The 5 Longest No. 1 Song Streaks In Classic Rock Music History

The period stretching from the late 1960s through the early 1980s (or early '90s depending on who you ask), is what, in retrospect, we've come to call the classic rock era, and not only did the relatively loud and heavy guitar-toting acts of the day make foundational music, but they made hard rock into pop. Every so often, one of those gems would ascend to the No. 1 position on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and then refuse to budge. Record store customers and radio listeners couldn't get enough of what were obviously instant classic rock classics, and they collectively ensured they stayed entrenched at the top of the pop list for long periods of time — several weeks or even months.

Most of the songs that have spent a significant amount of time as the No. 1 hit in the country come from the worlds of pop, R&B, or hip-hop. But back when rock ruled in the '60s, '70s, and early '80s, it took a lot to dislodge them. These are the classic rock songs — from the Beatles, Three Dog Night, Joan Jett, and more — that spent the most time at No. 1.

Both as a pop-rock act in its early years as a more inventive and progressive group at the dawn of the classic rock era, the Beatles routinely set new milestones on the pop chart. In the early months of 1964, the Beatles occupied the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 back to back to back. First, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" spent seven weeks at the top before the Beatles replaced themselves with "She Loves You." After that single spent two weeks at No. 1, the Beatles dethroned it again with "Can't Buy Me Love," which held onto the top position for another five weeks.

While the Beatles took over the No. 1 spot for 14 weeks with three singles in a row, in 1968, they made a home at the apex of the Hot 100 with just one song for a historically lengthy time. And speaking of lengthy, the nearly seven-minute "Hey Jude," a No. 1 rock hit that was almost too long for radio, was the No. 1 song in the U.S. for nine weeks, tying the '60s record for the longest time at No. 1 with the charming instrumental "Theme from 'A Summer Place'" by Percy Faith and His Orchestra.

The "1960s sound" could be defined a few ways. Some bands of the era nailed the cultural mood with a psychedelic bent, with mind-bending and harrowing lyrics. Other '60s bands set the tone of the times with plaintive folk rock played as aggressively as possible on acoustic instruments. With its one and only song to ever appear on the Hot 100, duo Zager & Evans achieved both of those hallmarks of '60s music with "In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)."

Singing mostly in unison, Denny Zager and Rick Evans present a tale of Earth history yet to occur, and the lyrics detail the horrors that await. By 2525, for example, humans may be extinct; but by 4545 we've evolved beyond the need for teeth and eyes; and in 6565, people will be incubated in creepy tubes. "In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is an off-kilter, unsettling song that tapped into a collective mood as the tumultuous 1960s came to an end. The single spent 13 weeks on the Hot 100, with six of those weeks as the No. 1 song in the country in the summer of 1969.

Somewhat overlooked and forgotten now, Three Dog Night was a dominant act in the classic rock heyday of the early 1970s. Starting in 1969, the band (with the novel format of three alternating lead singers) sent 21 consecutive singles into the Top 40. Three of those songs went all the way to No. 1: "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," "Black and White," and "Joy to the World," by far the biggest of them all.

An effervescent, hard-charging, organ-driven song full of feel-good lyrics about love and harmony — as well as some baffling ones about a wine-loving bullfrog named Jeremiah — "Joy to the World" took just five weeks from its first appearance on the Hot 100 to claim the No. 1 slot. It held firm in that position for six weeks, enough to make it the longest-running chart-topper of 1971, Billboard's best performing single of the year, and the overall No. 1 45 ever for label Dunhill Records.

One would think that a catchy, bouncy rock 'n' roll song about how rock 'n' roll is great would be an instant hit, but that wasn't the case with "I Love Rock 'N Roll." Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker wrote it for their British glam rock band Arrows, but all their manager was willing to arrange was using it for a B-side to a 1975 single and letting them play it on their eponymous TV variety show. It wasn't a hit for them, and Joan Jett couldn't get her band, the Runaways, to cover the song, which she loved after hearing it while on a U.K. tour. After the Runaways split and Jett went solo, she cut "I Love Rock 'N Roll," and her label placed it on the B-side of a single issued only in the Netherlands.

When Jett assembled her backing band, the Blackhearts, and recorded the 1981 album "I Love Rock 'N Roll," she released a newly recorded version as the single. Finally given a big push, the American record-buying public was almost instantly entranced. It debuted on the Hot 100 in February 1982, and in late March, "I Love Rock 'N Roll" began serving a seven-week term as the No. 1 song in the country.

While very left of center for the arena-rocking early 1980s, the Police nevertheless became one of the biggest bands on the planet. An influential alternative rock band with penchants for reggae, punk, and tricky time signatures, the new wave-adjacent Police took eight singles into the American Top 40 between 1979 and 1983. Only once did the Police seize the No. 1 position, but it was with one of the most emphatically successful hits of all time, "Every Breath You Take."

Composed by Sting, "Every Breath You Take" has been widely misinterpreted as a poignant ballad of love and devotion, but it's more about a creepy stalker and their target. Whatever the topic, the public loved it. The physical single sold half a million copies in the U.S. in the year after its release, and it also hung around the Hot 100 for 22 weeks. That included an eight-week period as the top song in the country spanning the summer of 1983. Eventually named Billboard's top song of the year, by 2019, "Every Break You Take" had been played on U.S. radio airwaves in excess of 15 million times, according to music and copyright tracking service BMI. No other song has ever earned that many spins.