Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1979, 33 different singles topped the chart, which was published at the time under the title Hot Country Singles, in 52 issues of the magazine. Chart placings were based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores. [1]
Waylon Jennings, Anne Murray, Kenny Rogers, and Conway Twitty tied for the highest total number of weeks spent at number one in 1979, each spending five weeks at the top of the chart. Jennings, Murray and Twitty each had a run of three consecutive weeks at number one with "Amanda", "I Just Fall in Love Again" and "Happy Birthday Darlin'" respectively. The three songs tied for the longest unbroken run in the top spot during 1979 with "Every Which Way but Loose" by Eddie Rabbitt, "Golden Tears" by Dave & Sugar and "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me" by the Bellamy Brothers, each of which also spent three weeks atop the listing. Murray, Rogers and Twitty each had three number ones in 1979, the most by an individual act.
In January, John Conlee achieved the first of seven number one country singles with "Lady Lay Down"; [2] he would reach number one for the second time in May. Two weeks after Conlee's second number one, the Bellamy Brothers topped the chart for the first time. [3] The brother duo had topped Billboard's all-genres singles chart, the Hot 100, three years earlier with "Let Your Love Flow", but had not previously topped the country listing until the 1979 success of "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me". [3] In August, the Charlie Daniels Band reached number one for the first and only time with "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". [4] The following month Leon Russell made his first appearance at the top of the country chart when he collaborated with Willie Nelson on a cover version of Elvis Presley's 1950s song "Heartbreak Hotel". [5] This was Russell's first song to appear on the country singles chart under the name which he used for the majority of his recording career, although he had previously entered the lower reaches of the chart with two songs released under the alter ego Hank Wilson. [6] [7] The final artist to top the Hot Country chart for the first time in 1979 was Moe Bandy, who achieved his first chart-topper in September when he collaborated with Joe Stampley on the novelty single "Just Good Ol' Boys", before going on to gain a solo number one with "I Cheated Me Right Out of You" in December. [8]
Loretta Lynn was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill", "Blue Kentucky Girl", "Love Is the Foundation", "You're Lookin' at Country", "You Ain't Woman Enough", "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl", "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' ", "One's on the Way", "Fist City", and "Coal Miner's Daughter". The 1980 musical film Coal Miner's Daughter was based on her life.
"I Will Survive" is a song by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records 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.
"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a single written, recorded and sung by American singer Michael Jackson. Released under Epic Records on July 10, 1979, the song is the first track on Jackson's fifth studio album Off the Wall (1979). Additionally, it was Michael’s first solo recording in which he had control of the creative direction.
"It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by drummer Jack Nance and Mississippi-born singer Conway Twitty, while they were touring across Ontario, Canada in 1958. Twitty was a relatively unknown rock n' roll singer at the time, and this song was his first hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard chart in November 1958 for two weeks.
"Slow Hand" is a song recorded by American vocal group The Pointer Sisters for their eighth studio album Black & White (1981). The song, written by Michael Clark and John Bettis, was released by the Planet label in May 1981 as the lead single from Black & White.
"Uprising" is a song by the English rock band Muse. It was released on 4 August 2009 as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, The Resistance (2009). The song was written by band member Matt Bellamy, produced by the band, and mixed by Spike Stent. "Uprising" peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and peaked in the top 10 in seven countries. It was certified platinum in the United Kingdom, gold in four countries, platinum in five countries, and double-platinum in the United States, making it Muse's best-selling single. The song is based on the 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, written by George Orwell.
"Danza Kuduro" is a Spanish/Portuguese-language song by Puerto Rican recording artist Don Omar and Portuguese–French singer Lucenzo from Don Omar's collaborative album Meet the Orphans. The song is an adaptation of Lucenzo's "Vem Dançar Kuduro", a Portuguese/English song. "Danza Kuduro" was released as the lead single from the album on August 15, 2010, through Machete, VI. It became a hit in most Latin American countries, and eventually all over Europe. "Danza Kuduro" was number one on the Hot Latin Songs, giving Don Omar his second US Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one hit and Lucenzo his first. A remake of the song is also featured in the 2011 movie Fast Five as an ending song and is on the film's soundtrack album. "Danza Kuduro" ended up being the most successful song with a significant number of verses in European Portuguese of the 2010s. The track ranked 43 on Rolling Stone`s Greatest Latin Pop Songs.
The discography of Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd consists of five studio albums, nine extended plays, three mixtapes, three compilation albums, one soundtrack album, one live album, 75 single releases, and 13 promotional singles. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Weeknd has accumulated 18.5 million certified album units and 113 million certified digital single units in the US, based on sales and on-demand streaming, as of January 2024.
"Spiders & Snakes" is a 1974 hit song recorded by Jim Stafford and written by Stafford and David Bellamy of The Bellamy Brothers. It was the second of four U.S. Top 40 singles released from his eponymous debut album and also the highest-charting at number three. The lyrics in the verses are spoken, while only the chorus is sung.
American rapper Kanye West has released 138 singles, four promotional singles and charted with 65 other songs.