# List of Hot Country Singles number ones of 1974

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1974, 41 different singles topped the chart, which at the time was published under the title Hot Country Singles, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.
At the start of the year, the number one song on the chart was "If We Make It Through December" by Merle Haggard, the song's third week in the top spot. Charlie Rich had the most number ones of 1974, taking five different songs to the top spot, followed by Dolly Parton, who had three solo chart-toppers and one in collaboration with her long-time mentor Porter Wagoner. Wagoner and Parton had charted with a number of duets since 1967, but "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" was their only number one as a duo. In 1973, Parton had taken the decision to end her working relationship with Wagoner, which served as the inspiration for the song "I Will Always Love You", one of her three solo number ones of 1974. In 1982 she re-recorded the song and it once again went to number one, making her the first artist to top the country chart with two different recordings of the same song. Wagoner and Parton's chart-topper was one of two male-female duets to reach number one in 1974, the other being Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn's "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone". Twitty and Lynn had a run of success with duet recordings in the early 1970s alongside their ongoing solo careers.
In addition to having the most individual chart-toppers, Charlie Rich also spent the highest total number of weeks at number one during the year. The singer nicknamed the "Silver Fox" spent eight weeks in the top spot with "There Won't Be Anymore", "A Very Special Love Song", "I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore", "I Love My Friend" and "She Called Me Baby", all of which also crossed over to Billboard's pop singles chart, the Hot 100; no other artist spent more than four weeks atop the country listing. Three of the five – "There Won't Be Anymore," "I Don't See Me In Your Eyes Anymore" and "She Called Me Baby" – were recorded in the mid-1960s and re-released by his old labels to cash in on his recent success. A fifteen-year veteran of the music industry, Rich had finally achieved stardom in both the country and pop markets in the early 1970s and was at the peak of his success in 1974, but changing musical tastes and increasing personal problems led to him largely retiring at the end of the decade. In June, Ronnie Milsap had his first number one with "Pure Love". He would go on to become one of the most successful country performers of the 1970s and 1980s, topping the Hot Country Singles chart more than 30 times. In the same month, Waylon Jennings reached number one for the first time with "This Time". Jennings would go on to become one of the mainstays of the successful outlaw country movement of the late 1970s and, like Milsap, is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. A third future Hall of Fame inductee to top the chart for the first time in 1974 was Bobby Bare, who achieved the only number one of his lengthy career in July with "Marie Laveau". Mickey Gilley, Billy Swan, Melba Montgomery and Billy "Crash" Craddock were also first-time chart-toppers in 1974. The final number one of the year was "What a Man My Man Is" by Lynn Anderson.

## Chart history

| Issue date | Title | Artist(s) |
| January 5 | "If We Make It Through December" | Merle Haggard |
| January 12 | "If We Make It Through December" | Merle Haggard |
| January 19 | "I Love" | Tom T. Hall |
| January 26 | "I Love" | Tom T. Hall |
| February 2 | "Jolene" | Dolly Parton |
| February 9 | "World of Make Believe" | Bill Anderson |
| February 16 | "That's the Way Love Goes" | Johnny Rodriguez |
| February 23 | "Another Lonely Song" | Tammy Wynette |
| March 2 | "Another Lonely Song" | Tammy Wynette |
| March 9 | "There Won't Be Anymore" | Charlie Rich |
| March 16 | "There Won't Be Anymore" | Charlie Rich |
| March 23 | "There's a Honky Tonk Angel (Who'll Take Me Back In)" | Conway Twitty |
| March 30 | "Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)" | Tanya Tucker |
| April 6 | "A Very Special Love Song" | Charlie Rich |
| April 13 | "A Very Special Love Song" | Charlie Rich |
| April 20 | "A Very Special Love Song" | Charlie Rich |
| April 27 | "Hello Love" | Hank Snow |
| May 4 | "Things Aren't Funny Anymore" | Merle Haggard |
| May 11 | "Is It Wrong (For Loving You)" | Sonny James |
| May 18 | "Country Bumpkin" | Cal Smith |
| May 25 | "No Charge" | Melba Montgomery |
| June 1 | "Pure Love" | Ronnie Milsap |
| June 8 | "I Will Always Love You" | Dolly Parton |
| June 15 | "I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore" | Charlie Rich |
| June 22 | "This Time" | Waylon Jennings |
| June 29 | "Room Full of Roses" | Mickey Gilley |
| July 6 | "He Thinks I Still Care" | Anne Murray |
| July 13 | "He Thinks I Still Care" | Anne Murray |
| July 20 | "Marie Laveau" | Bobby Bare |
| July 27 | "You Can't Be a Beacon If Your Light Don't Shine" | Donna Fargo |
| August 3 | "Rub It In" | Billy "Crash" Craddock |
| August 10 | "Rub It In" | Billy "Crash" Craddock |
| August 17 | "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone" | Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn |
| August 24 | "Old Man from the Mountain" | Merle Haggard |
| August 31 | "The Grand Tour" | George Jones |
| September 7 | "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" | Ronnie Milsap |
| September 14 | "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" | Ronnie Milsap |
| September 21 | "I Wouldn't Want to Live If You Didn't Love Me" | Don Williams |
| September 28 | "I'm a Ramblin' Man" | Waylon Jennings |
| October 5 | "I Love My Friend" | Charlie Rich |
| October 12 | "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" | Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton |
| October 19 | "I See the Want To in Your Eyes" | Conway Twitty |
| October 26 | "I See the Want To in Your Eyes" | Conway Twitty |
| November 2 | "I Overlooked an Orchid" | Mickey Gilley |
| November 9 | "Love Is Like a Butterfly" | Dolly Parton |
| November 16 | "Country Is" | Tom T. Hall |
| November 23 | "Trouble in Paradise" | Loretta Lynn |
| November 30 | "Back Home Again" | John Denver |
| December 7 | "She Called Me Baby" | Charlie Rich |
| December 14 | "I Can Help" | Billy Swan |
| December 21 | "I Can Help" | Billy Swan |
| December 28 | "What a Man My Man Is" | Lynn Anderson |