These are the singles that reached number one on the Top 100 singles chart in 1971 as published in Cashbox magazine.
| Issue Date | Song | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2 | "My Sweet Lord" | George Harrison | |
| January 9 | |||
| January 16 | "Knock Three Times" | Dawn | |
| January 23 | |||
| January 30 | "Lonely Days" | Bee Gees | |
| February 6 | "Rose Garden" | Lynn Anderson | |
| February 13 | "One Bad Apple" | The Osmonds | |
| February 20 | |||
| February 27 | |||
| March 6 | "Mama's Pearl" | The Jackson 5 | |
| March 13 | "One Bad Apple" | The Osmonds | |
| March 20 | "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" | The Temptations | |
| March 27 | "She's a Lady" | Tom Jones | |
| April 3 | "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted" | The Partridge Family | |
| April 10 | "What's Going On" | Marvin Gaye | |
| April 17 | bgcolor=#FFFF99 rowspan="6" | "Joy to the World" | Three Dog Night |
| April 24 | |||
| May 1 | |||
| May 8 | |||
| May 15 | |||
| May 22 | |||
| May 29 | "Never Can Say Goodbye" | The Jackson 5 | |
| June 5 | "Want Ads" | The Honey Cone | |
| June 12 | |||
| June 19 | "It Don't Come Easy" | Ringo Starr | |
| June 26 | "It's Too Late" | Carole King | |
| July 3 | |||
| July 10 | |||
| July 17 | |||
| July 24 | "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)" | The Raiders | |
| July 31 | "Don't Pull Your Love" | Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds | |
| August 7 | "You've Got a Friend" | James Taylor | |
| August 14 | "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" | Bee Gees | |
| August 21 | |||
| August 28 | |||
| September 4 | "Take Me Home, Country Roads" | John Denver | |
| September 11 | "Spanish Harlem" | Aretha Franklin | |
| September 18 | "Smiling Faces Sometimes" | Undisputed Truth | |
| September 25 | "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" | Paul & Linda McCartney | |
| October 2 | "Go Away Little Girl" | Donny Osmond | |
| October 9 | "Maggie May" | Rod Stewart | |
| October 16 | |||
| October 23 | |||
| October 30 | "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" | Cher | |
| November 6 | |||
| November 13 | Isaac Hayes | ||
| November 20 | |||
| November 27 | "Family Affair" | Sly & the Family Stone | |
| December 4 | |||
| December 11 | |||
| December 18 | |||
| December 25 | "Brand New Key" | Melanie |