Things are unraveling in America but great sound and new ways to listen have made music a true, immersive sanctuary like never before—in the car on eight-track tapes or at home on headphones. Country is surging, Singer-Songwriters are charting massive hits, and Rock and Soul artists are expanding music’s horizons on sprawling albums.

#1 Song of the Year   The top song according to our Chartcrush ranking of all Hot100 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year

Artists of the Year   The top three artists based on all charted songs during the calendar year

1. Gladys Knight & The Pips
2. Elton John
3. Stevie Wonder

Artist with Most Charting Songs   Artist(s) with the most Hot100 charting songs during the year (song count in parentheses)

• James Brown (6)

Average #1 Artist Age   The average of how old artists who scored #1 Hot100 hits during the year were when their songs first reached #1

• 29.0 years

#1 Songs   List of Hot100 #1 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year, and (in parentheses), the month the song first hit #1 and the total number of weeks it was #1

1. Carly Simon – You’re So Vain (January, 3 wks)
2. Stevie Wonder – Superstition (January, 1 wk)
3. Elton John – Crocodile Rock (February, 3 wks)
4. Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly with His Song (February, 5 wks)
5. The O’Jays – Love Train (March, 1 wk)
6. Vicki Lawrence – The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (April, 2 wks)
7. Dawn feat. Tony Orlando – Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree (April, 4 wks)
8. Stevie Wonder – You Are the Sunshine of My Life (May, 1 wk)
9. Edgar Winter Group – Frankenstein (May, 1 wk)
10. Paul McCartney & Wings – My Love (June, 4 wks)
11. George Harrison – Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) (June, 1 wk)
12. Billy Preston – Will It Go Round in Circles (July, 2 wks)
13. Jim Croce – Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (July, 2 wks)
14. Maureen McGovern – The Morning After (August, 2 wks)
15. Diana Ross – Touch Me in the Morning (August, 1 wk)
16. Stories – Brother Louie (August, 2 wks)
17. Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On (September, 2 wks)
18. Helen Reddy – Delta Dawn (September, 1 wk)
19. Grand Funk – We’re an American Band (September, 1 wk)
20. Cher – Half-Breed (October, 2 wks)
21. The Rolling Stones – Angie (October, 1 wk)
22. Gladys Knight & The Pips – Midnight Train to Georgia (October, 2 wks)
23. Eddie Kendricks – Keep On Truckin’ (Part 1) (November, 2 wks)
24. Ringo Starr – Photograph (November, 1 wk)
25. Carpenters – Top of the World (December, 2 wks)
26. Charlie Rich – The Most Beautiful Girl (December, 2 wks)