1970s Top 100 Songs
Ranked #5,287 in Music, #149,322 overall
1970s Album Hit List
From the sweet country sounds of John Denver, Kenny Rogers, and Willie Nelson to Saturday Night Fever disco to classic and glam rock, the decade of the 1970s produced some of the best classic rock albums by artists such as Pink Floyd, Elton John, and Led Zeppelin.
This list is based on recording industry sales.
This list is based on recording industry sales.
Amazon
Albums 1 - 5
The top albums of the 1960s available at Amazon.
YouTube
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Official feature film traler.
Link List
- Pink Floyd
- Pink Floyd are one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful rock music groups of all time.
- Led Zeppelin
- More than thirty years after disbanding following Bonham's death in 1980, Led Zeppelin continue to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, commercial success, and broad influence.
- Fleetwood Mac
- Through the '70s, the band's personnel and style shifted with nearly every recording as Fleetwood Mac metamorphosed from a traditionalist British blues band to the maker of one of the best-selling pop albums ever, Rumours.
- Saturday Night Fever
- The 1970s popular film according to the Internet Movie Database.
Amazon
6 - 10
YouTube
The Eagles - Hotel California
Link List
- The Eagles
- The Eagles hit song, Hotel California won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year; Best Arrangement of Voices.
- Meatloaf
- Meatloaf's legendary 1977 album Bat Out Of Hell transformed this former high school football player, nightclub bouncer and stage actor into one of the great American rock 'n' roll icons.
Amazon
11 - 15
Van Halen
Eruption
Link List
- Van Halen
- The American rock band have enjoyed success since the release of their debut album Van Halen (1978).
- Billy Joel
- The song 'Just the Way You Are' captured two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
- Carole King
- The album Tapestry received grammies for Record of the Year; Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Performance (female); Song of the Year - You've Got A Friend.
- Stevie Wonder
- Blind since shortly after birth,[3] Wonder signed with Motown Records' Tamla label at the age of eleven,[2] and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day.
- Grease
- Listing at the Internet Movie Dtabase for the motion picture.
Amazon
16 - 20
Aerosmith
Walk This Way
Link List
- Aerosmith
- The band was formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1970. Guitarist Joe Perry and bassist Tom Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with singer Steven Tyler, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, and the band began developing a following in Boston.
- Simon & Garfunkel
- Bridge Over Troubled Waters received Grammy Awards for Album of the Year; Record of the Year; Song of the Year; Best Contemporary Song; Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists; Best Engineered Record.
- Michael Jackson
- During his extraordinary career, he sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Jackson as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time.
Amazon
21 - 25
Link List
- Boston
- Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists.
- Foreigner
- Foreigner is universally hailed as one of the most popular rock acts in the world, racking up scores of smash hits, multi-platinum albums, and sold out concert tours.
- Jackson Browne
- The musician according to Wikipedia.
- Elton John
- A multiple Grammy-winning legend and flamboyant superstar, Elton is the most enduringly successful singer/songwriter of his generation.
- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
- Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) is a folk rock supergroup made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, also known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) when joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young. They are noted for their intricate vocal harmonies, often tumultuous interpersonal relationships, political activism, and lasting influence on music and culture.
Amazon
26 - 30
Link List
- AC/DC
- Since forming in 1973, AC/DC's high voltage rock 'n' roll has flowed out into the world via consistently sold-out concert tours and global sales totaling more than 150 million albums and counting.
- The Cars
- The band according to Wikipedia.
- The Rolling Stones
- The Rolling Stones are one of the greatest rock and roll bands in the world. Their appeal is universal, their sound is all their own and their story's unique.
Amazon
31 - 35
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullit Band
Night Moves
Link List
- Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
- As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, Bob Seger performed and recorded as The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the "System" from his recordings, and he continued to strive for national success with other various bands. In 1973 he put together "The Silver Bullet Band," an evolving group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful. In 1976, he achieved national fame with two albums, the live record Live Bullet, and the studio record Night Moves.
- Peter Frampton
- Frampton remains one of the most celebrated artists and guitarists in rock history. Raised in London, Frampton taught himself to play guitar while still in single digits. He studied at the Bromley Technical School with classmate David Bowie (with whom he later recorded and toured).
- Bruce Springsteen
- Springsteen's recordings have included both commercially accessible rock albums and more sombre folk-oriented works. His most successful studio albums, Born to Run and Born in the U.S.A., showcase a talent for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily American life; he has sold more than 65 million albums in the United States and 120 million worldwide[3] and he has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award.
Amazon
36 - 40
George Harrison
My Sweet Lord
Link List
- George Harrison
- Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle",[3] Harrison embraced Indian mysticism, and helped broaden the horizons of the other Beatles, as well as those of their Western audience.
- Kenny Rogers
- Kenny Roger's "Love Lifted Me," went Top 20 in 1975, but it was the "Lucille" that shot him into the stratosphere.
Amazon
41 - 45
Boz Scaggs
Lido Shuffle
Link List
- Willie Nelson
- Nelson is widely recognized as an American icon. His distinctive music and other social and political activities sometimes take a backseat to his pop-culture public image (firmly grounded in the acknowledged reality of his life) - that of a musical living legend, long-time marijuana-smoking, back tax-owing, biodiesel-burning, musical outlaw who changed country music forever.
- Boz Scaggs
- William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.[1] He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour
Amazon
46 - 50
Link List
- Bad Company
- One of the most acclaimed bands of the classic rock era, England's Bad Company has put its indelible stamp on rock 'n' roll with a straight-ahead, no-frills musical approach that has resulted in the creation of some of the most timeless rock anthems ever.
- Elvis Presley
- In 1973, Presley staged the first concert broadcast globally via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii, seen by approximately 1.5 billion viewers
- Carlos Santana
- When "Oye Como Va" and "Black Magic Woman" sent Abraxas to #1 for 6 weeks; the Grammy Hall Of Fame album has sold more than 5 million copies to date in the U.S. alone. With "Everybody's Every¬thing" and "No One To Depend On" again reaching the Top 40, 1971's Santana III spent 5 weeks at #1 and brought a third consecutive multi-platinum award.
- Supertramp
- Supertramp are a British band whose music has spanned the genres of rock, progressive rock, and art rock. The band's work is marked by the use of spiritual and philosophical lyrics and the distinctive voice of co-founder Roger Hodgson, who appeared on the majority of the band's biggest hit singles.
Amazon
51 - 55
Queen
We Are the Champions
Link List
- Rod Stewart
- While other rockers lost ground to a global outbreak of disco fever in 1978, Stewart simply responded with another Number One hit, the notorious Do Ya Think I'm Sexy.
- Queen
- The band according to Wikipedia.
- A Star is Born
- The feature film listing at the Internet Movie Database.
Amazon
56 - 60
Steve Miller
Fly Like An Eagle
Link List
- Steve Miller Band
- Three singles were released from the album Fly Like an Eaglle, "Take The Money and Run" (#11), "Fly Like an Eagle" (#2) and their second Number One success, "Rock 'N Me".
- Charlie Rich
- Charlie Rich was an amazingly talented musician. The best. He was the master of so many genres it's difficult for fans to get an accurate take on the man behind the music.
- Neil Young
- Neil Percival Young,[2] OC,[3] OM[4] (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation.
Amazon
61 - 65
Link List
- Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Cosmo's was released in July 1970, along with yet another #2 national hit, "Lookin' Out My Back Door"/"Long As I Can See the Light." It was the band's fifth #2 single. Though they topped some international charts and local radio countdowns (such as WLS's, which rated three of their singles at #1), Creedence Clearwater Revival never had a #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit. Their five #2 singles were exceeded only by Elvis Presley and Madonna with 6 each. CCR has the odd distinction of having the most #2 singles on the Billboard charts without ever having had a #1.
- Black Sabbath
- Information about the band according to Wikipedia.
- The Beatles
- The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music.
- The Doobie Brothers
- The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. They have sold over 30 million albums in the United States from the 1970s to the present.
Amazon
66 - 70
Earth, Wind & Fire
Serpintine Fire
Link List
- STYX
- Spawned from a suburban Chicago basement in the early '70s, Styx would eventually transform into the virtual arena rock prototype by the late '70s and early '80s, due to a fondness for big rockers and soaring power ballads.
- Eric Clapton
- Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.
Amazon
71 - 75
Rolling Stones
Angie
Link List
- Linda Ronstadt
- The artist according to Wikipedia.
- James Taylor
- Over the course of his long career, James Taylor has earned 40 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards and five Grammy Awards for a catalog running from 1970's Sweet Baby James to his Grammy Award-winning efforts Hourglass (1997) and October Road (2002).
Amazon
76 - 80
Lynard Skynard
Sweet Home Alabama
Link List
- Lynard Skynard
- Beyond the tragedy, the history, the raging guitars and the killer songs, ultimately, Lynyrd Skynyrd is about an indomitable will. About survival of spirit; unbowed, uniquely American, stubbornly resolute.
Amazon
81 - 85
John Denver
Mother Nature's Son
Link List
- John Denver
- John Denver's generosity of spirit colored his music with a pure, simple grace, casting a spell that crossed the barriers of age, economics, geography, language and politics.
- Paul McCartney
- The artist according to Wikipedia.
Amazon
86 - 90
Link List
- The Carpenters
- Performing songs that some condemned as fluff but millions loved, the Carpenters became an amazing success story after bursting onto the pop music scene in 1970.
- Cat Stevens
- Yusuf Islam originally and commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English musician. He is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam
- The Who
- The Who have sold about 100 million records, and have charted 27 top forty singles in the United Kingdom and United States, as well as 17 top ten albums, with 18 Gold, 12 Platinum and 5 Multi-Platinum album awards in the United States alone.
- Jethro Tull
- Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967.[1] Their music is characterised by the lyrics, vocals and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.
Amazon
91 - 95
Janis Joplin
Mercedes Benz
Link List
- Janis Joplin
- The artist according to Wikipedia.
- Bob Dylan
- Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter who has been a major figure in music for five decades.
Amazon
96 - 100
The Doors
Riders on the Storm
Link List
- Joni Mitchell
- Joni Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Western Canada and then busking on the streets of Toronto. In the mid-1960s she left for New York City and its rich folk music scene, recording her debut album in 1968 and achieving fame first as a songwriter ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "Woodstock") and then as a singer in her own right.
- The Doors
- The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger.
More Top 100
1950s Top Tunes
From the Nashville to Belafonte's Caribbean, Chris more...0 points
1960s Top Tunes
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Guestbook
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XylaGrey
Feb 18, 2012 @ 3:31 am | delete
- Love this page Gayle! I was born in 1975...this decade of music brings back nice and cozy memories :)
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GayleO Dec 29, 2011 @ 5:39 pm | delete
- Are you a fan of 1970s popular music? Share your memories, favorite songs, bands, and artists by posting in our guest book.
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Resources Consulted
Wikipedia
100 Best-Selling Albums of the 70s
by Hamish Champ
Amber Books, London, UK. 2004
100 Best-Selling Albums of the 70s
by Hamish Champ
Amber Books, London, UK. 2004
by GayleO
Gayle has been providing online content for kids and their families since 1995 at the Universal Knowledge Factory's Homework Helper Hyperlinks. From 1... more »
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