thumb|right|upright=1.4|[[Chubby Checker (pictured with his wife Catharina Lodders in 1964) took his song "The Twist", a number one in 1960, back to the top spot in 1962.|alt=The singer Chubby Checker at an airport with his wife]]
The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart published since August 1958 by Billboard magazine which ranks the best-performing singles in the United States. In 1962, it was compiled based on a combination of sales and airplay data sourced from surveys of retail outlets and playlists submitted by radio stations respectively, and 21 different singles spent time at number one.
On the chart dated January 6, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens was at number one, retaining its position from the previous week. Two weeks later, Checker's song was displaced from the top spot by another twist-related song, "Peppermint Twist" by Joey Dee and the Starliters. Dee's single was followed in the top spot by "Duke of Earl" by Gene Chandler and "Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel; all three were the first and only number one for their act. Shelley Fabares, one of the stars of TV's The Donna Reed Show, gained her sole number one in April with "Johnny Angel", which was featured on an episode of the ABC show. In May, the jazz clarinettist Mr. Acker Bilk topped the chart with "Stranger on the Shore"; it was his first U.S number one and the first Hot 100 chart-topper by a British act. A second British act, the Tornados, reached number one for the first time in December with "Telstar".
Eight consecutive number ones between July and November were by first time chart-toppers. In July, the composer and orchestra leader David Rose, who had charted in the pre-Hot 100 era as early as 1944, gained his first number one with "The Stripper", his final chart entry; in contrast Bobby Vinton reached number one with his first charting single, "Roses Are Red (My Love)". Neil Sedaka, Little Eva, and Tommy Roe all topped the chart for the first time in August and September. The Four Seasons had their first number one in September with "Sherry", which spent five weeks at number one. Just a month after the song exited the top spot, they were back at number one with "Big Girls Don't Cry", which also spent five weeks atop the Hot 100. The two songs tied with "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Ray Charles for the year's longest-running number one. The Four Seasons were the only act with more than one number one in 1962 and their total of 10 weeks in the top spot was the most achieved by any act. Between the Four Seasons' two number ones, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers gained their only chart-topper with the Halloween-themed novelty song "Monster Mash" and the Crystals topped the chart for the first time with "He's a Rebel". Despite the credit on the label, none of the members of the Crystals actually performed on the song. Their producer, Phil Spector, decided to rush-release a version of the song after learning of the impending release of a competing version but, with the group unavailable, used session singers the Blossoms while still crediting the single to the Crystals. Both "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "He's a Rebel" have been included in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Chart history
thumb|right|upright|alt=The singer Neil Sedaka|[[Neil Sedaka (pictured in 1971) had his first chart-topper with "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do".]]
thumb|right|upright|alt=The singer Gene Chandler|"[[Duke of Earl" was the first number one for Gene Chandler (pictured in 1997).]]
thumb|right|upright|alt=The singer Shelley Fabares|[[Shelley Fabares (pictured in 1991) reached number one with "Johnny Angel".]]
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+
!scope=col|
! scope="col" |Issue date
! scope="col" |Title
! scope="col" |Artist(s)
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center|63
!scope=row|
|align="center"|""
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=2|35 (re)
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="2"|""
|align="center" rowspan="2"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=3|64
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="3"|"Peppermint Twist"
|align="center" rowspan="3"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=3|65
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="3"|"Duke of Earl"
|align="center" rowspan="3"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=3|66
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="3"|"Hey! Baby"
|align="center" rowspan="3"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center|67
!scope=row|
|align="center"|"Don't Break the Heart That Loves You"
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=2|68
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="2"|"Johnny Angel"
|align="center" rowspan="2"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=2|69
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="2"|"Good Luck Charm"
|align="center" rowspan="2"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=3|70
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="3"|"Soldier Boy"
|align="center" rowspan="3"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center|71
!scope=row|
|align="center"|"Stranger on the Shore"
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=5|72
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="5"|"I Can't Stop Loving You"
|align="center" rowspan="5"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center|73
!scope=row|
|align="center"|""
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=4|74
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="4"|"Roses Are Red (My Love)"
|align="center" rowspan="4"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=2|75
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="2"|"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
|align="center" rowspan="2"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center|76
!scope=row|
|align="center"|""
|align="center"|Little Eva
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=2|77
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="2"|"Sheila"
|align="center" rowspan="2"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=5|78
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="5"|"Sherry"
|align="center" rowspan="5"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=2|79
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="2"|"Monster Mash"
|align="center" rowspan="2"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=2|80
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="2"|"He's a Rebel"
|align="center" rowspan="2"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=5|81
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="5"|"Big Girls Don't Cry"
|align="center" rowspan="5"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
| bgcolor=#EDEAE0 align=center rowspan=2|82
!scope=row|
|align="center" rowspan="2"|"Telstar"
|align="center" rowspan="2"|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope=row|
|align="center"|
|-
|}
Number-one artists
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of number-one artists by total weeks at number one
|-
!scope="col"| Weeks at No. 1
!scope="col"| Artist
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 10
| The Four Seasons
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 5
| Ray Charles
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 4
| Bobby Vinton
|-
! scope="rowgroup" style="text-align:center" rowspan=4| 3
| Joey Dee and the Starliters
|-
| Gene Chandler
|-
| Bruce Channel
|-
| The Shirelles
|-
! scope="rowgroup" style="text-align:center" rowspan=8| 2
| Chubby Checker
|-
| Shelley Fabares
|-
| Elvis Presley
|-
| Neil Sedaka
|-
| Tommy Roe
|-
| Bobby "Boris" Picket and the Crypt-Kickers
|-
| The Crystals
|-
| The Tornados
|-
! scope="rowgroup" style="text-align:center" rowspan=5|1
| The Tokens
|-
| Connie Francis
|-
| Mr. Acker Bilk
|-
| David Rose
|-
| Little Eva
|}
See also
- 1962 in music
- List of Billboard number-one singles
- List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 1962
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from 1958 to 1969