List of Hot Soul Singles number ones of 1979
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File:Nobel Peace Price Concert 2009 Donna Summer1 cropped.jpg" was the first number one for Donna Summer (pictured in later life).]]
Billboard published a weekly chart in 1979 ranking the top-performing singles in the United States in soul music and related African American-oriented genres; the chart has undergone various name changes over the decades to reflect the evolution of black music and has been published as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since 2005.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9378-i-know-you-got-soul-the-trouble-with-billboards-rbhip-hop-chart/|title=I Know You Got Soul: The Trouble With Billboard{{'}}s R&B/Hip-Hop Chart|work=Pitchfork|accessdate=December 19, 2021|first=Chris|last=Molanphy|date=April 14, 2014|archive-date=January 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121143650/https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9378-i-know-you-got-soul-the-trouble-with-billboards-rbhip-hop-chart/|url-status=live}} In 1979, it was published under the title Hot Soul Singles,{{sfn|Whitburn|1996|p=xii}} and 20 different singles reached number one.
In September, Michael Jackson gained his first soul chart-topper as a solo artist with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|p=212}} The singer had previously achieved several soul number ones with his brothers as the Jackson 5{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|p=215}} and had charted sporadically in his own right since 1971, but did not reach the top spot as a soloist until 1979.{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|p=212}} Jackson would go on to become one of the most successful musicians of all time, selling hundreds of millions of records, and be regarded as one of the greatest ever entertainers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/08/michael-jackson-profile-pop-culture|title=Off the wall but still invincible|first=Elizabeth|last=Day|work=The Guardian|accessdate=October 19, 2023|date=March 8, 2009|archive-date=March 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326134523/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/08/michael-jackson-profile-pop-culture|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/michael-jackson-10-greatest-songs-thriller-billie-jean-beat-it-smooth-criminal-a8511476.html|title=Michael Jackson at 60: Ten of the King of Pop's best tracks, from Earth Song to Thriller|first=Joe|last=Sommerlad|work=The Independent|accessdate=October 19, 2023|date=August 29, 2018|archive-date=November 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120111837/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/michael-jackson-10-greatest-songs-thriller-billie-jean-beat-it-smooth-criminal-a8511476.html|url-status=live}} Donna Summer also topped the soul listing for the first time in July with "Bad Girls".{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|p=394}} Known as the "Queen of Disco",{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18109654|title=Donna Summer, queen of disco, dies at 63|date=May 17, 2012|accessdate=August 7, 2020|publisher=BBC|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807134107/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18109654|url-status=live}} she had previously achieved five chart-toppers on the Disco Action chart.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/donna-summer/chart-history/dsi/|title=Donna Summer Chart History|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=August 7, 2020|archive-date=November 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117211320/https://www.billboard.com/artist/donna-summer/chart-history/dsi/|url-status=live}} In December, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" gave Prince his first number one,{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|p=336}} the first major success of a career which would take him to superstar status and see him regarded as one of the most innovative and influential musicians of his generation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36107155|title=Obituary: Prince|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=October 19, 2023|date=April 21, 2016|archive-date=May 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508151546/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36107155|url-status=live}} Eight other acts reached number one for the first time in their respective careers in 1979: Cheryl Lynn, Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Instant Funk, Sister Sledge, GQ, Peaches & Herb, Anita Ward, and McFadden & Whitehead.{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|pp=58, 171 206, 267, 283, 323, 377, 430}} Ward's single "Ring My Bell" was an international success, topping the all-genre Hot 100 chart and also reaching number one in the United Kingdom, but she would not be able to replicate its success and is regarded as a one-hit wonder.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/list/10-actually-great-one-hit-wonders-1163|title=10 Actually Great One-Hit Wonders|first=Larry|last=Bartleet|work=NME|date=September 24, 2015|accessdate=August 7, 2020|archive-date=April 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429162953/https://www.nme.com/list/10-actually-great-one-hit-wonders-1163|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Hoffmann|2016|p=386}}
Sister Sledge was the only act to have multiple soul number ones during the year, topping the chart with "He's the Greatest Dancer" in March and "We Are Family" in June, but these would prove to be the only chart-toppers for the sibling act.{{sfn|Whitburn|2004|p=530}} The year's longest-running number one was "Good Times" by Chic, which spent six consecutive weeks in the top spot and was ranked by Billboard as the year's top soul song. The year's final chart-topper was "Do You Love What You Feel" by Rufus and Chaka (Chaka Khan), which reached the top spot in the issue dated December 15 and stayed there for the remainder of the year. Khan had achieved her first solo number one the previous year but continued to record sporadically with the band alongside her ongoing solo career.{{sfn|Whitburn|2004|pp=321, 505}}
Chart history
File:Prince Brussels 1986.jpg had his first soul number one in 1979. He went on to be regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation.]]
File:Michael Jackson in 1988.jpg, one of the most successful and celebrated artists of all time, had his first solo chart-topper in 1979.]]
File:Anita Ward (cropped).jpg (pictured in later life) topped the chart with "Ring My Bell" but she failed to achieve further success and is generally regarded as a one-hit wonder.]]
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|+Key |style="background-color:#FFFF99"|{{dagger|alt=Best charting soul single of 1979}} |Indicates number 1 on Billboard{{'}}s year-end soul chart{{Cite magazine|title=Year End Charts – Year-end Singles – Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=Hot+R&B/Hip-Hop+Songs&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1979|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211040806/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=Hot+R&B%2FHip-Hop+Songs&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1979|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2007|access-date=June 21, 2020|magazine=Billboard}} |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
=Works cited=
- {{Cite book|title=Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900–2000|first=Frank|last=Hoffmann|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-13586-886-4}}
- {{cite book|title=Joel Whitburn's Top R & B Singles, 1942–1988|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|authorlink=Joel Whitburn|publisher=Record Research Incorporated|year=1988|isbn=978-0-89820-069-0}}
- {{cite book|title=Joel Whitburn's Top R & B Singles, 1942–1995|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|publisher=Record Research Incorporated|year=1996|isbn=978-0-89820-115-4}}
- {{cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research Incorporated |isbn=978-0-89820-160-4 }}
{{US R&B Chart}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of number-one RandB singles of 1979 (U.S)}}