User:FraDany/List of my number-one albums of the 1970s

The Albums Chart is a weekly record chart based on album sales from Sunday to Saturday; during the 1970s, a total of 48 albums reached number one. The most successful artist of the 1970s was English hard rock band Led Zeppelin, who topped the Albums Chart for 87 weeks with six different albums; their untitled fourth studio album, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV was the biggest-selling album of both 1971 and 1972; it was also the biggest-selling album of the decade. The first number-one album of the 1970s was Led Zeppelin II – released in 1969, first reached number one in January, and remained at the top for nineteen consecutive weeks. The final number one of the 1970s was The Wall, the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd.

Number-one albums

English rock band Led Zeppelin topped the chart with six releases and spent 87 weeks at the summit, longer than any other act. Their untitled fourth studio album, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV (1971) spent 33 consecutive weeks at the top, longer than any other album and it was the best-seller of the decade, the second best-selling in music history and the only album to become the best-selling for two calendar years.

English singer-songwriter Elton John reached number one with seven releases during the 1970s, the most of any act and had the most entries in the top 20 best-selling albums chart with five.

Rumours (1977) by British-American band Fleetwood Mac was the second biggest-selling album of the decade.

Swedish group ABBA reached number one with six releases during the 1970s, with three of them ranked among the top 20 best-selling.

English musical group Bee Gees scored the tenth best-selling album with the soundtrack to the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever.

Key

†	Best-selling album of the year
‡	Runner-up album of the year
	Best-selling album of the decade
	Runner-up album of the decade

Artist	Album	Weeks at number one	Issue date
1970
Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water	9	22 March
The Beatles	Let It Be	7	24 May
Various artists	Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More	6	12 July
Creedence Clearwater Revival	Cosmo's Factory	8	23 August
Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin III ‡	11	18 October
1971
George Harrison	All Things Must Pass	11	3 January
Janis Joplin	Pearl	12	21 March
Carole King	Tapestry ‡	12	13 June
The Who	Who's Next	11	5 September
Led Zeppelin	Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) †† (1972)	30	21 November
1972
Elton John	Honky Château	7	18 June
Simon & Garfunkel	Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits ‡	11	6 August
David Bowie	The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars	9	22 October
Creedence Clearwater Revival	Creedence Gold	6	24 December
1973
Elton John	Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player	9	4 February
Led Zeppelin	Houses of the Holy	8	8 April
Pink Floyd	The Dark Side of the Moon †	19	3 June
Elton John	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ‡	12	14 October
1974
Carpenters	The Singles: 1969–1973	12	6 January
John Denver	John Denver's Greatest Hits ‡	14	31 March
Elton John	Caribou	9	7 July
Santana	Santana's Greatest Hits	10	8 September
Elton John	Elton John's Greatest Hits †	8	17 November
1975
Cher	Greatest Hits ‡	8	12 January
Led Zeppelin	Physical Graffiti	12	9 March
Elton John	Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy †	19	1 June
	Rock of the Westies	8	12 October
Queen	A Night at the Opera	6	7 December
1976
Chicago	Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits	7	18 January
Eagles	Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)	9	7 March
ABBA	Greatest Hits †	17	9 May
Diana Ross	Diana Ross' Greatest Hits	7	5 September
ABBA	Arrival ‡	10	24 October
1977
Queen	A Day at the Races	6	2 January
Eagles	Hotel California ‡	10	13 February
Fleetwood Mac	Rumours †	28	24 April
Queen	News of the World	9	6 November
1978
ABBA	ABBA: The Album	9	8 January
Bee Gees / Various artists	Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track ‡	18	12 March
Various artists	Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture †	19	16 July
Queen	Jazz	6	26 November
1979
Meat Loaf	Bat Out of Hell †	17	7 January
ABBA	Voulez-Vous	8	6 May
Electric Light Orchestra	Discovery ‡	9	1 July
Led Zeppelin	In Through the Out Door	7	2 September
Michael Jackson	Off the Wall	3	21 October
ABBA	Greatest Hits Vol. 2	4	11 November
Pink Floyd	The Wall	12	9 December

Artists with the most number ones

Three artists all had at least five number-one albums during the 1970s.

Artist	Number ones	Albums
Elton John	7	List Honky Château (1972) Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) Caribou (1974) Elton John's Greatest Hits (1974) Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975) Rock of the Westies (1975)
Led Zeppelin	6	List Led Zeppelin II (1969) Led Zeppelin III (1970) Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) (1971) Houses of the Holy (1973) Physical Graffiti (1975) In Through the Out Door (1979)
ABBA	5	List Greatest Hits (1975) Arrival (1976) ABBA: The Album (1977) Voulez-Vous (1979) Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1979)

Albums with the most weeks at number one

The following albums spent more than twenty weeks at number one during the 1970s.

Artist	Album	Weeks at number one
Led Zeppelin	Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV)	30
Fleetwood Mac	Rumours	28

Artists with the most weeks at number one

Three different artists have spent forty-five weeks or more at number one on the album chart during the 1970s.

Artist	Weeks at number one	Albums
Led Zeppelin	79	List Led Zeppelin II (11 weeks) Led Zeppelin III (11 weeks) Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) (30 weeks) Houses of the Holy (8 weeks) Physical Graffiti (12 weeks) In Through the Out Door (7 weeks)
Elton John	72	List Honky Château (7 weeks) Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (9 weeks) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (12 weeks) Caribou (9 weeks) Elton John's Greatest Hits (8 weeks) Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (19 weeks) Rock of the Westies (8 weeks)
ABBA	48	List Greatest Hits (17 weeks) Arrival (10 weeks) ABBA: The Album (9 weeks) Voulez-Vous (8 weeks) Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (4 weeks)

Best-selling albums of the 1970s

No.	Album	Artist	Year	Weeks at number one
1	Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV)	Led Zeppelin	1971	30
2	Rumours	Fleetwood Mac	1977	28
3	Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture	Various artists	1978	19
4	Led Zeppelin II	Led Zeppelin	1969	18
5	Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy	Elton John	1975	19
6	Greatest Hits	ABBA		17
7	Elton John's Greatest Hits	Elton John	1974	8
8	Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track	Bee Gees / Various artists	1977	18
9	The Dark Side of the Moon	Pink Floyd	1973	19
10	Bat Out of Hell	Meat Loaf	1977	17
11	Led Zeppelin III	Led Zeppelin	1970	11
12	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road	Elton John	1973	12
13	Arrival	ABBA	1976	10
14	Bridge over Troubled Water	Simon & Garfunkel	1970	9
15	Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player	Elton John	1973	9
16	Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits	Simon & Garfunkel	1972	11
17	Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)	Eagles	1976	14
18	Greatest Hits	Cher	1974	8
19	Houses of the Holy	Led Zeppelin	1973	8
20	Rock of the Westies	Elton John	1975	7