List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1972

These are the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1972.

That year, 18 acts earned their first number one song, such as Don McLean, Al Green, Nilsson, Neil Young, America, Roberta Flack, The Chi-Lites, The Staple Singers, Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Withers, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Looking Glass, Mac Davis, Chuck Berry, Johnny Nash, Helen Reddy, and Billy Paul. Michael Jackson, having previously hit number one with The Jackson 5, also earns his first number one song as a solo act.

Chart history

Don McLean (pictured in 2012) scored a #1 hit with "American Pie" in 1972.

Roberta Flack's (pictured in 1995) "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" reached the top spot for six weeks and became the #1 song at year's end.

Key

Template:Dagger

The yellow background indicates the #1 song on [[Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972|BillboardTemplate:'s 1972 Year-End Chart of Pop Singles]].

Template:Abbr	Issue date	Song	Artist(s)	Reference
265	January 1	"Brand New Key"	Melanie	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	January 8			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
266	January 15	"American Pie"	Don McLean	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	January 22			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	January 29			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	February 5			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
267	February 12	"Let's Stay Together"	Al Green	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
268	February 19	"Without You"	Nilsson	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	February 26			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	March 4			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	March 11			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
269	March 18	"Heart of Gold"	Neil Young	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
270	March 25	"A Horse with No Name"	America	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	April 1			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	April 8			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
271	April 15	"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"Template:Dagger	Roberta Flack	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	April 22			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	April 29			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	May 6			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	May 13			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	May 20			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
272	May 27	"Oh Girl"	The Chi-Lites	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
273	June 3	"I'll Take You There"	The Staple Singers	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
274	June 10	"The Candy Man"	Sammy Davis Jr.	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	June 17			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	June 24			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
275	July 1	"Song Sung Blue"	Neil Diamond	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
276	July 8	"Lean on Me"	Bill Withers	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	July 15			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	July 22			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
277	July 29	"Alone Again (Naturally)"	Gilbert O'Sullivan	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	August 5			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	August 12			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	August 19			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
278	August 26	"Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)"	Looking Glass	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
re	September 2	"Alone Again (Naturally)"	Gilbert O'Sullivan	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	September 9			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
279	September 16	"Black and White"	Three Dog Night	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
280	September 23	"Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me"	Mac Davis	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	September 30			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	October 7			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
281	October 14	"Ben"	Michael Jackson	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
282	October 21	"My Ding-a-Ling"	Chuck Berry	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	October 28			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
283	November 4	"I Can See Clearly Now"	Johnny Nash	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	November 11			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	November 18			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	November 25			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
284	December 2	"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"	The Temptations	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
285	December 9	"I Am Woman"	Helen Reddy	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
286	December 16	"Me and Mrs. Jones"	Billy Paul	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	December 23			<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	December 30			<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	Roberta Flack	6
	Gilbert O'Sullivan
3	Don McLean	4
	Nilsson
	Johnny Nash
6	America	3
	Sammy Davis Jr.
	Bill Withers
	Mac Davis
	Billy Paul
11	Melanie	2
	Chuck Berry
13	Al Green	1
	Neil Young
	The Chi-Lites
	The Staple Singers
	Neil Diamond
	Looking Glass
	Three Dog Night
	Michael Jackson
	The Temptations
	Helen Reddy

See also

• 1972 in music
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of the 1970s

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 Seventies (Template:ISBN)
• Additional information obtained can be verified within Billboard's online archive services and print editions of the magazine.