List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1971
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The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart published since August 1958 by Billboard magazine which ranks the best-performing singles in the United States. In 1971, it was compiled based on a combination of sales and airplay data sourced from surveys of retail outlets and playlists submitted by radio stations respectively. During the year, 19 different singles spent time at number one.
In the issue of Billboard dated January 2, George Harrison was at number one with the double A-sided single "My Sweet Lord" / "Isn't It a Pity", retaining the position from the final chart of 1970. The single held the top spot for a further two weeks before being displaced by "Knock Three Times", the first number one for the group Dawn. In the issue dated February 13, "One Bad Apple" gave the Osmonds their first chart-topper. The brothers had appeared regularly on the television variety shows The Andy Williams Show and The Jerry Lewis Show during the 1960s, but their recording career did not take off until 1971. Later in the year, 13-year-old Donny Osmond topped the chart as a soloist for the first time with "Go Away Little Girl". The song was the first to be a Hot 100 number one for two different artists; Steve Lawrence had taken the song to the peak position in 1963. In the issue dated March 20, Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" was the third consecutive first-time chart-topper.
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