# List of Billboard Easy Listening number ones of 1978

In 1978, Billboard magazine published a chart ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the easy listening or middle of the road market. The chart, which in 1978 was entitled Easy Listening, has undergone various name changes and has been published under the title Adult Contemporary since 1996. In 1978, 17 songs topped the chart based on playlists submitted by radio stations.
In the first issue of Billboard of the year, Billy Joel reached number one with "Just the Way You Are", replacing "How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee Gees in the top spot. Joel had launched his solo career in 1971 and achieved a number of minor chart entries over the subsequent six years, but his breakthrough to stardom did not come until the release of the album The Stranger in 1977. Taken from the album, "Just the Way You Are" won two Grammy Awards, and gave him his first Billboard number one. He would continue to be a regular on the Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary chart for more than two decades, topping the chart eight times. His 1993 song "The River of Dreams" would break a 25-year-old record by spending twelve consecutive weeks atop the listing. In contrast to Joel's lengthy and successful career was that of another act to top the chart for the first time in 1978, the band Toby Beau. Despite achieving an Easy Listening number one and reaching the top 20 of the magazine's pop chart, the Hot 100, with "My Angel Baby", the band would achieve only two more entries on either listing and their chart career would be over within two years. Similarly, jazz trumpeter Chuck Mangione topped the Easy Listening chart for the first time in 1978 with "Feels So Good" and enjoyed a brief period of both easy listening and pop chart success but this did not continue past 1980.
"Time Passages" by the Scottish singer Al Stewart was the final number one of the year. It held the top spot for the last eight weeks of 1978, the longest unbroken run atop the chart during the year. The only act to achieve more than one Easy Listening number one in 1978 was Barry Manilow; as his two chart-toppers only totalled five weeks in the top position, Stewart also had the highest total number of weeks at number one by an act during the year. Stewart had been a recording artist since the mid-1960s and would remain active for more than forty years, but his U.S. chart success was confined to a four-year period at the end of the 1970s.

## Chart history

Chart history :
| Issue date | Title | Artist(s) |
| January 7 | "Just the Way You Are" | Billy Joel |
| January 14 | "Just the Way You Are" | Billy Joel |
| January 21 | "Just the Way You Are" | Billy Joel |
| January 28 | "Just the Way You Are" | Billy Joel |
| February 4 | "Desiree" | Neil Diamond |
| February 11 | "(What A) Wonderful World" | Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon |
| February 18 | "(What A) Wonderful World" | Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon |
| February 25 | "(What A) Wonderful World" | Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon |
| March 4 | "(What A) Wonderful World" | Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon |
| March 11 | "(What A) Wonderful World" | Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon |
| March 18 | "Can't Smile Without You" | Barry Manilow |
| March 25 | "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" | England Dan & John Ford Coley |
| April 1 | "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" | England Dan & John Ford Coley |
| April 8 | "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" | England Dan & John Ford Coley |
| April 15 | "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" | England Dan & John Ford Coley |
| April 22 | "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" | England Dan & John Ford Coley |
| April 29 | "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" | England Dan & John Ford Coley |
| May 6 | "Can't Smile Without You" | Barry Manilow |
| May 13 | "Feels So Good" | Chuck Mangione |
| May 20 | "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" | Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams |
| May 27 | "Even Now" | Barry Manilow |
| June 3 | "Even Now" | Barry Manilow |
| June 10 | "Even Now" | Barry Manilow |
| June 17 | "Bluer Than Blue" | Michael Johnson |
| June 24 | "Bluer Than Blue" | Michael Johnson |
| July 1 | "Bluer Than Blue" | Michael Johnson |
| July 8 | "If Ever I See You Again" | Roberta Flack |
| July 15 | "If Ever I See You Again" | Roberta Flack |
| July 22 | "If Ever I See You Again" | Roberta Flack |
| July 29 | "Songbird" | Barbra Streisand |
| August 5 | "Songbird" | Barbra Streisand |
| August 12 | "My Angel Baby" | Toby Beau |
| August 19 | "Three Times a Lady" | Commodores |
| August 26 | "Three Times a Lady" | Commodores |
| September 2 | "Three Times a Lady" | Commodores |
| September 9 | "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" | Chris Rea |
| September 16 | "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" | Chris Rea |
| September 23 | "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" | Chris Rea |
| September 30 | "Right Down the Line" | Gerry Rafferty |
| October 7 | "Love Is in the Air" | John Paul Young |
| October 14 | "Love Is in the Air" | John Paul Young |
| October 21 | "Right Down the Line" | Gerry Rafferty |
| October 28 | "Right Down the Line" | Gerry Rafferty |
| November 4 | "Right Down the Line" | Gerry Rafferty |
| November 11 | "Time Passages" | Al Stewart |
| November 18 | "Time Passages" | Al Stewart |
| November 25 | "Time Passages" | Al Stewart |
| December 2 | "Time Passages" | Al Stewart |
| December 9 | "Time Passages" | Al Stewart |
| December 16 | "Time Passages" | Al Stewart |
| December 23 | "Time Passages" | Al Stewart |
| December 30 | "Time Passages" | Al Stewart |