In 1971, Billboard magazine published a chart ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the easy listening market. The chart, which in 1971 was entitled Easy Listening, has undergone various name changes and has been published under the title Adult Contemporary since 1996. In 1971, 19 songs topped the chart based on playlists submitted by easy listening radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.

In the issue of Billboard dated January 2, "One Less Bell to Answer" by the 5th Dimension moved into the number one position, replacing "It's Impossible" by Perry Como. The song held the top spot for a single week before Bobby Goldsboro's "Watching Scotty Grow" took its place at number one. Goldsboro's song topped the chart for six consecutive weeks, the year's longest unbroken run at number one. The Carpenters spent the most total weeks at number one in 1971, occupying the top spot for a total of nine weeks with "For All We Know", "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Superstar". The brother-sister duo was the only act to achieve three number ones during the year; the 5th Dimension and Bread were the only other acts to take more than one single to the top of the chart in 1971.

Two of 1971's Easy Listening number ones also topped Billboard's pop singles chart, the Hot 100; both songs were written, solely or in part, by Carole King. King spent five weeks atop the Easy Listening chart in June and July with "It's Too Late", for which she wrote the music but not the lyrics. It was immediately followed into the top spot by James Taylor's recording of "You've Got a Friend", written entirely by King, which spent a single week at number one. The two songs each spent the same number of weeks at number one on the Hot 100. Taylor's song was replaced atop the Easy Listening chart by Olivia Newton-John's cover version of Bob Dylan's "If Not for You", the first major U.S. success for the British-Australian singer who would be a regular during the 1970s in the upper reaches of Billboard's easy listening, country, and pop charts. The final Easy Listening number one of 1971 was "All I Ever Need Is You" by Sonny & Cher.

Chart history

Issue date	Title	Artist(s)	Ref.
January 2	"One Less Bell to Answer"	The 5th Dimension
January 9	"Watching Scotty Grow"	Bobby Goldsboro
January 16
January 23
January 30
February 6
February 13
February 20	"If You Could Read My Mind"	Gordon Lightfoot
February 27	"For All We Know"	The Carpenters
March 6
March 13
March 20	"(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story"	Andy Williams
March 27
April 3	"When There's No You"	Engelbert Humperdinck
April 10	"(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story"	Andy Williams
April 17
April 24	"If"	Bread
May 1
May 8
May 15	"Me and You and a Dog Named Boo"	Lobo
May 22
May 29	"Rainy Days and Mondays"	The Carpenters
June 5
June 12
June 19
June 26	"It's Too Late"	Carole King
July 3
July 10
July 17
July 24
July 31	"You've Got a Friend"	James Taylor
August 7	"If Not for You"	Olivia Newton-John
August 14
August 21
August 28	"Beginnings"	Chicago
September 4	"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"	Joan Baez
September 11
September 18
September 25
October 2
October 9	"Superstar"	The Carpenters
October 16
October 23	"Never My Love"	The 5th Dimension
October 30	"Peace Train"	Cat Stevens
November 6
November 13
November 20	"Baby I'm-a Want You"	Bread
November 27	"All I Ever Need Is You"	Sonny & Cher
December 4
December 11
December 18
December 25

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• Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Watson-Guptill. ISBN 978-0-82308-289-6.
• Whitburn, Joel (2002). Joel Whitburn's Top Adult Contemporary, 1961–2001. Record Research Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-89820-149-9.
• Whitburn, Joel (2005). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955–2002. Record Research Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-89820-155-0.
• Whitburn, Joel (2007). Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961–2006. Record Research Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-89820-169-7.