RPM was a Canadian magazine that published the best-performing singles of Canada from 1964 to 2000. Eighteen different songs rose to number one this year, starting with "Head over Feet" by Alanis Morissette and ending with "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba. Ten artists reached the top spot for the first time in 1997: Merril Bainbridge, OMC, No Doubt, The Wallflowers, Savage Garden, Our Lady Peace, Hanson, Sarah McLachlan, Sugar Ray, and Chumbawamba. This year, no artist achieved more than one number-one single.
Two songs spent eight weeks at number one in 1997: "Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan and "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba; the former song was the year's best-performing single. The Rolling Stones earned their ninth number-one single in 1997 with "Anybody Seen My Baby?", having first topped the RPM Singles Chart in November 1965 with "Get Off of My Cloud"; this gave them a 31-year, 11-month spread of number-one hits in Canada.
Alanis Morissette, Our Lady Peace, and Sarah McLachlan were the only Canadian acts to reach number one in their home country this year. American band The Wallflowers stayed at number one for five weeks with "One Headlight", and four acts totalled three weeks at the summit: Sheryl Crow, INXS, Hanson, and Sugar Ray.
+Key Indicates best-performing single of 1997
Chart history
Issue dateSongArtistReference6 January"Head over Feet"Alanis Morissette13 January"Mouth"Merril Bainbridge20 January"How Bizarre"OMC27 January"Just Another Day"John Mellencamp3 February10 February"Don't Speak"No Doubt17 February24 February"A Long December"Counting Crows3 March10 March"Everyday Is a Winding Road"Sheryl Crow17 March24 March31 March"One Headlight"The Wallflowers7 April14 April21 April28 April5 May"Staring at the Sun"U212 May19 May"Elegantly Wasted"INXS26 May2 June9 June"I Want You"Savage Garden16 June23 June"Clumsy"Our Lady Peace30 June7 July14 July"MMMBop"Hanson21 July28 July4 August"Building a Mystery"Sarah McLachlan11 August18 August25 August1 September8 September15 September"Honey"Mariah Carey22 September29 September"Building a Mystery"Sarah McLachlan6 October13 October"Fly"Sugar Ray20 October27 October"Anybody Seen My Baby?"The Rolling Stones3 November"Fly"Sugar Ray10 November"Tubthumping"Chumbawamba17 November24 November1 December8 December15 December22 December29 December
Notes
See also 1997 in music
List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1997 (United States) List of number-one singles from the 1990s (New Zealand)
References
External links RPM Magazine at the AV Trust RPM chart search at Library and Archives Canada