How many #1 Hits Did The Rolling Stones have? A chart-topping history

Rockapedia, 2026

If you ever find yourself arguing in a pub about just how big The Rolling Stones really were on the singles charts, here’s your ammo. The short version: a lot. The longer, more fun version? Let’s roll through how the Stones racked up their #1s, and how they figured out their own chart-topping magic along the way.

From blues covers to world domination

Before Mick and the gang cracked the code for writing their own hits, the Stones were already flirting with chart success by putting their stamp on other people’s songs. In 1964, they hit #1 in the UK with It’s All Over Now, a Bobby Womack tune co-written with Shirley Womack. Bill Wyman later brushed off any grand design behind it, saying they just liked the sound and didn’t overthink the genre labels. Classic Stones: instinct over analysis.

That same year, they did it again with Willie Dixon’s Little Red Rooster. A full-on blues number going to #1 in the UK? That was almost unheard of at the time. Mick Jagger was clear they weren’t trying to educate anyone, this was simply the band putting their money where their mouth was after endlessly talking up the blues.

Writing their own rules

Everything changed in 1965. The Last Time became the Stones’ first original A-side to top the UK charts, even if Keith Richards later admitted it leaned heavily on a traditional gospel song made famous by the Staple Singers. Borrowing from the past, reshaping it, and making it unmistakably theirs, that would become a theme.

Then came the earthquake. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Written literally half-asleep, by Richards, captured on a tape recorder before devolving into 45 minutes of snoring, the song went on to top both the UK and US charts. Keith thought it was a joke. Everyone else told him he was out of his mind. They were right. This was the Stones’ first original #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, and it launched them into another stratosphere entirely.

Hot on its heels was Get Off of My Cloud another transatlantic #1 in 1965. Written as a reaction to fame itself, people demanding the next Satisfaction, it’s funny in hindsight that Richards never really liked the record. Even Stones songs the Stones weren’t sure about could hit #1.

Peak ’60s Stones

In 1966, Paint It, Black stormed to #1 in both the UK and US, driven by Brian Jones’ unforgettable sitar riff. Richards later described the band’s outlook at the time as cynical, nasty, and skeptical, very much in tune with a world sliding deeper into Vietnam and social unrest.

Ruby Tuesday followed as their fourth US #1, though it only reached #3 in the UK as a double A-side with Let’s Spend the Night Together Even within the band’s inner circle, there’s debate over who wrote what, but everyone agrees on one thing: it’s a gorgeous song, and Mick loved singing it.

By 1968, Jumpin’ Jack Flash put them back at #1 in the UK (and #3 in the US). Richards’ detailed breakdown of the guitar setup, open tuning, capos, Nashville tuning, cassette recorders, shows just how much craft went into making something that sounded raw and effortless.

The late ’60s and beyond

In 1969, Honky Tonk Women topped both the UK and US charts. Originally conceived as a more country-flavored track (Country Honk), it became one of the band’s defining singles, and poignantly, one of the last sessions Brian Jones ever took part in.

The early ’70s brought more American chart-toppers. Brown Sugar hit #1 in the US in 1971 (#3 in the UK), largely written by Jagger during downtime on the set of Ned Kelly. Two years later, Angie topped the US charts as well, spawning endless speculation about who, or what, it was about. Richards eventually shut it down: the name was random, not a secret dedication.

The final No.1

The Stones’ last US #1 came in 1978 with Miss You, a disco-tinged curveball written by Jagger while jamming with Billy Preston. It hit #1 in the States and #3 in the UK, proving that the Stones could adapt to almost anything and still sound like themselves.

So...how many No.1s did the Rolling Stones have?

By the time the dust settled, The Rolling Stones had topped the charts eight times in the US, alongside multiple UK #1s stretching from their early blues covers to their late-’70s reinventions. Not bad for a band that never wanted to do the same old thing every time.

And really, that might be the secret behind all those #1s: restlessness, risk-taking, and a total lack of interest in playing it safe.