page_title: List of Hot Soul Singles number ones of 1979
section_title: Chart history
hierarchical_section_title: List of Hot Soul Singles number ones of 1979 / Chart history
caption_attribution_description: Forest National - Brussels - Belgium - 1986
context_page_description: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs is a chart published by Billboard that ranks the top-performing songs in the United States in African-American-oriented musical genres; the chart has undergone various name changes since its launch in 1942 to reflect the evolution of such genres. In 1979, it was published under the title Hot Soul Singles. During that year, 20 different singles topped the chart, based on playlists submitted by radio stations and surveys of retail sales outlets.
  In September, Michael Jackson gained his first soul chart-topper as a solo artist with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". The singer had previously achieved several soul number ones with his brothers as the Jackson 5, and had charted sporadically in his own right since 1971, but did not reach the top spot as a soloist until 1979. Jackson would go on to become one of the most successful musicians of all time, selling hundreds of millions of records, and one of the defining artists of the 20th century. Donna Summer also topped the soul listing for the first time in July with "Bad Girls". Known as the "Queen of Disco", she had previously achieved five chart-toppers on the Disco Action chart.
caption: Prince had his first soul number one in 1979.  He would go on to be regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation.
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