 in the U.K. It was an English version of the 1945 French song „Les Trois Cloches“.
- Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife” debuted at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 30. It came from the 1928 German play “Three Penny Opera”, later became Darin’s biggest hit, reached No. 1 and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
- Johnny Kidd & The Pirates were at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Shakin' All Over.”
- Johnny Kidd & The Pirates began their run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Shakin' All Over.”
- Johnny Kidd and the Pirates reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Shakin’ All Over.”
- The soundtrack album to the 1958 film “South Pacific” reached No. 1 on the UK album chart.
- Brian Hyland reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Best Sellers chart with "Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". In the U.K., the song reached No. 8.
- Cliff Richard & The Shadows reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Please Don't Tease.” The song also topped the charts in India, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway that year.
- With the song “It's Now or Never”, he began a five-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also reached No. 1 in the UK. The song was based on the Italian song “O Sole Mio” and was his first postwar number-one hit. More than 20 million copies were sold worldwide.
- The Shadows reached number one on the UK singles chart with their version of Jerry Lordan's “Apache”. It was the first of their five UK number-one singles.
- The instrumental song “Apache”, credited to The Shadows, replaced Cliff Richard and The Shadows' “Please Don't Tease” at No. 1 on the UK chart. Cliff Richard contributed by playing the Chinese drum at the beginning and end of the recording.
- Elvis Presley's song "It's Now or Never" was in its third week at No. 1, while "Kiddio" by Brook Benton took the No. 1 spot on the Easy Listening chart.
- Eden Kane, born Richard Graham Starstedt, reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart with “Well I Ask You.”
- “Shakin' All Over” by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart.
- Patsy Cline se skladbou „I Fall To Pieces“ dosáhla 1. místa v Billboard Hot C&W Sides a 12. místa v Billboard Hot 100. Skladbě trvalo více než šest měsíců od vydání, než dosáhla vrcholu.
- Lonnie Donegan achieved his biggest American hit with “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight”, which reached No. 5.
- Fourteen-year-old Helen Shapiro became the youngest female artist to reach No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart with “You Don’t Know.” Her first four singles all reached the Top 3 in the UK.
- The song “Right Or Wrong” entered the Billboard Pop chart and later reached number 29.
- The Highwaymen’s million-selling recording “Michael (Row the Boat Ashore)”, their version of the African-American spiritual, reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart. The five Wesleyan University students achieved another hit the following year with “Cotton Fields” and split up in 1964 after a run of 12 consecutive singles that failed to chart.
- Bobby Lewis was at No. 1 for the seventh consecutive week with “Tossin' And Turnin'”.
- Elvis Presley began a three-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with “Something For Everybody”, his sixth US No. 1 album.
- Joe Dowell reached No. 1 on the US singles chart with his version of “Wooden Heart”. The song is best known for its use in Elvis Presley’s 1960 film “G.I. Blues”, which gave Elvis a UK No. 1 hit. Among those who contributed to Dowell’s recording were Floyd Cramer on piano, The Anita Kerr Singers, The Jordanaires, and Ray Stevens on organ. The song remained at the top of the US chart for one week.
- John Leyton began a three-week run at No. 1 on the British singles chart with "Johnny Remember Me". The BBC later banned it from airplay because of its unsettling sound and gloomy lyrics.
- After eight previous Billboard Top 40 songs, Neil Sedaka reached No. 1 on the US chart for the first time with “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.” It spent two weeks at the top of Billboard and also two weeks at No. 1 on the Cashbox Best Sellers Chart. It reached No. 7 in the UK.
- Tony Bennett released the single “Once Upon A Time” with “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” on the B-side. When DJs began playing the B-side, “San Francisco” climbed to No. 19 on the chart and later earned Bennett Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Solo Vocal Performance.
- Bobby Vinton began his fourth week at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart with “Roses Are Red (My Love).”
- Carole King's first single “It Might As Well Rain Until September” debuted on the chart.
- Elvis Presley moved up to number eight on the US singles chart with “She's Not You”.
- Producer Don Kirshner of Dimension Records gave singer Eva Boyd a chance and had her re-record Gerry Goffin and Carole King's “The Loco-Motion”. The recording reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Best Sellers and number two in the UK.
- Little Eva reached number one on the US singles chart with “The Loco-Motion”, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, after nine weeks on the chart. She had previously worked as a nanny for King and Goffin's daughter, and the song had originally been offered to Dee Dee Sharp, who turned it down. In 1974 the same song also reached number one in a version by Grand Funk Railroad.
- Peter, Paul & Mary moved from number 90 to number 59 with “If I Had A Hammer”.
- New Jersey doo-wop group The Duprees reached the Billboard Top 40 with “You Belong to Me” and later reached number seven. During the following year and a half they had three more chart hits.
- Bobby Vinton reached No. 1 for the fourth week with “Roses Are Red (My Love)” on the Easy Listening chart.
- The Beatles made their first appearance on the U.S. Billboard charts when “From Me to You” debuted at No. 125 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.
- Elvis Presley was at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart with “(You're the) Devil in Disguise” during the week of August 1–7.
- The Beatles first appeared on the U.S. music charts when “From Me to You” debuted at No. 116 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100.
- The Beatles byli na prvním místě britského albového žebříčku se svým albem „Please Please Me“.
- V britském albovém žebříčku byli na prvních pěti místech „Please Please Me“ od The Beatles, „Greatest Hits“ od The Shadows, „Cliff’s Hit Album“ od Cliffa Richarda, soundtrack „West Side Story“ a album „It Happened At The World Fair“ od Elvise Presleyho.
- The Searchers reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Sweets For My Sweet”. It was their first of three UK No. 1 hits.
- Thirteen-year-old Little Stevie Wonder began a three-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Fingertips Part II”. It was the first live recording to reach the top of the Billboard Pop Singles chart since Johnny Standley's 1952 comedy monologue “It's in the Book”. Stevie Wonder also became the youngest singer to reach the top of the US chart.
- Elvis Presley reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the R&B chart with “(You’re The) Devil in Disguise.” The song reached No. 1 in several other countries.
- Peter, Paul & Mary spent their second week at No. 1 on the US chart with “Blowin’ In The Wind”.
- “Sweets for My Sweet” by The Searchers reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart.
- Andy Williams became the first artist to reach No. 1 on the newly created US Billboard 200, doing so with his eleventh studio album, Days of Wine and Roses.
- The song “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Peter, Paul & Mary remained at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for a third week.
- Ben E. King's song “I Who Have Nothing” reached No. 29 and became his fifth solo Top 40 hit on Billboard since leaving The Drifters in May 1960. Successful versions were later recorded by Terry Knight and the Pack, Liquid Smoke, Sylvester and Tom Jones, among others.
- Wayne Newton's version of “Danke Schoen” reached No. 13 on the Hot 100 and No. 3 on the Easy Listening chart. The song was originally intended for Bobby Darin, but after Darin saw Newton perform at the Copacabana, he gave him the song to record.
- The Ronettes recorded their only Billboard Top 10 hit when their first recording for Phil Spector, “Be My Baby”, reached No. 2. None of their other recordings, including “Baby I Love You” (#24), “The Best Part of Breaking Up” (#39), “Do I Love You?” (#34) and “Walking In the Rain” (#23), reached the Top 20 in the US.
- “Bad to Me” reached No. 1 on the British singles chart. The song was officially credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting team; John Lennon later claimed it as his own and said he wrote it for Billy J. Kramer while on vacation in Spain. In a 1964 interview, however, he stated that Paul McCartney had also collaborated on the song. The following year, “Bad to Me” also reached the U.S. Top 10 in the version by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas.
- In the US Top 10, besides Stevie Wonder at number two, Allan Sherman was at number three with “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!”, The Four Seasons at number four with “Candy Girl”, and The Angels at number five with “My Boyfriend's Back”. Also in the Top 10 were Lesley Gore, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Surfaris, Kai Winding, Elvis Presley with “(You're The) Devil In Disguise”, and “Denise” by Randy & The Rainbows.
- Peter, Paul & Mary were in their fourth week at number one on the Easy Listening chart with “Blowin' In The Wind”.
- Stevie Wonder became the first artist of the rock era to have both a number-one single (“Fingertips, Pt. 2”) and a number-one album (“The Twelve-Year-Old Genius”) simultaneously, while also being at number one on the R&B chart. “Fingertips” was in its fourth week at the top of the R&B chart.
- Darlene Love's biggest solo hit, „Wait Til’ My Bobby Gets Home“, entered the Billboard Top 40 and later reached No. 26. She achieved greater success with The Crystals, The Blossoms and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans.
- Peter, Paul & Mary spent their fourth week at No. 1 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart with „Blowin' in the Wind“.
- Stevie Wonder became the first artist to simultaneously hold No. 1 on the U.S. album and singles charts in the same week. His album „Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius“ topped the album chart and „Fingertips (Part 2)“ topped the singles chart; it was also the first live recording to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100. „Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius“ was the last album released under the name „Little Stevie Wonder“; on subsequent albums he used only the name Stevie Wonder.
- The Ronettes reached No. 2 on the U.S. chart with „Be My Baby“, their only single to reach the Billboard Top 10.
- The Angels became the first white female group to reach No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart. "My Boyfriend's Back" began a three-week run at the top. Its writers Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer later wrote hits including "Sorrow", and as The Strangeloves had the U.S. No. 11 single "I Want Candy" in 1965. In the United Kingdom, the song reached No. 50 and also reached No. 1 in New Zealand that year.
- Earl-Jean Reavis of The Cookies entered the Billboard Top 40 at No. 38 with "I'm Into Something Good", her highest chart position. Three months later, Herman's Hermits reached No. 13 with the same song.
- The soundtrack to Elvis Presley's film "Kissin' Cousins" reached No. 5 on the U.K. album chart.
- The Animals entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at No. 60 with “House of the Rising Sun”. The song later rose to No. 1 and became their only U.S. No. 1 hit.
- “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart. The recording became an international hit and also reached No. 1 in the US, Sweden, and Canada.
- Dean Martin's “Everybody Loves Somebody” knocked The Beatles' “A Hard Day's Night” from the No. 1 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100. It became his biggest hit and reached No. 11 in the UK. The song dated back to 1949 and had been unsuccessfully recorded by several other artists before Martin.
- Elvis Presley reached No. 16 on the U.S. chart with “Such A Night”.
- The Four Tops' “Baby I Need Your Loving” jumped from No. 90 to No. 54 on the U.S. chart.
- The Supremes achieved their first U.S. No. 1 single when “Where Did Our Love Go” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. It was the first of five consecutive No. 1 singles for the group and also the first of their twelve total U.S. No. 1 hits. The song also reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, No. 3 in the United Kingdom, and No. 1 in Canada and New Zealand. Holland–Dozier–Holland originally wrote it for The Marvelettes, who rejected it because they thought it sounded too childish. At the top of the Billboard Hot 100, The Supremes replaced Dean Martin with “Everybody Loves Somebody”; The Beatles were at No. 3 with “A Hard Day's Night”.
- The Honeycombs reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with their debut single “Have I the Right?”, which was their only No. 1 hit. The song also reached the top in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Sweden that year.
- Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" spent its fifth week at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart.
- The Honeycombs reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with their debut single "Have I The Right". The song also reached No. 1 in Australia, Canada, and Sweden, No. 5 in the US, and sold two million copies worldwide.
- The Supremes remained at No. 1 on the R&B chart with "Where Did Our Love Go".
- The Beatles began a three-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Help!” It was their eighth consecutive UK No. 1 hit, and the song reached No. 1 on charts in eleven countries that year.
- Gary Lewis & the Playboys měli se skladbou „Save Your Heart for Me“ první místo v americkém Easy Listening chartu.
- Herman's Hermits se skladbou „I'm Henry VIII, I Am“ obsadili první místo amerického singlového žebříčku Billboard Hot 100 a sesadili „(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction“ od The Rolling Stones na druhé místo. Šlo o jejich druhý hit číslo jedna v USA. Singl byl vydán pouze ve Spojených státech a ve Velké Británii se do žebříčku nedostal.
- The Beatles se skladbou „Help!“ dostali na první místo britského singlového žebříčku.
- Wilson Pickett se skladbou „In The Midnight Hour“ poprvé dosáhl prvního místa v Billboard R&B chartu. Skladba později vystoupala na 21. místo popového žebříčku.
- At the time performing under the name David, he made his Billboard Hot 100 debut with the single “What Are We Going To Do?”, which reached only number 100 after spending a single week on the chart. The following year, he was chosen as a member of The Monkees.
- The EP “Tickle Me” reached number 70 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The recording used existing Elvis songs rather than new material.
- They began a three-week run at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “I Got You Babe”. Sonny Bono was reportedly inspired to write the song by the popularity of the word “babe” in Bob Dylan's “It Ain’t Me Babe”. The recording also reached number one in the UK two weeks later and became a Top Ten hit in nine other countries. Written by Sonny Bono, the song was awarded a gold record for selling more than one million copies in the US.
- Barry McGuire's “Eve Of Destruction” and The Lovin' Spoonful's “Do You Believe In Magic” entered the Billboard Hot 100. McGuire's protest song reached No. 1 on September 25, while The Lovin' Spoonful's song reached No. 9 in mid-October.
- Gary Lewis & the Playboys spent their third consecutive week at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart with “Save Your Heart For Me”.
- Sonny & Cher returned to No. 1 with “I Got You Babe”. Gary Lewis & the Playboys moved up to No. 2 with “Save Your Heart For Me”, The Beatles jumped from No. 14 to No. 3 with “Help!”, The Beach Boys were at No. 4 with “California Girls” and The Righteous Brothers at No. 5 with “Unchained Melody”. The rest of the Top 10: The Rolling Stones with “Satisfaction” at No. 6, The Four Tops with “It's The Same Old Song” at No. 7, Patty Duke with “Don't Just Stand There” at No. 8, Herman's Hermits with “I'm Henry VIII, I Am” at No. 9 and Billy Joe Royal with “Down In The Boondocks” at No. 10.
- The Rolling Stones began a three-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with “Out Of Our Heads”, their fourth US studio album and the group's first album to reach the top of the US chart. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and knocked “Beatles VI” from the top spot. Its success was helped by songs including “Satisfaction” (#1), “The Last Time” (#9) and “Play With Fire”.
- Sonny & Cher reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “I Got You Babe”, their only UK No. 1. In the same year, the song also topped the charts in Canada, New Zealand and the US. Sonny Bono was inspired when writing the song by the popularity of the word “babe”, which he had heard, for example, in Bob Dylan's “It Ain’t Me Babe”.
- Billy Joe Royal scored his biggest pop hit when “Down In The Boondocks” climbed to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. He later reached the Top 40 three more times with “I Knew You When”, “I've Got To Be Somebody”, and “Cherry Hill Park”, before finding success on the country charts in the 1980s with twelve Top 40 hits.
- “Papa's Got A Brand New Bag” became James Brown’s first song to break into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. It initially reached No. 10 and climbed to No. 8 the following week. Brown’s “new style” emphasized the first beat, or “one”, creating an unusual and highly effective rhythm.
- “California Girls” reached No. 3 on the US singles chart and later reached No. 26 in the UK. The music for the song was written during Brian Wilson’s first experience with LSD. Wilson recorded the vocals using Columbia’s new eight-track recorder, which allowed Mike Love’s lead vocal to be triple-tracked. “California Girls” was also the first Beach Boys recording to feature Bruce Johnston’s vocals.
- The Troggs reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “With a Girl Like You.” It was their only UK No. 1 hit.
- Elvis Presley reached No. 6 on the UK singles chart with “Love Letters.”
- Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs reached No. 1 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart with “Lil’ Red Riding Hood.” The song reached No. 2 on Billboard and the following week received an RIAA Gold Record for sales exceeding one million copies.
- “Ain't Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations spent its sixth week at No. 1 on the R&B chart.
- The Troggs achieved the unusual feat of having simultaneous Top 10 hits in the UK and U.S. with two different songs. “With a Girl Like You” topped the main UK charts, while “Wild Thing” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. Both songs were recorded in just two takes each because of limited studio time.
- “They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-haaa” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It then quickly fell to the bottom of the Top 40 after several radio stations banned the song out of concern that its lyrics could be perceived as insensitive toward people with mental illness.
- “Summer In The City” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox Best Sellers List, beginning a three-week run at the top of the US chart. The song features car horns and jackhammer sounds that create the atmosphere of a summer city.
- The Beatles began a four-week reign at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with the single “Yellow Submarine” / “Eleanor Rigby.”
- Cleveland group The Outsiders returned to the Billboard Top 40 following the success of their million-selling hit “Time Won't Let Me” with a cover of “Respectable” by The Isley Brothers. The song climbed to No. 15. The band had a total of four songs on the main Billboard chart and another four in the Bubbling Under category, but none of their recordings made a significant impact in Britain.
- “You Can't Hurry Love” by The Supremes climbed from No. 66 to No. 28 on the chart.
- “Ain't Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations spent its eighth week at No. 1 on the R&B chart.
- The Beatles' album “Revolver” received gold certification.
- The Beatles were at number one on the UK singles chart with the double A-side “Yellow Submarine – Eleanor Rigby”, their eleventh number-one single. Paul McCartney said that he took the name Eleanor from actress Eleanor Bron, who appeared with The Beatles in the film “Help!”, while Rigby came from the name of a shop in Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers.
- The song “Sunny”, written by Bobby Hebb, reached No. 1 on the Cash Box chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the best-selling single in the USA. Its success led Hebb to tour the United States and Canada with The Beatles.
- “Summer In The City” by Lovin' Spoonful remained at No. 1 on the US chart for a third week. Bobby Hebb was at No. 2 with “Sunny” and “See You In September” by The Happenings was at No. 3.
- Petula Clark reached No. 1 on the US Easy Listening chart with “I Couldn't Live Without Your Love”.
- Stevie Wonder's version of “Blowin' In The Wind” reached No. 1 on the US R&B chart.
- “Cherish” by The Association entered the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 1 a month later. Although the song was actually longer, the record label listed its length as three minutes so that radio programmers would not reject it as too long. The recording later received a gold record for sales of more than one million copies and, according to BMI, was the 22nd most-played song of the 20th century.
- “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys reached No. 2 on the UK singles chart. The song was among the first commercial recordings to feature the word “God” in the title and was groundbreaking in many ways. Capitol Records feared a reaction from US radio programmers, so in the USA it placed the song on the B-side of the single “Wouldn't It Be Nice”, while in the UK it was accepted as the A-side. Brian Wilson used a range of unusual instruments during the recording, including French horns.
- The Small Faces entered the singles chart with “Itchycoo Park”, written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. The song reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 16 in the US the following year. It was among the first pop singles to use the flanging effect.
- Scott McKenzie began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)”. It was his only UK Top 40 hit and was written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas. That same year, the song also reached No. 1 in eight other countries.
- “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles was the best-selling single in the U.S. according to Cashbox magazine. A week later, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart and later topped the charts in nine other countries.
- The Beatles scored their fourteenth US No. 1 single with “All You Need Is Love”, which remained at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for one week. The song became a worldwide hit that year and topped the charts in eleven countries. It was the British contribution to Our World, the first live global television broadcast, in which The Beatles performed it from the EMI studios in London on 25 June. The programme was transmitted by satellite and watched by more than 400 million people in 25 countries. Backing vocals on the recording were provided by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, Marianne Faithfull and Gary Leeds of the Walker Brothers.
- Bobbie Gentry began a four-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Ode to Billie Joe”. The song also reached the top in Canada, reached No. 7 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, No. 8 on Hot R&B Singles and No. 17 on Hot Country Songs, and later became an international hit. It received eight Grammy nominations, three of which Gentry won.
- Jimi Hendrix's “Purple Haze” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 94. During its eight-week run, it peaked at No. 65. It performed much better in the UK, reaching No. 3 and spending 14 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. In 2010, Billboard ranked it No. 17 on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
- The Doors began a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Hello, I Love You,” their second U.S. No. 1 hit.
- “Lady Willpower” by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap was at No. 1 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart for the week ending August 3.
- Mason Williams reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart with his song “Classical Gas”. Williams was the head writer of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and the following year won three Grammy Awards. In 1991, he received an RIAA Citation of Achievement for more than five million broadcast uses of the song.
- Tom Jones reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart with “Delilah”. The lyrics were written by Barry Mason and the music by Les Reed.
- Herb Alpert remained at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart for a tenth week with “This Guy’s In Love with You.”
- The Dells reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Stay In My Corner”.
- Cream's album Wheels of Fire remained at No. 1 on the US album chart for a second week.
- Deep Purple's song “Hush” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 83. It was recorded in just two takes and climbed to No. 4 five weeks later, becoming the group's first of eight hits on the chart.
- Simon & Garfunkel reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with their fourth studio album, Bookends. The album also reached No. 1 in the United States.
- The Doors achieved significant chart success: their album Waiting for the Sun began a four-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, while the song “Hello, I Love You” was named America's best-selling single by Cashbox. After allegations of plagiarism, British courts ruled that the song had been taken from The Kinks' “All Day and All of the Night”, and the British songwriting royalties went to Ray Davies.
- The Rascals reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the song “People Got to Be Free”, beginning a five-week run at the top. The song later received a gold record and sold more than four million copies. It was inspired by the group's unpleasant experience with Florida racists who threatened them because of their long hair.
- Tommy James and The Shondells returned to No. 1 on the UK singles chart for the second time with the single “Mony Mony”. In 1987, Billy Idol's version of the song replaced another Tommy James hit, “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany, at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- The Dells spent their third week at No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart with „Stay In My Corner“.
- Simon and Garfunkel began a five-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart with “Bookends”. The duo’s fourth studio album included the songs “America”, “Mrs. Robinson”, and “A Hazy Shade of Winter”. “Bookends” is a concept album tracing the journey of life from childhood to old age.
- The Beach Boys scored their second No. 1 single in the UK with “Do It Again”, which became their second and final UK chart-topper. In the US, the song reached No. 20.
- “Wet Dream” by Jamaican reggae singer Max Romeo entered the UK singles chart. Because of its sexually explicit lyrics, the song was banned by the BBC and most radio stations.
- Jethro Tull achieved their first UK No. 1 album with their second studio album, “Stand Up”. The album was their first international hit and reached No. 20 in both the US and Canada.
- Elvis Presley reached No. 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 21 on the UK singles chart with “Clean Up Your Own Back Yard.”
- Chicago, then known as Chicago Transit Authority, first entered the chart with “Questions 67 and 68”.
- The Guess Who's "These Eyes" received a gold certification.
- Andy Williams' album “Happy Heart” was certified gold.
- The song “A Boy Named Sue” reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and number two on the Hot 100.
- The Rolling Stones began a four-week run at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Honky Tonk Women”, their fifth US number-one single. The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and was inspired by Brazilian gauchos at the ranch where they stayed in Matão, São Paulo. In the UK, the song also reached number one; it was released one day after the death of founding member Brian Jones and spent 17 weeks on the UK chart, including five weeks at number one. It was the band's last hit involving Brian Jones, who had died by drowning in his swimming pool on July 3. The song also reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland in 1969.
- Elvis Presley’s tenth studio album “From Elvis in Memphis” reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart.
- The Rolling Stones reached No. 1 on the US chart with “Honky Tonk Women”, their fifth single to reach the top of that chart.
- Zager and Evans began a three-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)”. The song was written by Rick Evans in 1964. That same year, it also reached No. 1 in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the US, where it remained at the top for six weeks.
- Elvis Presley was at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with his version of “The Wonder of You,” which became his sixteenth UK No. 1 hit.
- The album "Blood Sweat & Tears 3" began a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart (Billboard Top LPs & Tape). It was the group's second consecutive No. 1 album. The album produced the singles "Hi-De-Ho" and "Lucretia MacEvil". It overtook "Cosmo's Factory" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
- The Carpenters spent their third week at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “(They Long to Be) Close to You”.
- They scored their first number-one song with “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”.
- The song “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” entered the US Billboard Top 40 and later reached No. 2. Although its surreal imagery led to interpretations involving drugs, John Fogerty said he wrote the song for his three-year-old son Josh.
- The song “Lay A Little Lovin' On Me” peaked at No. 11 after eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. His next single received almost no radio airplay, and McNamara remained best known as a one-hit artist.
- Elvis Presley reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with "The Wonder of You", his 16th UK No. 1.
- Simon & Garfunkel's album Bridge Over Troubled Water was at No. 1 on the UK chart. It spent a total of 33 weeks at the top and won six Grammy Awards.
- Creedence Clearwater Revival's album “Cosmo's Factory” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200, where it remained for nine weeks.
- The song “Snowbird” entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and later climbed to No. 8. It became a million-selling hit and the first American Gold Record awarded to a Canadian female solo singer. The song’s success made her the first Canadian female solo singer to receive this honor in the United States. Songwriter Gene MacLellan said he wrote “Snowbird” in approximately 25 minutes after seeing a flock of snow buntings on a beach on Prince Edward Island.
- B.J. Thomas was at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart with the song “I Just Can't Help Believing”.
- “Make It with You” reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for one week. It was Bread’s first and only single to reach the top of the U.S. chart; in the United Kingdom, it reached No. 5. The song was written by singer David Gates. It was later recorded by, among others, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire, Dusty Springfield, Andy Williams, and Marc Cohn.
- The fifth studio album “Cosmo's Factory” began a nine-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, later known as the Billboard 200, and also reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Finland, Canada, and Norway. The album contained the hits “Up Around the Bend” (#4 U.S.), “Lookin' Out My Back Door” (#23 U.S.), and “Who'll Stop the Rain” (#2 U.S.). The title “Cosmo's Factory” came from the warehouse in Berkeley where the group rehearsed; John Fogerty insisted on rehearsing almost every day, and drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford therefore began calling the place “the factory”.
- After leaving The Animals the previous year, Eric Burdon returned to the charts with his new group War and the song “Spill the Wine”, which reached No. 3. Burdon separated from War in 1971, while the group later continued successfully without him and recorded further hits, including “The World Is a Ghetto” (#9), “The Cisco Kid” (#12), “Gypsy Man” (#8), “Why Can't We Be Friends?” (#6), “Low Rider” (#7) and “Summer” (#7).
- The Moody Blues began a three-week run at No. 1 on the British album chart with their sixth studio album, “A Question of Balance”. In the U.S., the album peaked at No. 3.
- Anne Murray's "Snowbird" reached No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart.
- Edwin Starr's "War", written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for three weeks. It reached No. 3 in the UK and became his only US No. 1 hit. The song was later nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance but lost to B. B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone". According to Starr, the song was not specifically about the Vietnam War but concerned gang violence and other domestic conflicts.
- Elvis Presley's single "I've Lost You/The Next Step Is Love" reached No. 32 on the US chart.
- Ringo Starr received a gold record for “It Don't Come Easy,” which reached No. 4 in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
- Kompilační album „Hot Hits 6“ od různých anonymních interpretů se dostalo na první místo britského albového žebříčku. Obsahovalo dvanáct coververzí populárních skladeb.
- James Taylor měl podle žebříčku Cashbox nejprodávanější singl v USA se skladbou „You've Got A Friend“ od Carole King. Skladba dosáhla 4. místa ve Velké Británii.
- Olivia Newton-John dosáhla se svou verzí skladby Boba Dylana „If Not for You“ prvního místa v Easy Listening chartu.
- Paul Revere & the Raiders byli se skladbou „Indian Reservation“ na druhém místě amerického singlového žebříčku.
- “If Not for You” reached number one on the US Billboard Easy Listening chart, later known as Adult Contemporary.
- Mercury Records officially changed the A-side of the single “Maggie May” from the original “Reason to Believe” after radio stations and listeners unexpectedly took a liking to “Maggie May”. The recording subsequently reached number one and became his first Billboard song.
- “Sweet City Woman” debuted at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 8 in October. More than one million copies of the recording were sold, and it spent sixteen weeks on the chart.
- John Denver's song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was certified in the US for sales of one million copies. Although the song refers to West Virginia as “almost heaven,” Denver and co-writers Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert had never visited the state before writing it.
- Carole King's album “Tapestry” spent its tenth consecutive week at No. 1 on the album chart.
- Diana Ross began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK chart with “I'm Still Waiting”. The song also reached No. 1 in Ireland.
- Reissued Elvis Presley single “Heartbreak Hotel” reached No. 10 on the UK chart. Elvis's single “I'm Leavin'” reached No. 36 in the US.
- Marvin Gaye spent his second consecutive week at No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”.
- Olivia Newton-John spent her third consecutive week at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “If Not For You”.
- Paul and Linda McCartney moved from No. 65 to No. 21 with “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”.
- The Bee Gees spent their third consecutive week at No. 1 with “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”. “Mr. Big Stuff” by Jean Knight was at No. 2, John Denver was at No. 3, and Marvin Gaye moved from No. 9 to No. 4 with “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”. James Taylor was at No. 5 with “You've Got A Friend”, Creedence Clearwater Revival at No. 6 with “Sweet Hitch-Hiker”, Chicago at No. 7 with “Beginnings/Colour My World”, Five Man Electrical Band at No. 8 with “Signs” and Tommy James and The Shondells at No. 9 with “Draggin' The Line”, while Three Dog Night entered the Top 10 with “Liar”.
- Diana Ross was at number one on the UK singles chart with “I'm Still Waiting”, which became her first solo UK number-one single. It remained at the top for four weeks after being heavily promoted by BBC Radio 1 presenter Tony Blackburn on his morning programme.
- John Denver’s first major hit, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 behind the Bee Gees’ “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?”. Denver and co-writers Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert had never visited West Virginia when they wrote the song. The lyrics were inspired by postcards from West Virginia that Bill Danoff received from a friend living in the state. The song later became one of West Virginia’s state anthems.
- Wayne Newton reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart with “Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast,” where it spent one week. The song reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
- Rick Springfield made his first appearance on the U.S. chart with “Speak to the Sky.”
- Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Where Is the Love.”
- Al Green was still at number one on the R&B chart with “I’m Still in Love with You”.
- Elvis Presley’s gospel album “He Touched Me” reached number 38 on the UK chart.
- Gilbert O’Sullivan continued at number one for a fourth week with “Alone Again (Naturally)”. Looking Glass continued on the chart with “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”, The Hollies climbed with “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress”, and Argent with “Hold Your Head Up”, Nilsson with “Coconut” and The Carpenters with “Goodbye to Love” newly entered the Top 10.
- The album “Chicago V”, the group’s fourth studio album, reached number one on the US album chart, the Billboard 200 (Billboard Top LPs and Tape), in its fourth week, beginning a nine-week run at the top. It knocked Elton John’s “Honky Château” from number one, while Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” fell to number three, followed by The Carpenters’ “A Song for You” and “Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits”. “Chicago V” marked the beginning of an important period for the group and became the first of five consecutive albums, including “Greatest Hits”, to reach number one. The album’s success was significantly helped by the million-selling single “Saturday in the Park”, which reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
- Looking Glass reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)”, where it remained for one week. The recording reached No. 51 in the UK and later received a BPI gold certification for more than 400,000 copies sold. The US hit sold one million copies, and the group had only one more Billboard entry, “Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne”, which reached No. 33 the following year.
- Nilsson's novelty song “Coconut” reached No. 8 on the US pop chart, where it remained for one week.
- “The Morning After,” the title song from the film “The Poseidon Adventure,” reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and began a two-week run at the top.
- The Carpenters were at No. 1 on the Cashbox chart with “Yesterday Once More.” The song also reached No. 2 in the UK and on the Billboard Hot 100 and became their best-selling recording.
- Diana Ross's song “Touch Me in the Morning” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for one week. It spent 21 weeks on the chart in total, her longest chart run up to that point. It was her second US No. 1 single.
- Elvis Presley's album Elvis reached No. 52 on the US album chart.
- Jethro Tull reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with their sixth studio album, A Passion Play. It was their second album to top the US chart. The album also reached No. 1 in Canada, while reaching No. 16 in the UK. Because of high British taxes, the album was recorded at Château d'Hérouville studio in France on the recommendation of their managers and accountants.
- Marvin Gaye began a long reign at No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Let's Get It On.”
- The duo Peters and Lee reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with We Can Make It. It was their first and only album to top the chart.
- The Pointer Sisters achieved their first chart success with “Yes We Can Can.”
- According to Cashbox magazine, Wings had the best-selling single in the US with “Live and Let Die.” The song was produced by George Martin and written by Paul McCartney specifically for the James Bond film of the same name. It was nominated for a Grammy Award.
- Donny Osmond began a four-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with his version of “Young Love”. It was his third and final UK chart-topper; the same song had also been a hit for Tab Hunter in 1957.
- Stories, led by former Left Banke keyboardist Michael Brown, reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Best Sellers with their version of Hot Chocolate's “Brother Louie”, beginning a two-week run at the top and overtaking Wings' “Live And Let Die”. The prominent lead vocal was sung by Ian Lloyd, who later worked with Billy Joel, Foreigner and Peter Frampton.
- Diana Ross reached No. 1 on the US chart with “Touch Me in the Morning”, overtaking Wings' “Live and Let Die” and Stories' “Brother Louie”.
- Marvin Gaye began a long run at No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Let's Get It On”.
- Bad Company’s debut album “Bad Company” reached No. 3 on the UK album chart and also reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart.
- “Feel Like Makin' Love” by Roberta Flack was at No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart.
- ABBA scored their first U.S. Top 10 hit with “Waterloo,” which reached No. 6. The song also reached No. 1 in the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland.
- Roberta Flack reached her third US No. 1 with “Feel Like Makin’ Love”. After her producer left while she was working on her fifth album, she mixed the song herself and was credited as producer under the name Rubina Flake. The song became the first track produced by a female solo artist to reach the top of the US chart.
- Eric Clapton reached No. 1 on the US album chart for the first time as a solo artist with the album “461 Ocean Boulevard”, which began a four-week run at the top. The album also reached No. 3 in the United Kingdom, while the single “I Shot the Sheriff” reached the Top 10 in nine countries and became Clapton's only single to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Paper Lace reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the song “The Night Chicago Died”, where it remained for one week. The song also reached No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand and reached the Top 3 in the United Kingdom and Canada. The band's manager subsequently contacted Chicago mayor Richard Daley seeking a ceremonial reception but received a very dismissive response.
- The Three Degrees began a two-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with the song “When Will I See You Again”. The group initially did not particularly like the song, but changed their minds after its international success.
- The Three Degrees reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “When Will I See You Again”. It was their only UK No. 1 single. The group was popular with Prince Charles in the 1970s and in 1978 performed the song at the celebration of his 30th birthday at Buckingham Palace after he said it was his favourite song.
- Carole King released the single “Jazzman”.
- Eric Clapton remained at number one on the US album chart with “461 Ocean Boulevard”. John Denver was second with “Back Home Again”, Elton John third with “Caribou”, Stevie Wonder moved up to fourth with “Fulfillingness' First Finale”, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive II was fifth. Also in the Top 10 were Bad Company, Loggins & Messina, Robin Trower, Bob Dylan & The Band, and Paul McCartney & Wings.
- Chicago reached No. 1 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart with „Call On Me“.
- Paul Anka and Odia Coates began a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with „(You're) Having My Baby“. The song was Anka's 24th U.S. Top 40 hit, reached No. 6 in the U.K., also topped the Cashbox Best Sellers chart and later received a gold certification from the RIAA. Despite condemnation from feminist groups, it reached the top of the chart.
- Barry White reached No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
- Carole King released the album "Wrap Around Joy", which reached No. 1 on the U.S. albums chart.
- The Osmonds reached No. 1 on the British singles chart with their version of Johnny Bristol's "Love Me for a Reason".
- Album „Made In The Shade“ od The Rolling Stones získalo zlatou certifikaci.
- Typically Tropical reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with their debut single “Barbados”. The song also reached No. 1 in Ireland and South Africa and was their only hit.
- Bee Gees began a two-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Jive Talkin'.” It was their second US No. 1 hit and the first of several American disco hits to top the chart. The single reached No. 5 in the UK. Barry Gibb was inspired to write the song while driving across a Florida bridge on his way to the recording studio.
- Janis Ian was at No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary chart with “At Seventeen”.
- The Stylistics reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with "Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)", their only UK No. 1. Their compilation album The Best of The Stylistics was also at No. 1 on the UK albums chart.
- The Stylistics reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)” and No. 1 on the UK album chart with the compilation The Best of The Stylistics.
- The song “Fallin' in Love” by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for one week. It was their first and only US number-one single. The song was credited to the group even though drummer Tommy Reynolds had left three years earlier and was replaced by Alan Dennison. It reached number 33 in the UK.
- The Eagles' album “One of These Nights” entered its final week at number one on the US album chart. It was subsequently replaced at the top by Elton John's album “Captain Fantastic”.
- Glen Campbell was at No. 1 on the US country chart with “Rhinestone Cowboy”. The song was one of six songs released in 1975 that reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Hot Country Singles.
- Elton John’s ninth studio album “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” returned to No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 after a six-week break. That same year, it also topped the charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
- KC and the Sunshine Band reached No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Get Down Tonight”. It was the first of five of their singles to reach No. 1, and the song reached No. 21 in the UK. It later received a platinum certification for sales of one million copies in the US and reached No. 1 in Canada.
- Rod Stewart reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart with “Atlantic Crossing”, which began a five-week run at the top.
- Earth, Wind & Fire byli se skladbou „Getaway“ na prvním místě R&B žebříčku.
- Elton John a Kiki Dee se skladbou „Don't Go Breaking My Heart“ dosáhli prvního místa amerického singlového žebříčku, kde zůstali čtyři týdny. Pro Eltona Johna šlo o jeho šestý americký hit číslo jedna. Skladba se dostala na první místo v celkem devíti zemích včetně Velké Británie, Austrálie a Kanady. Autory byli Elton John a Bernie Taupin, kteří skladbu vydali pod pseudonymy Ann Orson a Carte Blanche.
- “Devil Woman” entered the Billboard Top 40 and later reached number 6.
- Their cover of Chuck Berry's “Rock And Roll Music” reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became their first Top Ten hit since “Good Vibrations” in 1966.
- Peter Frampton spent his third week at No. 1 on the US chart with the album “Frampton Comes Alive!”. The album was later briefly replaced at the top by Fleetwood Mac’s album “Fleetwood Mac” before returning to No. 1 on September 11. The live version of “Baby, I Love Your Way” from the album reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2017, Frampton told US lawmakers that 55 million streams of the song had earned him only $1,700.
- On the UK singles chart that week, “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer was at No. 1, “Ma Baker” by Boney M at No. 2, “Angelo” by Brotherhood Of Man at No. 3, “Pretty Vacant” by The Sex Pistols at No. 4 and “Fanfare For The Common Man” by ELP at No. 5.
- “My Heart Belongs to Me” spent its third week at No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary chart.
- Barbra Streisand spent her fourth week at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “My Heart Belongs to Me”. The Emotions reached No. 1 with “Best of My Love”, ending Andy Gibb's three-week reign with “I Just Want To Be Your Everything”. Rita Coolidge was climbing with “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher”, while Peter Frampton was falling from its peak at No. 2 with “I'm In You”. The Commodores were at No. 5 with “Easy”, Pablo Cruise at No. 6 with “Whatcha' Gonna' Do?”, Peter McCann at No. 7, Crosby, Stills & Nash at No. 8 with “Just a Song Before I Go”, Alice Cooper at No. 9 with “You and Me”, and Bay City Rollers at No. 10 with “You Made Me Believe In Magic”.
- Pop group Brotherhood of Man scored their second UK No. 1 single with “Angelo”. The song also reached No. 1 in Ireland, Japan, Rhodesia and South Africa.
- Chicago trio The Emotions reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “Best of My Love” and began a five-week run at the top. In Britain, the song reached No. 4. Two years earlier, The Eagles had reached No. 1 with a song of the same title. The recording was certified gold and won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.
- Ten of Elvis Presley's albums reappeared on the charts. Fleetwood Mac's album “Rumours” was at No. 1 on the US album chart for the third time, and “Float On” by The Floaters reached No. 8 on the singles chart.
- The Floaters reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Float On”. In the USA, the song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. For the Detroit soul-funk group, it was their only UK hit, making them a one-hit wonder.
- The Rolling Stones reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “Miss You,” where it spent one week. It was their eighth U.S. No. 1 hit, and the song reached No. 3 in the UK.
- “Substitute,” performed by the South African group Clout and recorded by the studio group Circus, reached No. 2 on the UK singles chart and became a major international hit.
- “King Tut” by Steve Martin reached No. 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and later sold more than one million copies.
- The Commodores achieved their first No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Three Times A Lady”; the song remained at the top for two weeks.
- After nine weeks at number one on the UK singles chart, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John’s “You’re the One That I Want” was knocked off the top by The Commodores’ “Three Times a Lady”, which began a five-week run at number one on the UK singles chart. In 2013, with two million copies sold in the UK, “You’re the One That I Want” was still ranked fifth among the country’s best-selling singles of all time. Lionel Richie wrote “Three Times a Lady” about his love for his wife, mother and grandmother, hence the title “Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady”. The album “Elvis – NBC TV Special” also reached number 50 on the UK album chart that week.
- “Whenever I Call You Friend” became Kenny Loggins’ first solo Top 40 hit after his three Billboard Top 40 songs with Jim Messina in 1972 and 1973. The duet with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for 15 weeks. Loggins later scored a total of 14 solo Top 40 hits.
- Soul group The Commodores began a five-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Three Times a Lady”. The song also reached No. 1 in Ireland and Australia. Lionel Richie wrote it about his love for his wife, mother and grandmother, hence the title “Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady”.
- Frankie Valli reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Grease”, written by Barry Gibb and featured in the film musical of the same name. Almost sixteen years after his first US No. 1 single, “Sherry”, he returned to the top with another song. “Grease” sold more than two million copies in the US, reached No. 3 in the UK and sold more than seven million copies worldwide.
- The Knack received a gold record from the RIAA for the single "My Sharona", which had sold one million copies in the US. Doug Fieger wrote the song for his girlfriend, Sharona Alperin.
- Chic's song “Good Times” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Soul Singles and Cashbox Best Sellers charts. It remained at the top of the US pop chart for one week. It was the first single from their third album, Risqué, and became one of the most frequently sampled recordings in popular music history, particularly in hip-hop.
- Cliff Richard scored his tenth chart-topping hit 20 years after his first UK number one, with “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, his first number one in eleven years. The song became the best-selling recording of his career and sold more than four million copies worldwide.
- “My Sharona” by The Knack reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and began a six-week run at the top. Billboard later named it the number-one single of 1979. The song also reached number one in Australia and Canada and number six in the UK. Singer Doug Fieger said he wrote the lyrics in about 15 minutes and was inspired by 17-year-old Sharrona Alperin, who later became his girlfriend.
- “My Sharona” by The Knack began a six-week run at No. 1 on the US chart.
- Deep Purple’s “Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple” reached No. 1 on the UK album chart on August 2, 1980, becoming the band’s third album to reach the top of the UK charts.
- “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John, from the soundtrack to the film “Xanadu,” reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on August 2, 1980.
- Kurtis Blow became the first hip-hop artist whose single received an RIAA gold certification when “The Breaks” sold more than 500,000 copies. The song also reached number 4 on the Billboard R&B chart.
- “Ashes to Ashes” reached number one on the UK Official Singles Chart, where it remained for two weeks. For David Bowie, it was his second UK number-one single and his first since “Space Oddity” in 1975. The song came from the album “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” and continued the story of Major Tom from “Space Oddity”. At the time of its release, it was his fastest-selling single. The video cost £250,000, making it the most expensive music video ever made at that time.
- According to Cashbox, the best-selling song in America that week was “Take Your Time (Do It Right)” by The SOS Band. The song reached number three on the Hot 100. The Atlanta, Georgia group took its name from the abbreviation Sounds Of Success and was fronted by Mary Davis.
- Christopher Cross’s “Sailing” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for one week. The following spring, it won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Arrangement of the Year, and also helped Cross win the award for Best New Artist. The song also reached No. 1 in Canada.
- Joey Scarbury reached No. 1 on the Cash Box Best Sellers chart with “Theme From The Greatest American Hero”.
- Rick Springfield's “Jessie's Girl” remained at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart.
- The Moody Blues spent their third week at No. 1 on the album chart with “Long Distance Voyager”.
- The BBC recording of the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana reached number one on the UK album chart.
- “Endless Love” began a nine-week reign at No. 1 on the US singles chart. The song was the title track of the film of the same name starring Brooke Shields. Because of scheduling difficulties, they completed the duet at 5 a.m. in a studio in Reno after a Diana Ross concert, while Lionel Richie was also working with The Commodores and Kenny Rogers.
- Her third studio album “Precious Time” reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, becoming her first and only album to top the chart.
- The BBC recording documenting the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart. It included the procession, wedding vows, speeches and hymns.
- The Diana Ross and Lionel Richie duet “Endless Love” was at No. 1 on the R&B chart.
- “Girls On Film” reached No. 5 on the British chart and gave Duran Duran their breakthrough hit in Britain. Upon its release in the U.S., the song did not enter the chart, but its popularity increased sharply after the music video was placed in heavy rotation on MTV. The video, directed by Godley and Creme, had to be heavily edited for television broadcast because it was originally intended only for nightclubs and contained adult themes and nudity.
- British-American rock band Foreigner reached No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their fourth studio album “4”, after just five weeks. Stevie Nicks was at No. 3 with “Bella Donna”, Journey at No. 4 with “Escape”, and the Moody Blues at No. 5 with “Long Distance Voyager”.
- The Carpenters achieved their 15th No. 1 hit on the Adult Contemporary chart with “Touch Me When We're Dancing”.
- Aneka's song "Japanese Boy" reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart. The song also reached No. 1 in Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland, and sold more than five million copies worldwide.
- Endless Love by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie reached its third week at No. 1.
- Electric Light Orchestra's ninth studio album "Time" began a two-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart. The album is a concept story about a man from the 1980s who travels through time to the year 2095.
- Foreigner's album "4" spent its second consecutive week at No. 1 on the US album chart.
- Soft Cell reached No. 1 on the UK chart with "Tainted Love".
- Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express se skladbou „Come On Eileen“ obsadili první místo britského singlového žebříčku. Šlo o jejich druhý a poslední hit číslo jedna. Skladba se stala nejprodávanějším singlem roku 1982, získala cenu Brit Award za nejlepší britský singl a dostala se na první místo také v Austrálii, Belgii, Irsku, na Novém Zélandu, v Jižní Africe, Švýcarsku a USA.
- Fleetwood Mac se svým třináctým studiovým albem „Mirage“ dostali na první místo amerického albového žebříčku Billboard Top LPs & Tape (Billboard 200), kde zahájili pětitýdenní pobyt na vrcholu. Šlo o jejich třetí album na prvním místě amerického žebříčku. Album se dostalo do Top 5 také ve Velké Británii, Austrálii, Kanadě a Norsku.
- “Someday Someway” entered the Billboard Top 40, where it reached number 36. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the film Night Shift.
- Fleetwood Mac's album “Mirage” was at No. 1 on the album chart ahead of “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. Asia was at No. 3, John Cougar (Mellencamp) at No. 4 with “American Fool”, Robert Plant at No. 5 with “Pictures At Eleven”, Steve Miller Band at No. 6 with “Abracadabra”, REO Speedwagon at No. 7 with “Good Trouble”, Crosby, Stills & Nash at No. 8 with “Daylight Again”, The Go-Go's moved from No. 42 to No. 9 with “Vacation”, and Genesis entered the Top 10 with “Three Sides Live”.
- Chicago reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “Hard To Say I'm Sorry”.
- Survivor spent their fifth week at No. 1 with “Eye Of The Tiger”. John Cougar (Mellencamp) spent three weeks at No. 2 with “Hurts So Good”, while Steve Miller Band and Fleetwood Mac remained at No. 3 and No. 4. Chicago was at No. 5 with “Hard To Say I'm Sorry”, Air Supply at No. 6 with “Even the Nights Are Better”, REO Speedwagon at No. 7 with “Keep The Fire Burnin'”, The Go-Go's at No. 8 with “Vacation”, Crosby, Stills & Nash at No. 9 with “Wasted On The Way”, and Paul McCartney entered the Top 10 with “Take It Away”.
- George Strait scored his first No. 1 country hit with “Fool Hearted Memory” from his second album “Strait From The Heart”, which also contained his famous cover of “Amarillo By Morning”. He quickly became one of country music’s most successful hitmakers and had 17 No. 1 hits by the end of the decade.
- The Beach Boys reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with the compilation album “The Very Best of the Beach Boys.”
- Elvis Presley's album I Was The One reached No. 83 on the British chart.
- Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5's compilation album “18 Greatest Hits” began a three-week run at No. 1 on the British chart, knocking The Beach Boys' album “20 Golden Greats” from the top spot. It remained on the British chart for more than 50 weeks and was later certified platinum.
- Taco's cover version of Irving Berlin's “Puttin' On the Ritz” reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, making the 95-year-old Berlin the oldest living songwriter ever to have a song reach the Top 10 of the chart.
- The album “Purple Rain” began a 24-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
- Ray Parker Jr. began a three-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Ghostbusters,” the title song from the film of the same name. The song also reached No. 1 in Belgium, Canada, France, South Africa and Spain. Parker was later accused of plagiarizing the melody of “I Want a New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News, and the dispute was settled out of court in 1985.
- George Michael was at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with his first solo single, “Careless Whisper.” He thus became the first person to reach No. 1 in the same year as both a solo artist and a member of a group. The song became Epic Records' first UK million-seller and reached No. 1 in nearly 25 countries.
- Bruce Springsteen's album “Born in the U.S.A.” moved to a different position after ten weeks on the chart compared with the previous week.
- Huey Lewis and the News' album “Sports” returned to number two on the album chart after 47 weeks since its release.
- The Cars' album “Heartbeat City” was at number five on the album chart.
- The Pointer Sisters reached the Top 10 of the album chart with “Break Out”.
- Tina Turner made a significant move up the album chart with “Private Dancer”.
- Madonna scored her first UK No. 1 hit with “Into the Groove.”
- “Freeway of Love” by Aretha Franklin was at No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart.
- Dire Straits were at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart with “Brothers in Arms.”
- Bryan Adams reached No. 1 on the US Albums Chart with his album “Reckless.” The album sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, and all six singles reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
- Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also became famous for its groundbreaking music video and the participation of Sting, who sings the opening falsetto and backing vocals and is credited as a co-writer alongside Mark Knopfler.
- On the US album chart, Bryan Adams' Reckless led Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears and Phil Collins' No Jacket Required. Sting and Bruce Springsteen were also in the Top 5.
- The song “Shout” by Tears for Fears remained at No. 1 on the US singles chart for a third week.
- Huey Lewis & The News reached number one on the US singles chart for the first time with the song “The Power Of Love”. They were followed by Tears For Fears with “Shout”, Corey Hart with “Never Surrender”, John Parr with “St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)” and Aretha Franklin with “Freeway Of Love”.
- Huey Lewis and the News began a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with „The Power of Love“, their first U.S. No. 1 single. The song was written for the film „Back to the Future“ and also topped the charts in Australia, Canada and Japan.
- Tears for Fears returned to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with their second studio album „Songs from the Big Chair“. The album also reached No. 1 in Canada, Germany and the Netherlands.
- Dire Straits' album "Brothers In Arms" began a nine-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. albums chart. The album also reached No. 1 in 25 other countries and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.
- Chris de Burgh reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart on August 2, 1986, with “The Lady in Red,” beginning a three-week run at the top. “The Lady in Red” became his first UK No. 1 hit.
- Peter Cetera began a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on August 2, 1986, with “The Glory of Love” from the film The Karate Kid Part II.
- The Monkees had six albums simultaneously in the Billboard 200 during their reunion tour. Their album The Monkees ranked highest at No. 92. Six albums nearly 20 years old re-entered the chart after being reissued, and the group played 144 concerts on their 20th-anniversary tour.
- Madonna's album True Blue reached No. 1 on the US albums chart, while the single "Papa Don't Preach" began a two-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart.
- Madonna's album True Blue and the single “Papa Don't Preach” reached No. 1 on the US charts, reinforcing her status as a pop icon.
- Boris Gardiner began a three-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with his version of the song “I Want to Wake Up with You”, written by Nashville songwriter Ben Peters. The song was first recorded in 1980 by American country singer Mac Davis under the title “I Wanta Wake Up With You”. Gardiner's version became the third best-selling single of 1986 in the UK and also reached number one in Australia.
- Steve Winwood reached No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Higher Love”, which began a four-week run at the top. In the UK, the song reached No. 13. It later won two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
- Janet Jackson reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “The Pleasure Principle”.
- U2 reached No. 1 on the U.S. best-selling singles chart for the second time with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. The song was released on the album “The Joshua Tree”.
- LL Cool J's second album Bigger And Deffer was certified Platinum. According to the source, he became the first solo rapper to achieve the certification.
- With the single “I Just Can't Stop Loving You”, they reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart. The song was originally intended to be a duet between Michael Jackson and either Barbra Streisand or Whitney Houston.
- Madonna reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “Who's That Girl”, her sixth U.S. No. 1 single and also a No. 1 hit in the United Kingdom. It was a Spanish-English song with the refrain “¿Quién es esta niña?” and the title track of the soundtrack album to the comedy film of the same name, in which Madonna starred alongside Griffin Dunne.
- Madonna's single “Who's That Girl” reached number one on the charts.
- Def Leppard's fourth studio album "Hysteria" reached No. 1 on the UK album chart. The album also reached No. 1 in the US the following July after 49 weeks of gradual ascent. It also reached No. 1 in Australia, Norway, and New Zealand, and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.
- Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett had the song "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" at No. 1 on the US chart.
- Rick Astley began a five-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with his debut hit "Never Gonna Give You Up". The song became the best-selling single of 1987, reached No. 1 in sixteen countries, and won the Brit Award for Best British Single in 1988.
- Michael Jackson's album "Bad" reached No. 1 on the British albums chart and began a five-week run at the top.
- Guns N' Roses reached No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their debut album “Appetite for Destruction” after 57 weeks on the chart. At the time it reached the top, more than 5 million copies had been sold, and the singles “Sweet Child O' Mine,” “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City” all reached the U.S. Top 10. Worldwide sales of the album later exceeded 28 million copies.
- Thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack of “Dirty Dancing,” The Contours' 1962 hit “Do You Love Me” returned to the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 11. When originally released, the song reached No. 3 on the pop chart and No. 1 on the R&B chart.
- Yazz and the Plastic Population began a five-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “The Only Way Is Up.” The song also reached No. 1 in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden, and was originally released as the title track of an album by soul singer Otis Clay in 1982.
- Elton John reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “I Don't Wanna' Go On With You Like That”. Steve Winwood spent his fourth week at No. 1 with “Roll With It”. George Michael moved from No. 8 to No. 2 with “Monkey”, Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine were at No. 3, and Elton John also had “I Don't Wanna' Go On With You Like That” at No. 4. Chicago were at No. 5, Breathe at No. 6, Terence Trent D'Arby at No. 8, and “Sweet Child O' Mine” by Guns N' Roses and “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman entered the Top 10.
- Steve Winwood reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with his fifth solo studio album, “Roll with It”, which became his first and only album to top the chart. The title track also reached No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart. The album became one of his most commercially successful releases and sold more than three million copies.
- Billboard introduced the New Age Albums chart. The first album to reach No. 1 was pianist David Lanz's “Cristofori's Dream”.
- George Michael reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Monkey”. It was his fourth consecutive single from the album “Faith” to reach the top of the US chart, and his fourth US No. 1 in 1988. It was his eighth US No. 1 single of the 1980s, surpassed only by Michael Jackson.
- Kylie Minogue began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart with her debut studio album “Kylie”. At the age of 20, she became the youngest female artist to reach the top of the UK album chart. The record stood until 2003, when eighteen-year-old Avril Lavigne reached the top with “Let Go”.
- Tracy Chapman's debut album reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 for one week. The song “Fast Car” from the album reached No. 6 on the US chart. At the following Grammy Awards, Chapman won awards for Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best New Artist, while “Fast Car” won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
- Gloria Estefan began a six-week run at No. 1 on the UK albums chart with her debut solo album, “Cuts Both Ways.” The album also reached No. 1 in Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
- Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Swing the Mood,” their first of three UK No. 1 hits.
- Prince scored his fourth U.S. No. 1 hit with “Batdance.” The song appeared in the film “Batman” and also reached No. 1 in Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland.
- Richard Marx reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “Right Here Waiting.”
- “Right Here Waiting” reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Richard Marx's third consecutive U.S. No. 1 hit.
- Don Henley's solo song “The End of the Innocence” reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Henley wrote and produced it with Bruce Hornsby, who also played piano on the recording. The song received Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and in 1990 earned Henley a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.
- Mariah Carey began a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “Vision of Love.” It was her debut single and first U.S. No. 1 hit.
- “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Bombalurina reached number one on the UK singles chart. Bombalurina was a project by children's television presenter Timmy Mallett and was a new version of Brian Hyland's 1960 hit.
- “Come Back To Me” by Janet Jackson was a new song at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.
- Mariah Carey remained at No. 1 on the US chart for a third week with “Vision of Love”.
- Garth Brooks scored his first US country No. 1 single with “Friends in Low Places”.
- “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” by Bryan Adams was at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
- “Summertime” by D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince was at No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart.
- Lenny Kravitz was at No. 2 on the U.S. singles chart with „It Ain't Over till It's Over“, behind Bryan Adams' „(Everything I Do) I Do It for You“, which was at No. 1. It was his first U.S. Top 10 hit and the highest-charting song of his career on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Metallica reached No. 1 on the U.K. chart with their fifth studio album „Metallica“, also known as „The Black Album“.
- Body Count’s self-titled album was certified Gold in the United States for sales of more than 500,000 copies.
- Madonna's “This Used to Be My Playground” became her tenth U.S. No. 1 hit. It reached No. 3 in the UK and was from the film “A League Of Their Own”. The song also reached No. 1 in Canada, Italy, Mexico and Sweden.
- TLC were at No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart with “Baby-Baby-Baby”.
- With “End of the Road”, Boyz II Men began a thirteen-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart and broke Elvis Presley's 36-year-old record. TLC's “Baby-Baby-Baby” simultaneously held the No. 2 position.
- Boyz II Men reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “End Of The Road”.
- Genesis returned to No. 1 on the British chart with their fourteenth studio album “We Can’t Dance”. The album also reached No. 1 in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Switzerland and was the group's last album with Phil Collins.
- Mary J. Blige released “Real Love”, her first hit to reach the Top 10 of the Hot 100.
- Billy Joel's version of Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" reached No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song came from the soundtrack to the film "Honeymoon in Vegas" and became the lowest-charting single of his career.
- The Smiths reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with the compilation album "Best…I".
- Billy Joel’s version of Elvis’s song “All Shook Up” reached No. 92 on the US singles chart. The song came from the soundtrack to the film “Honeymoon in Vegas”.
- Elvis Presley’s “Don't Be Cruel” reached No. 42 on the UK singles chart.
- Hip-hopová skupina Cypress Hill se svým druhým studiovým albem „Black Sunday“, vedeným singlem „Insane In The Brain“, debutovala na prvním místě amerického albového žebříčku. Album obsahovalo jejich charakteristickou skladbu „Insane In The Brain“.
- Posthumously scored his first solo number-one hit on the UK chart with a remix of “Living On My Own”, originally released in 1985 on his solo album Mr. Bad Guy. The song was a minor hit in its original version in 1985 and was later re-released in a remixed version, leading to major chart success.
- The soundtrack to the successful romantic comedy “Sleepless in Seattle”, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, spent one week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, knocking Cypress Hill's album “Black Sunday” from the top spot. The album contains songs by artists including Louis Armstrong, Joe Cocker, Carly Simon and Nat King Cole. “Black Sunday” by Cypress Hill was at No. 2, “janet.” by Janet Jackson at No. 3, “Zooropa” by U2 at No. 4 and “Core” by Stone Temple Pilots at No. 5. UB40 were at No. 6 with “Promises and Lies”, the “The Bodyguard” soundtrack at No. 7, Rod Stewart at No. 8 with “Unplugged...And Seated”, Aerosmith at No. 9 with “Get a Grip” and Blind Melon entered the Top 10 with their self-titled album.
- German multinational dance group Culture Beat began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Mr Vain”. It was the first UK No. 1 single that was not available in a 7-inch format. “Mr Vain” became a worldwide success and reached No. 1 in at least 19 countries.
- Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories began a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Stay (I Missed You).” The song also reached No. 1 in Canada, No. 6 in the UK and appeared in the film “Reality Bites.” It gained prominence after actor Ethan Hawke asked her for a song for the film.
- Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories spent their third week at No. 1 with “Stay (I Missed You)”. Boyz II Men surged from No. 31 to No. 2 with “I'll Make Love To You”.
- Vocal group Boyz II Men began a fourteen-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “I'll Make Love to You”. In the UK, the song reached No. 5. In December, it was replaced at the top by their own single “On Bended Knee”, which added another two weeks at No. 1, giving Boyz II Men a total of 16 consecutive weeks at the top of the US chart.
- Take That scored their seventh UK No. 1 hit with “Never Forget.”
- TLC were at No. 1 on the U.S. chart for a fifth week with “Waterfalls.”
- TLC spent seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 with the hit “Waterfalls”.
- After a long-running feud fueled by the press that culminated in the simultaneous release of their singles, “Country House” by Blur reached No. 1 on the British chart ahead of “Roll With It” by Oasis. Oasis subsequently achieved worldwide mainstream success, while Blur later moved away from the Britpop sound and developed a more artistic and experimental style, strongly influenced by Pavement.
- Blur reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart for the first time with “Country House”, winning the highly publicized battle with Oasis. Both groups released their singles on the same day; “Country House” sold 270,000 copies compared with 220,000 copies of Oasis's “Roll with It”, which entered the chart at No. 2.
- Hootie & the Blowfish returned to No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 for the fourth time that year with their debut studio album “Cracked Rear View”. The album returned to the top again in late September.
- Seal reached No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Kiss From A Rose” after it was used in the film “Batman Forever”. It reached No. 4 in the UK, and Seal won three Grammy Awards for it. Seal later said that he owed his career to the film's director Joel Schumacher.
- The Bayside Boys remix of Los del Río’s “Macarena” reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for a total of 14 weeks.
- Album „Eliminator“ od ZZ Top získalo diamantovou certifikaci RIAA za prodej 10 milionů kopií ve Spojených státech. Z alba pocházely také singly „Gimme All Your Lovin'“, „Sharp Dressed Man“ a „Legs“.
- Hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest reached No. 1 on the US album chart with their fourth studio album, Beats, Rhymes and Life.
- On the US album chart, Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill was at No. 2, Celine Dion's Falling Into You was at No. 2, Metallica's Load was at No. 8, and No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom was at No. 9.
- Nearly four months after its first No. 1 finish, Alanis Morissette returned to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with the same album, „Jagged Little Pill“, and began another three-week run at the top.
- „Missing“ by the British duo Everything But The Girl surpassed the record held by The Four Seasons with „December, 1963 (Oh What A Night)“ when it appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 for its 55th week, its final week on the chart.
- Will Smith began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with "Men In Black" from the film of the same name. He won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for the song.
- Will Smith began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Men in Black”, the title song from the film Men in Black.
- Puff Daddy and the Family returned to number one on the US album chart after a one-week break with the album “No Way Out”. The album also reached number one that year in Austria, Canada, Switzerland and the UK.
- Scottish rock group Texas returned to number one on the UK album chart with their fourth studio album “White on Blonde” after a six-month break at the top.
- Oasis’s third studio album “Be Here Now” began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK albums chart.
- After 11 weeks at the top, “I'll Be Missing You”, dedicated to The Notorious B.I.G. and recorded by his producer and record label boss Puff Daddy, lost the No. 1 position on the US chart. “Mo Money Mo Problems” by The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase reached the top and began a two-week run at No. 1. The song was released posthumously following the murder of The Notorious B.I.G. earlier that year.
- Oasis reached No. 1 on the British albums chart with their third album, "Be Here Now". More than one million copies were sold on the first day of release, making it the fastest-selling album in the United Kingdom at the time.
- The Beastie Boys began a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with “Hello Nasty,” which became their third U.S. No. 1 album.
- The Beatles were voted “Favourite Recording Artist of All Time” in a poll conducted by the British music magazine Mojo. They finished ahead of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Queen, and Elton John.
- Spice Girls reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Viva Forever”. It was their seventh UK No. 1 hit.
- Rapper Snoop Dogg achieved his third consecutive U.S. No. 1 album with “Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told”.
- Ronan Keating se svou verzí skladby „When You Say Nothing at All“ dostal na první místo britského singlového žebříčku. Skladba byla na prvním místě také v Irsku a na Novém Zélandu.