List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1961

These are the Billboard Hot 100 number one hits of 1961.

The Shirelles hit #1 with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" in 1961.

That year, 16 acts achieved their first number one song, such as Bert Kaempfert, The Shirelles, Lawrence Welk, The Marcels, Del Shannon, Ernie K-Doe, Roy Orbison, Gary U.S. Bonds, Bobby Lewis, Joe Dowell, The Highwaymen, Bobby Vee, Dion, Jimmy Dean, The Marvelettes, and The Tokens. Pat Boone, despite having most of his songs hit number one prior to the creation of the Hot 100, earns his first number one song on the chart.

Chart history

Key

The yellow background indicates the #1 song on Billboard's 1961 Year-End Chart of Pop Singles.

No.	Issue date	Song	Artist(s)	Reference
42	January 2	"Are You Lonesome Tonight?"	Elvis Presley	[1]
43	January 9	"Wonderland by Night"	Bert Kaempfert	[2]
	January 16			[3]
	January 23			[4]
44	January 30	"Will You Love Me Tomorrow"	The Shirelles	[5]
	February 6			[6]
45	February 13	"Calcutta"	Lawrence Welk	[7]
	February 20			[8]
46	February 27	"Pony Time"	Chubby Checker	[9]
	March 6			[10]
	March 13			[11]
47	March 20	"Surrender"	Elvis Presley	[12]
	March 27			[13]
48	April 3	"Blue Moon"	The Marcels	[14]
	April 10			[15]
	April 17			[16]
49	April 24	"Runaway"	Del Shannon	[17]
	May 1			[18]
	May 8			[19]
	May 15			[20]
50	May 22	"Mother-in-Law"	Ernie K-Doe	[21]
51	May 29	"Travelin' Man"	Ricky Nelson	[22]
52	June 5	"Running Scared"	Roy Orbison	[23]
re	June 12	"Travelin' Man"	Ricky Nelson	[24]
53	June 19	"Moody River"	Pat Boone	[25]
54	June 26	"Quarter to Three"	Gary U.S. Bonds	[26]
	July 3			[27]
55	July 10	"Tossin' and Turnin'"	Bobby Lewis	[28]
	July 17			[29]
	July 24			[30]
	July 31			[31]
	August 7			[32]
	August 14			[33]
	August 21			[34]
56	August 28	"Wooden Heart"	Joe Dowell	[35]
57	September 4	"Michael"	The Highwaymen	[36]
	September 11			[37]
58	September 18	"Take Good Care of My Baby"	Bobby Vee	[38]
	September 25			[39]
	October 2			[40]
59	October 9	"Hit the Road Jack"	Ray Charles	[41]
	October 16			[42]
60	October 23	"Runaround Sue"	Dion	[43]
	October 30			[44]
61	November 6	"Big Bad John"	Jimmy Dean	[45]
	November 13			[46]
	November 20			[47]
	November 27			[48]
	December 4			[49]
62	December 11	"Please Mr. Postman"	The Marvelettes	[50]
63	December 18	"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"	The Tokens	[51]
	December 25			[52]

Number-one artists

List of number-one artists by total weeks at number one

Position	Artist	Weeks at No. 1
1	Bobby Lewis	7
2	Jimmy Dean	5
3	Del Shannon	4
4	Bert Kaempfert	3
	Chubby Checker
	Elvis Presley
	The Marcels
	Bobby Vee
9	The Shirelles	2
	Lawrence Welk
	Ricky Nelson
	Gary U.S. Bonds
	The Highwaymen
	Ray Charles
	Dion
	The Tokens
17	Ernie K-Doe	1
	Roy Orbison
	Pat Boone
	Joe Dowell
	The Marvelettes

See also

• 1961 in music
• List of Billboard number-one singles
• List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 1961
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from 1958 to 1969