List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1961

The Shirelles hit #1 with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" in 1961.

These are the Billboard Hot 100 number one hits of 1961.

That year, 16 acts achieved their first number one song, such as Bert Kaempfert, The Shirelles, Lawrence Welk, The Marcels, Del Shannon, Ernie K-Doe, Roy Orbison, Gary U.S. Bonds, Bobby Lewis, Joe Dowell, The Highwaymen, Bobby Vee, Dion, Jimmy Dean, The Marvelettes, and The Tokens. Pat Boone, despite having most of his songs hit number one prior to the creation of the Hot 100, earns his first number one song on the chart.

Chart history

Key

The yellow background indicates the #1 song on Billboard's 1961 Year-End Chart of Pop Singles.

Template:Abbr	Issue date	Song	Artist(s)	Reference
42	January 2	"Are You Lonesome Tonight?"	Elvis Presley	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
43	January 9	"Wonderland by Night"	Bert Kaempfert	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	January 16			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	January 23			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
44	January 30	"Will You Love Me Tomorrow"	The Shirelles	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	February 6			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
45	February 13	"Calcutta"	Lawrence Welk	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	February 20			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
46	February 27	"Pony Time"	Chubby Checker	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	March 6			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	March 13			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
47	March 20	"Surrender"	Elvis Presley	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	March 27			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
48	April 3	"Blue Moon"	The Marcels	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	April 10			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	April 17			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
49	April 24	"Runaway"	Del Shannon	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	May 1			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	May 8			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	May 15			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
50	May 22	"Mother-in-Law"	Ernie K-Doe	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
51	May 29	"Travelin' Man"	Ricky Nelson	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
52	June 5	"Running Scared"	Roy Orbison	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
re	June 12	"Travelin' Man"	Ricky Nelson	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
53	June 19	"Moody River"	Pat Boone	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
54	June 26	"Quarter to Three"	Gary U.S. Bonds	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	July 3			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
55	July 10	"Tossin' and Turnin'"	Bobby Lewis	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	July 17			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	July 24			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	July 31			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	August 7			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	August 14			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	August 21			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
56	August 28	"Wooden Heart"	Joe Dowell	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
57	September 4	"Michael"	The Highwaymen	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	September 11			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
58	September 18	"Take Good Care of My Baby"	Bobby Vee	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	September 25			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	October 2			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
59	October 9	"Hit the Road Jack"	Ray Charles	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	October 16			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
60	October 23	"Runaround Sue"	Dion	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	October 30			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
61	November 6	"Big Bad John"	Jimmy Dean	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	November 13			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	November 20			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	November 27			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	December 4			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
62	December 11	"Please Mr. Postman"	The Marvelettes	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
63	December 18	"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"	The Tokens	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	December 25			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Number-one artists

List of number-one artists by total weeks at number one

Position	Artist	Weeks at No. 1
1	Bobby Lewis	7
2	Jimmy Dean	5
3	Del Shannon	4
4	Bert Kaempfert	3
	Chubby Checker
	Elvis Presley
	The Marcels
	Bobby Vee
9	The Shirelles	2
	Lawrence Welk
	Ricky Nelson
	Gary U.S. Bonds
	The Highwaymen
	Ray Charles
	Dion
	The Tokens
17	Ernie K-Doe	1
	Roy Orbison
	Pat Boone
	Joe Dowell
	The Marvelettes

See also

• 1961 in music
• List of Billboard number-one singles
• List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 1961
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from 1958 to 1969

Sources

• Fred Bronson's Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, 5th Edition (Template:ISBN)
• Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2008, 12 Edition (Template:ISBN)
• Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties (Template:ISBN)
• Additional information obtained can be verified within Billboard's online archive services and print editions of the magazine.