70s Bands: The 47 Biggest Groups and Every Band by Genre
The biggest 70s bands by the charts were led by the Bee Gees, with 12 Billboard year-end Hot 100 hits between 1971 and 1979.
The Bee Gees also had the most No. 1 hits of any group, 9, for 27 weeks at the top.
Wings and the Carpenters came next, with 11 year-end hits each.
Below the ranking sits every band and singer page on this site, sorted by genre.
The ten bands with the most Billboard year-end Hot 100 hits, 1970 to 1979.
Chart: Music of the 70s, from this site's year-end Billboard data.
All 47 Bands With 3 or More Year-End Hits
Every group and duo act that placed three or more singles on the Billboard year-end Hot 100 is in this table.
Tap a column heading to sort, and press Play to hear each band's biggest year-end hit.
The Listen button at the top plays the whole list in order.
| Play | Biggest hit | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bee Gees | 12 | 9 | 27 | Night Fever (1978, year-end #2) | |
| 2 | Wings | 11 | 5 | 13 | Silly Love Songs (1976, year-end #1) | |
| 3 | The Carpenters | 11 | 3 | 7 | (They Long to Be) Close to You (1970, year-end #2) | |
| 4 | Chicago | 8 | 1 | 2 | If You Leave Me Now (1976, year-end #48) | |
| 5 | Electric Light Orchestra | 8 | 0 | 0 | Telephone Line (1977, year-end #15) | |
| 6 | The Jackson 5 | 7 | 4 | 10 | Dancing Machine (1974, year-end #5) | |
| 7 | Three Dog Night | 7 | 3 | 9 | Joy to the World (1971, year-end #1) | |
| 8 | Gladys Knight & the Pips | 7 | 1 | 2 | Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me (1974, year-end #34) | |
| 9 | Earth, Wind & Fire | 7 | 1 | 1 | Shining Star (1975, year-end #7) | |
| 10 | War | 7 | 0 | 0 | Slippin' into Darkness (1972, year-end #23) | |
| 11 | Dr. Hook | 6 | 0 | 0 | When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman (1979, year-end #13) | |
| 12 | The O'Jays | 6 | 1 | 1 | Love Train (1973, year-end #32) | |
| 13 | Tony Orlando and Dawn | 5 | 3 | 10 | Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree (1973, year-end #1) | |
| 14 | Eagles | 5 | 5 | 5 | One of These Nights (1975, year-end #10) | |
| 15 | KC and the Sunshine Band | 5 | 4 | 5 | I'm Your Boogie Man (1977, year-end #11) | |
| 16 | ABBA | 5 | 1 | 1 | Dancing Queen (1977, year-end #12) | |
| 17 | Queen | 5 | 0 | 0 | Bohemian Rhapsody (1976, year-end #18) | |
| 18 | The Temptations | 5 | 2 | 3 | Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) (1971, year-end #9) | |
| 19 | Fleetwood Mac | 5 | 1 | 1 | Dreams (1977, year-end #39) | |
| 20 | Steely Dan | 5 | 0 | 0 | Rikki Don't Lose That Number (1974, year-end #51) | |
| 21 | The Spinners | 5 | 0 | 0 | Could It Be I'm Falling in Love (1973, year-end #47) | |
| 22 | Grand Funk Railroad | 4 | 2 | 3 | The Loco-Motion (1974, year-end #6) | |
| 23 | Chic | 4 | 2 | 7 | Le Freak (1979, year-end #3) | |
| 24 | Sweet | 4 | 0 | 0 | The Ballroom Blitz (1975, year-end #17) | |
| 25 | Commodores | 4 | 2 | 3 | Three Times a Lady (1978, year-end #10) | |
| 26 | Captain & Tennille | 4 | 1 | 4 | Love Will Keep Us Together (1975, year-end #1) | |
| 27 | Bread | 4 | 1 | 1 | Make It with You (1970, year-end #13) | |
| 28 | The Stylistics | 4 | 0 | 0 | You Make Me Feel Brand New (1974, year-end #14) | |
| 29 | Foreigner | 4 | 0 | 0 | Feels Like the First Time (1977, year-end #31) | |
| 30 | Steve Miller Band | 4 | 2 | 2 | Fly Like an Eagle (1977, year-end #28) | |
| 31 | Ohio Players | 4 | 2 | 2 | Love Rollercoaster (1976, year-end #30) | |
| 32 | Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band | 4 | 0 | 0 | Still the Same (1978, year-end #52) | |
| 33 | The Doobie Brothers | 3 | 2 | 2 | Black Water (1975, year-end #16) | |
| 34 | The Osmonds | 3 | 1 | 5 | One Bad Apple (1971, year-end #4) | |
| 35 | The Rolling Stones | 3 | 3 | 4 | Brown Sugar (1971, year-end #16) | |
| 36 | The Hollies | 3 | 0 | 0 | Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress (1972, year-end #24) | |
| 37 | The Beatles | 3 | 2 | 4 | Let It Be (1970, year-end #9) | |
| 38 | Rare Earth | 3 | 0 | 0 | Get Ready (1970, year-end #8) | |
| 39 | The Sylvers | 3 | 1 | 1 | Boogie Fever (1976, year-end #20) | |
| 40 | Sly & the Family Stone | 3 | 2 | 5 | Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (1970, year-end #19) | |
| 41 | America | 3 | 2 | 4 | A Horse with No Name (1972, year-end #27) | |
| 42 | The Isley Brothers | 3 | 0 | 0 | That Lady (1973, year-end #21) | |
| 43 | Little River Band | 3 | 0 | 0 | Lady (1979, year-end #42) | |
| 44 | Styx | 3 | 1 | 2 | Come Sail Away (1978, year-end #56) | |
| 45 | Creedence Clearwater Revival | 3 | 0 | 0 | Lookin' out My Back Door (1970, year-end #36) | |
| 46 | Heatwave | 3 | 0 | 0 | The Groove Line (1978, year-end #49) | |
| 47 | Bay City Rollers | 3 | 1 | 1 | Saturday Night (1976, year-end #64) |
Song titles in gold link to a full song story on this site.
"Close to You" plays the Carpenters' 1991 remix of the original recording, the only version on the band's own channel.
Six songs with no upload on an artist or label channel play the label's own audio release of the original recording instead.
Ties on year-end hits are broken by chart points, so a higher-placed song counts for more.
That is why Chicago sits above Electric Light Orchestra, with eight year-end hits each.
For a longer, all-styles listening session, the Listen Now 70s radio plays the decade's hits back to back.
Every Band and Singer Page, by Genre
This site has 41 pages on single acts, from 70s bands to solo singers, and every one is listed here under its main style.
Genre placement follows this site's own artist files where an act is listed there, the same files behind the 70s music genres hub.
Women solo artists also have their own chart ranking, on the 70s Female Singers page.
70s Disco Groups and Dance Acts
Three disco groups made the ranking above: the Bee Gees, KC and the Sunshine Band, and Chic.
Chic's "Le Freak" held No. 1 for six weeks across 1978 and 1979, in three separate runs.
- Bee Gees: The Story of Pop's Most Successful Sibling Act
- KC and the Sunshine Band: 12 Hits Played, 5 at No. 1
- Village People: The Disco Act Everyone Missed
- Donna Summer: The 1977 Hit Too Influential for the Charts
More from this style: 70s disco music.
70s Soul and R&B Groups and Singers
Eight soul and R&B groups made the ranking.
They are The Jackson 5, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The O'Jays, The Temptations, The Spinners, the Commodores, The Stylistics and The Isley Brothers.
- The Jackson 5: 13 Hits Played, 4 at Number One
- Gladys Knight: 12 Hits Played, 1 at Number One
- Diana Ross: 12 Hits Played, 4 at No. 1
- Stevie Wonder: The Deal That Built His Classic Period
- Marvin Gaye: The Party Tape That Ended Up in Federal Court
- Al Green: The Hit He Gave Away Before It Was a Hit
- James Brown: How He Became the Godfather of Soul
More from this style: 70s soul music.
70s Funk Bands
Five funk bands made the ranking: Earth, Wind & Fire, War, the Ohio Players, Sly & the Family Stone and Heatwave.
War placed seven singles on the year-end lists without a single week at No. 1.
- Earth, Wind & Fire: 12 Hits Played, 1 at No. 1
- George Clinton: One Contract Dispute Built Two Bands
- Rick James: The Motown Deal That Took Eleven Years
More from this style: 70s funk.
Rock Bands: Classic, Hard and Progressive
Rock bands outnumber every other style in the ranking once classic, hard and progressive rock are counted together.
Chicago and Electric Light Orchestra lead them with eight year-end hits each.
- Chicago: The Band's 12 Hits Played, 1 at Number One
- Electric Light Orchestra: Electric Light Orchestra's 11 Hits, 5 Top Tens
- Three Dog Night: 12 Hits Played, 3 at Number One
- Eagles: The Lineup Swap That Changed Everything
- Fleetwood Mac: 9 Hits Played, 1 at Number One
- Queen: Two Nights That Defined Their 70s
- Brian May and Queen: The Guitar Built From a Fireplace
- Led Zeppelin: Play 15 Essentials and Their Stories
- Pink Floyd: 12 Tracks Played, 1 at Number One
- Grateful Dead: The Band the Charts Missed
- Iggy Pop: The 1970s Collapse and Berlin Resurrection
More from this style: 70s rock.
Every rock group with a year-end hit, from Wings to Van Halen, is ranked on the 70s rock bands page.
Southern Rock
No southern rock band reached three year-end hits in the decade.
The best southern rock placing in this site's year-end data is "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band, No. 50 for 1979.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's best was "What's Your Name," No. 70 for 1978, and The Allman Brothers Band's was "Ramblin' Man," No. 79 for 1973.
70s Punk and New Wave Bands
No punk or new wave band reached three year-end hits, so none appears in the ranking.
The only year-end entry by a punk or new wave act in this site's data is "Heart of Glass" by Blondie, No. 18 for 1979.
- Talking Heads: Built From Found Objects, Not a Plan
More from this style: 70s punk rock.
ABBA and Its Four Members
ABBA placed five singles on the year-end lists from 1974 to 1978.
Each of the four members also has a page of their own here.
- ABBA: The Band That Needed Permission for Its Own Name
- Agnetha Fältskog: The Solo Star Before ABBA Existed
- Anni-Frid Lyngstad: Born in Wartime, Found on Live TV
- Benny Andersson: The Real Songwriting Method Behind ABBA
- Björn Ulvaeus: The Bench Where ABBA Actually Began
More from this style: 70s pop songs.
Soft Rock Acts and Pop Singers
The Carpenters are the biggest soft rock act in the ranking, with 11 year-end hits.
Tony Orlando and Dawn, Captain & Tennille and Bread are the other soft rock groups on the list.
- Carpenters: 11 Hits Played, 3 at Number One
- Elton John: 13 Hits Played, 6 at Number One
- Barry Manilow: 12 Hits Played, 3 at Number One
- Olivia Newton-John: 12 Hits Played, 3 at No. 1
- Helen Reddy: 13 Hits Played, 3 at Number One
- John Denver: 11 Hits Played, 4 at No. 1
- Carole King: The Same Chart, Three Different Names
- Jim Croce: The Song He Released the Day After He Died
More from this style: 70s soft rock.
Country Singers
No country band placed three singles on the pop year-end lists.
Two country singers have full pages here.
- Dolly Parton: The Split, the Songs, and the Lawsuit
- Willie Nelson: The Songwriter Who Became the Star
More from this style: 70s country songs.
Want a name that has no page here yet?
The Random Artist Picker pulls from over 600 artists of the decade.
Same Band, Different Credit
Billboard did not always credit a band the same way from one chart to the next.
This page merges every credit that names the same act, so each band's full run counts once.
Wings Under Three Names
Paul McCartney formed Wings in 1971 with Linda McCartney and Denny Laine.
The year-end charts credit the band three different ways across the decade.
| Year | Song | Year-end rank | Credited as |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | My Love | 5 | Paul McCartney & Wings |
| 1973 | Live and Let Die | 56 | Paul McCartney & Wings |
| 1974 | Band on the Run | 22 | Paul McCartney and Wings |
| 1974 | Jet | 77 | Paul McCartney and Wings |
| 1974 | Helen Wheels | 91 | Paul McCartney and Wings |
| 1975 | Listen to What the Man Said | 42 | Wings |
| 1975 | Junior's Farm | 88 | Paul McCartney & Wings |
| 1976 | Silly Love Songs | 1 | Wings |
| 1976 | Let 'Em In | 67 | Wings |
| 1978 | With a Little Luck | 18 | Wings |
| 1979 | Goodnight Tonight | 52 | Wings |
Merged, Wings have 11 year-end hits, tied for second on the whole list.
"Silly Love Songs" finished No. 1 for all of 1976, the band's only year-end chart-topper.
The 1971 single "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is credited to Paul & Linda McCartney, before the Wings name, and is not counted.
Dawn, Grand Funk and Dr. Hook
Three more acts appear under two names in the chart data.
- Dawn, Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, and Tony Orlando and Dawn are one group: 5 year-end hits and 3 No. 1s, for 10 weeks at the top.
- Grand Funk Railroad shortened its name to Grand Funk, and both No. 1s, "We're an American Band" and "The Loco-Motion," carry the short name.
- Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show became Dr. Hook partway through the decade, so the two credits are one entry with 6 year-end hits.
Sly & the Family Stone also appears as "Sly and the Family Stone" in the weekly data, for "Family Affair," and both spellings count as one band.
Early 70s vs. Late 70s: Two Different Leaders
Split the decade in half and the leaderboard changes completely.
| 1970 to 1974 | Hits | 1975 to 1979 | Hits |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Carpenters | 9 | Bee Gees | 10 |
| The Jackson 5 | 7 | Electric Light Orchestra | 8 |
| Three Dog Night | 7 | Earth, Wind & Fire | 7 |
| Chicago | 7 | Wings | 6 |
| Gladys Knight & the Pips | 6 | Eagles | 5 |
Not one band from the early top five repeats in the late top five.
The Carpenters Never Missed a Year Early On
The Carpenters placed at least one song on every year-end list from 1970 through 1975.
Nine of their eleven year-end hits landed in the first half of the decade.
"(They Long to Be) Close to You" was their breakthrough, finishing No. 2 for 1970.
Disco Rebuilt the Late-70s Leaderboard
Ten of the Bee Gees' twelve year-end hits came from 1975 on.
Earth, Wind & Fire and Eagles reached the same chart from very different directions, funk horns on one side and California harmony on the other.
Weeks at Number One: A Different Leaderboard
Year-end hits reward a band for staying on the chart.
Weeks at No. 1 reward the monster hit, and the gap at the top only gets wider.
Combined weeks at No. 1 on the weekly Hot 100, by band, 1970 to 1979.
Chart: Music of the 70s, from this site's weekly Billboard data.
Nine No. 1s, 27 Weeks
The Bee Gees spent 27 combined weeks at No. 1, across nine different singles.
"Night Fever" alone held the top spot for eight weeks in 1978.
"Stayin' Alive" and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" each spent four weeks there.
No other band in this data comes within half of that total.
Long Chart Runs With No Week on Top
Some groups built long year-end careers without a single week at No. 1.
- Electric Light Orchestra: 8 year-end hits, 0 weeks at No. 1
- War: 7 year-end hits, 0 weeks at No. 1
- Dr. Hook: 6 year-end hits, 0 weeks at No. 1
- Steely Dan: 5 year-end hits, 0 weeks at No. 1
Every No. 1 of the decade, week by week, is on the 70s number one hits page.
The Top Band, Year by Year
Here is the band with the most singles on each year's list.
| Year | Top band(s) | Hits that year |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | The Jackson 5 | 4 |
| 1971 | The Carpenters | 3 |
| 1972 | Three Dog Night | 2 |
| 1973 | War | 3 |
| 1974 | Wings, Gladys Knight & the Pips | 3 |
| 1975 | Six bands tied, including Earth, Wind & Fire, Eagles and Grand Funk Railroad | 2 |
| 1976 | Ten bands tied, including Bee Gees, Queen and Fleetwood Mac | 2 |
| 1977 | Fleetwood Mac | 3 |
| 1978 | Bee Gees | 3 |
| 1979 | Chic, Bee Gees | 3 |
1970 Belonged to The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 placed four singles on the 1970 year-end list, the biggest single year any band had in the decade.
"I'll Be There," "ABC," "The Love You Save" and "I Want You Back" all made that list.
1976 Was as Crowded as It Gets
Ten different bands tied with two year-end hits apiece in 1976.
Wings, Queen, KC and the Sunshine Band, Fleetwood Mac and the Bee Gees were among them.
How This Ranking Was Built
Every number on this page comes from two of this site's Billboard data files.
- The year-end Hot 100 file, 100 songs for each year from 1970 to 1979.
- The weekly No. 1 file, one record for every week of the decade.
The Counting Rules
- Only group and duo credits count here, and solo voices have their own ranking.
- Credits that name the same band are merged into one entry, as shown above.
- A one-off pairing of two solo acts is not treated as a band.
- Ties on year-end hits are broken by chart points: 101 minus the year-end rank, added up across every hit.
The ten biggest year-end hits of each year, across every act, are ranked on the 70s songs page.
The full approach to sourcing is on the site's methodology page.
Go back to the Music of the 70s home page for every tool and list on the site.
Frequently Asked Questions
When were the Bee Gees inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
The three Gibb brothers entered the Hall as the Bee Gees in 1997.
Their induction plaque carries the signatures of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, the lineup behind all nine of the group's 70s No. 1s.
ABBA, number 16 in the ranking above, followed them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
What Grammys did the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack win?
The soundtrack won Album of the Year at the 21st Grammy Awards.
The Bee Gees also won Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for "Saturday Night Fever" and Best Arrangement for Voices for "Stayin' Alive."
They shared Producer of the Year with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson the same night.
Did the Carpenters win Best New Artist?
Yes, the Carpenters won Best New Artist at the 13th Grammy Awards, the 1971 telecast.
The same night they won Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for "Close to You."
They were also nominated for Record of the Year and Album of the Year, both for Close to You.
What was ABBA's only No. 1 hit in the United States?
"Dancing Queen" was ABBA's only No. 1 on the Hot 100, for one week starting April 9, 1977.
Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson wrote it, and it came out as a single in Sweden on August 16, 1976.
The song is from Arrival, ABBA's fourth studio album.
Sources
Year-end ranks, No. 1s and weeks at No. 1 come from this site's Billboard year-end and weekly Hot 100 files.
