The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart published since August 1958 by Billboard magazine which ranks the best-performing singles in the United States. In 1967, 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, and 19 different singles spent time at number one.
On the chart dated January 7, the Monkees were at number one with "I'm a Believer", the song's second week in the top spot. It occupied the peak position for the first six weeks of 1967 for a final total of seven weeks at number one, the longest unbroken run atop the chart since 1964. The group returned to number one later in the year with "Daydream Believer" and their total of ten weeks in the top spot was the most achieved by any act in 1967. Their popularity began to decline the following year, however; the final episode of the television sitcom for which the group had been assembled aired in March 1968, after which they achieved no further top 10 entries. "I'm a Believer" was replaced at number one by "Kind of a Drag" by the Buckinghams, the first of eight acts that topped the Hot 100 for the first time in their careers in 1967. The Turtles had their first number one in March with "Happy Together"; both the Buckinghams and the Turtles achieved no further Hot 100 number ones.
In June, Aretha Franklin, known as the "Queen of Soul", gained the only solo Hot 100 number one of her career with "Respect". In 2024, Rolling Stone magazine placed the song at number one on the latest iteration of its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Although Franklin achieved a record-breaking 20 number ones on Billboards R&B chart, her only other appearance in the top spot on the Hot 100 came twenty years later when she duetted with George Michael on the song "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". Later in 1967, the Doors, Bobbie Gentry, the Box Tops, Lulu, and Strawberry Alarm Clock each achieved their first Hot 100 number one; of these, only the Doors achieved a second. Both the Doors' "Light My Fire" and Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense and Peppermints" are considered representative of the psychedelia movement which flourished in the late 1960s, particularly during the so-called Summer of Love of 1967. The Scottish singer Lulu's single "To Sir with Love", the title track from the film of the same name, was the biggest-selling single in the United States in 1967, and spent five weeks at number one, but did not chart at all in her native United Kingdom as it was not released as a single there. The year's final number one on the Hot 100 was "Hello, Goodbye" by the Beatles, which moved into the peak position on the chart dated December 30, making the British group the only act with three number ones during 1967. For the second consecutive year, the Beatles, the Monkees, and the Supremes were the only acts to have more than one song reach number one.
Chart history
+Issue dateTitleArtist(s)177"I'm a Believer"178"Kind of a Drag"179"Ruby Tuesday"180"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone"181"Penny Lane"182"Happy Together"183"Somethin' Stupid" and Frank Sinatra184""185"Groovin'"186"Respect"185 (re)"Groovin'"187"Windy"188"Light My Fire"189"All You Need Is Love"190"Ode to Billie Joe"191""192"To Sir With Love"Lulu193"Incense and Peppermints"Strawberry Alarm Clock194"Daydream Believer"195"Hello, Goodbye"
Notes
Number-one artists + List of number-one artists by total weeks at number one Weeks at No. 1 Artist 10 The Monkees 5 Lulu 4 Nancy Sinatra Frank Sinatra The Young Rascals The Association Bobbie Gentry The Box Tops 3 The Turtles The Doors The Beatles 2 The Buckinghams The Supremes Aretha Franklin 1 The Rolling Stones Strawberry Alarm Clock
See also 1967 in music Cashbox Top 100 number-one singles of 1967 List of Billboard number-one singles List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 1967 List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from 1958 to 1969
References
Works cited