List of UK top-ten singles in 1971

1970s in music in the UK
Events
George Harrison had the best-selling single of 1971 with "My Sweet Lord", which spent five weeks at number-one. He also reached number ten with "Bangla Desh".
Rod Stewart scored his debut hit this year with "Maggie May"/"Reason to Believe", which spent five weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart and became the second best selling single of the year.
Scottish band Middle of the Road spent five weeks at number-one with "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep", which became the third best selling single of 1971, while "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" reached number two.

The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom.[1] Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical singles.[2][3] This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 1971, as well as singles which peaked in 1970 and 1972 but were in the top 10 in 1971. The entry date is when the single appeared in the top 10 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).

One-hundred and six singles were in the top ten in 1971. Ten singles from 1970 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" by Cilla Black was released in 1971 but did not reach its peak until 1972. "Grandad" by Clive Dunn, "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5 and "Ride a White Swan" by T. Rex were the singles from 1970 to reach their peak in 1971. Sixteen artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 1971. Bay City Rollers, Elton John, The New Seekers, Rod Stewart and Slade were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 1971.

The 1970 Christmas number-one, "I Hear You Knocking" by Dave Edmunds, remained at number-one for the first week of 1971. The first new number-one single of the year was "Grandad" by Clive Dunn. Overall, thirteen different singles peaked at number-one in 1971, with T. Rex (2) having the most singles hit that position.

  1. ^ "The Official UK Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2005). Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums (18th edition). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 14. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
  3. ^ "New singles formats to save the charts". BBC News. 16 October 2003. Retrieved 21 February 2010.