This is a list of Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1979. [1] [2] The Top 100, as revealed in the year-end edition of Billboard dated December 22, 1979.
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury in 1979, the track is included on their 1980 album The Game, and also appears on the band's compilation album Greatest Hits in 1981. The song peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, becoming the group's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in 1980, remaining there for four consecutive weeks. It topped the Australian ARIA Charts for seven weeks. It was the band's final single release of the 1970s.
The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, online streaming, and radio play in the U.S.
"I Will Survive" is a song by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 as the second single from her sixth album, Love Tracks (1978). It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. The song's lyrics describe the narrator's discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating breakup. The song is also frequently recalled as a symbol of female empowerment, as well as a disco staple.
"Always on My Mind" is a ballad written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James, first recorded by Brenda Lee and first released by Gwen McCrae in March 1972. Lee's version was released three months later in June 1972. The song has been a crossover hit, charting in both the country and western and pop categories. Elvis Presley's recording was the first commercially successful version of the song.
"Good Times" is a disco soul song by American R&B band Chic from their third album Risqué (1979). It ranks 68th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and has become one of the most sampled tunes in music history, most notably in hip hop music. Originally released with "A Warm Summer Night" on the B-side, it was reissued in 2004 with "I Want Your Love" on the B-side, a version which was certified Silver in the UK.
"I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a ballad written, produced, and performed by American R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder. It was a major international hit, and remains Wonder's best-selling single to date, having topped a record 19 charts.
"Ring My Bell" is a 1979 disco song written by Frederick Knight. The song was originally written for eleven-year-old Stacy Lattisaw as a teenybopper song about children talking on the telephone. When Lattisaw signed with a different label, American singer and musician Anita Ward was asked to sing it instead, and it became her only major hit.
Billboard Year-End charts are cumulative rankings of entries in Billboard magazine charts in the United States in any given chart year. Several hundred Year-End charts are now published by Billboard, the most important of which are the single or album charts based on Hot 100 and Billboard 200 respectively.
"Hot Stuff" is a song by American singer Donna Summer from her seventh studio album Bad Girls (1979), produced by English producer Pete Bellotte and Italian producer Giorgio Moroder and released as the lead single from Bad Girls in 1979 through Casablanca Records. Up to that point, Summer had mainly been associated with disco songs but this song also showed a significant rock direction, including a guitar solo by ex-Doobie Brother and Steely Dan guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. It is the second of four songs by Summer to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
"I'll Never Love This Way Again" is a song written and composed by English musician Richard Kerr and American lyricist Will Jennings, and first recorded by Kerr himself for his album Welcome to the Club as "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again", released in November 1978. A version by Cheryl Ladd was released first on her self-titled album in July 1978. The song became a hit for American singer Dionne Warwick the following year, which was produced by her labelmate Barry Manilow for Warwick's Arista Records debut, Dionne. It was also recorded by British singer Cherrill Rae Yates before Warwick recorded and released her version of the song.
"We Are Family" is a song recorded by American vocal group Sister Sledge. Composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, they both offered the song to Atlantic Records; although the record label initially declined, the track was released in April 1979 as a single from the album of the same name (1979) and began to gain club and radio play, eventually becoming the group's signature song.
"September" is a song by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released as a single in 1978 on ARC/Columbia Records. Initially included as a track for The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, "September" was very successful commercially and reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The song remains a staple of the band's body of work and has been sampled, covered, remixed, and re-recorded numerous times.
"Just One Look" is a song co-written by American R&B singers Doris Troy and Gregory Carroll. The recording by Doris Troy was a hit in 1963. The Hollies, Anne Murray, Linda Ronstadt and Iain Matthews each achieved great success with the song. There have also been many other versions.
"Miss Independent" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. It is the second single from his album. Year of the Gentleman (2008), and was produced by Stargate. It samples the song "Forget About Me" by Keesha. The song was written by Ne-Yo and co-written by Stargate. It was released as a music download on August 26, 2008, and physical release on September 2, 2008.
"A Little More Love" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her tenth studio album, Totally Hot (1978). Written and produced by Newton-John's long-time record producer John Farrar, the song was released as the lead single from Totally Hot in October 1978 and became a worldwide hit single.
Smooth Talk is the debut album, released in 1977 by R&B singer Evelyn "Champagne" King by RCA Records and produced by Theodore Life. It contains singles "Shame", also one of King's signature songs, and "I Don't Know If It's Right", both of which were hits in the United States and Canada. Outside North America in music charts, "Shame" performed modestly in a few European countries, while the latter performed poorly in British and New Zealand charts.
"Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" is the debut single by rapper Puff Daddy. It appears on Puff Daddy's debut studio album No Way Out and it was released as his first single in 1997. The single was released through BMG Music, Arista Records and Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records.
"Perfect" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran from his third studio album, ÷ (2017). After the album's release, it charted at number four on the UK Singles Chart. On 21 August 2017, Billboard announced that "Perfect" would be the fourth single from the album. The song was serviced to pop radio on 26 September 2017 as the third single from the album in the United States. Originally peaking at number four in March 2017, the song re-entered the UK charts later that year. It eventually reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 2017. "Perfect" became the UK Christmas number-one song for 2017 and also peaked at number one in sixteen other countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.
"Rockstar" is a song by American rapper and singer Post Malone featuring Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage. It was released on September 15, 2017, by Republic Records as the lead single from Malone's second studio album Beerbongs & Bentleys (2018). The song was written alongside Carl Rosen, Joey Bada$$, and producers Louis Bell & Tank God.