List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1970

The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart published since August 1958 by Billboard magazine which ranks the best-performing singles in the United States.^[1] In 1970, 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.^[1] During the year, 21 different singles spent time at number one.

In the issue of Billboard dated January 3, B. J. Thomas reached number one with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", displacing the final chart-topper of 1969, "Someday We'll Be Together" by Diana Ross & the Supremes.^[2] The song, from the soundtrack of the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, was the first number one for Thomas.^[3] After four weeks in the top spot, it was replaced by "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5. It was the first Hot 100 entry for the brothers, who were aged between 11 and 18 when the song reached number one;^[4] lead singer Michael Jackson was the first performer born after the launch of the Hot 100 to reach number one.^[5] The group quickly exploded in popularity,^[6] and achieved three further number ones during 1970: "ABC" reached the top spot in April, "The Love You Save" in June, and "I'll Be There" in October. They were the first act to reach number one with their first four major-label singles.^[5] The Jacksons' total of ten weeks at number one was the most achieved by any act in 1970. The year's longest-running individual number one was "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel, which spent six weeks atop the chart; it was the final number one for the influential folk-rock duo, which split up the following year.^[7]

The majority of the year's number ones were by acts that had not previously topped the Hot 100. In addition to the Jackson 5, Shocking Blue, the Guess Who, Ray Stevens, Three Dog Night, the Carpenters, Bread, Edwin Starr, Neil Diamond, the Partridge Family, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles all achieved a number one for the first time in 1970.^[8] Shocking Blue, Bread, and the Partridge Family all reached number one with their first Hot 100 entries.^[9] In contrast, the Miracles had first charted on the Hot 100 over a decade earlier and achieved more than 30 entries, with lead singer Smokey Robinson receiving featured billing beginning in 1965, before finally reaching the top spot in December 1970 with "The Tears of a Clown".^[10] Similarly, Stevens had first charted in 1961, but took nine years to achieve a number one.^[11] Diana Ross and George Harrison, who had achieved multiple number ones during the 1960s with the Supremes and the Beatles, respectively, reached the peak position for the first time as solo acts in 1970.^[12] The Beatles were the only act other than the Jackson 5 to achieve more than one number one during the year, spending two weeks atop the chart in April with "Let It Be" and a further two in June with the double A-sided single "The Long and Winding Road" / "For You Blue". The latter single took the group's total to 20 number ones, all achieved since 1964, but it proved to be their final chart-topper;^[13] earlier in the year, Paul McCartney had publicly announced his departure from the band, leading to its complete break-up by the end of the year.^[14][15]