Events

• Charles Wuorinen, aged 32, becomes the youngest composer ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
• January 3 - Davy Jones announces he's leaving the Monkees. Former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett releases his first solo album The Madcap Laughs.
• January 7 - Max Yasgur, owner of the New York farm where the 1969 Woodstock Festival was held, is sued for $35,000 in property damages by neighbouring farmers.
• January 14 - Diana Ross and the Supremes perform for the last time together at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas.
• January 16 - John Lennon's London Art gallery exhibit of lithographs, Bag One, is shut down by Scotland Yard for displaying "erotic lithographs"
• January 24 - James Shep Sheppard, of The Heartbeats and Shep and the Limelites, is found murdered in his car on the Long Island Expressway
• January 26 - Simon and Garfunkel release their final album together, Bridge Over Troubled Water. The title track and album stay #1 on the Billboard charts for six weeks and go on to win a record six Grammys at the 13th Grammy Awards, including "Record of the Year", "Song of the Year", and "Album of the Year." In Britain it tops the album chart at regular intervals over the next two years, and becomes the best-selling album in Britain during the 1970s.
• January 28 - The newly formed group Band of Gypsies breaks up when guitarist Jimi Hendrix walks out after playing just two songs, telling the audience "I'm sorry we just can't get it together".
• February 11 - The film The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr premieres in New York City. The film's soundtrack album, including Badfinger's "Come and Get It", (which is written and produced by Paul McCartney), is also released on Apple Records.
• February 11 - John Lennon pays £1,344 in fines for 96 people who had protested against the South African rugby team playing in Scotland.
• February 13 - Black Sabbath releases debut self-titled LP. It is Friday the 13th.
• February 14 - The Who records Live At Leeds in Yorkshire, England. The Grateful Dead plays an equally historic concert on the same date at the Fillmore East, New York City.
• February 17 - Joni Mitchell announces that she's retiring from live performances, following her show at London's Royal Albert Hall. She would be back performing concerts within a year.
• February 23 - Ringo Starr appears on the television show Laugh-In
• February 27 - Jefferson Airplane is fined $1,000 for using profanity during a concert in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• February 28 - Led Zeppelin performs in Copenhagen under the pseudonym The Nobs, due to threats of lawsuits from Count Eva von Zeppelin, descendant of airship designer Ferdinand von Zeppelin.
• March 4 - Janis Joplin is fined $200 for using obscene language during a concert performance in Tampa, Florida.
• March 6 - Cult leader and suspected murderer Charles Manson releases an album titled Lies to help finance his defense.
• March 20 - David Bowie marries model Angela Barnett.
• March 21 – Dana wins Eurovision Song Contest – and later became a Euro MP.
• March 26 - Peter Yarrow (of Peter Paul and Mary) pleads guilty to "taking immoral liberties" with a 14 year old girl in Washington D.C.
• April 2 - The London Magistrate's Court hears arguments on John Lennon's indecency summons for his exhibition of erotic lithographs during his art exhibit on January 16.
• April 3 - Minneapolis nightclub the Depot opens, eventually renamed to First Avenue.
• April 10 - Paul McCartney publicly announced the break-up of The Beatles, though John Lennon had left the previous year.
• April 17 - Johnny Cash performs at the White House at the invitation of President Richard M. Nixon.
• April 20 - Paul McCartney's first solo album, McCartney is released.
• April 24 - Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane is invited to a party at the White House by Tricia Nixon, daughter of U.S. President Richard Nixon. Slick arrives at the party with Abbie Hoffman, who is on trial for conspiring to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Hoffman isn't allowed into the White House and leaves with Slick.
• May 15 - The Beatles' last LP, Let It Be, is released in the United States.
• May 16 - Randy Bachman leaves The Guess Who to start up Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
• May 23-24 - Grateful Dead make their first British appearance at Hollywood Festival, Newcastle-under-Lyme, on a bill also featuring Black Sabbath, Free, and Jose Feliciano. Everyone is completely upstaged by the previously unknown Mungo Jerry, whose debut single "In the Summertime" becomes the best-selling hit of the year.
• June 13 - "The Long and Winding Road" becomes the Beatles' last U.S. Number 1 song, though it's never released as a single in Britain. (External Link)
• June 13 - The Stooges play at the Cincinnati Pop Festival.
• July 26 - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix plays at his hometown of Seattle at Sicks Stadium where, under the influence of drugs, he starts verbally abusing members of the audience.
• August 30 - The Rolling Stones open their European tour in Malmö, Sweden.
• September 6 - During his final European tour, guitarist Jimi Hendrix is greeted by booing and jeering by German fans at his late appearance on stage and incoherent stage performance. Bassist Billy Cox quits the tour and returns to the United States.
• October 30 - Jim Morrison of The Doors, found guilty of indecent exposure and profanity because of his behaviour during a March 1, 1969 concert, is sentenced to eight months of hard labour and a $500 fine.
• Isle of Wight Festival.
• Jimmy Buffett begins recording.
• Paul Davis begins recording.
• Eric Clapton leaves Blind Faith for a solo career.
• Dalida leaves Barclay Records for Orlando Records.
• Derek Bailey and Evan Parker found Incus Records, specialising in releasing free improvised music and said to be the first independent artist-owned record label.
• Miles Davis' Bitches Brew is widely considered the first successful full-fledged fusion of rock and roll and jazz, as well as being one of the most famous and well-remembered albums by Davis.

Bands formed

Yeti - Amon Düül II

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1970.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	The Beatles	Let it Be	1970		US BB 1 - Mar 1970, Canada 1 - Mar 1970, Holland 1 - Mar 1970, Switzerland 1 - Mar 1970, Norway 1 - Mar 1970, Australia 1 of 1970, Australia 1 for 8 weeks Sep 1970, Australia Goset 1 - Apr 1970, UK 2 - Mar 1970, Germany 2 - Apr 1970, DDD 3 of 1970, Italy 8 of 1970, US CashBox 9 of 1970, RYM 9 of 1970, France 10 - Mar 1970, Virgin 11, WXPN 12, Japan 14 of all time (international songs), Europe 15 of the 1970s, US BB 20 of 1970, Rolling Stone 20, POP 20 of 1970, OzNet 25, Poland 28 - Dec 2003, Global 33 (5 M sold) - 1970, Scrobulate 34 of classic rock, Belgium 77 of all time, Germany 149 of the 1970s, TheQ 318, Acclaimed 342
2	Mungo Jerry	In the Summertime	1970		UK 1 - Jun 1970, Holland 1 - Jun 1970, Switzerland 1 - Jun 1970, Norway 1 - Jul 1970, Germany 1 - Jul 1970, Éire 1 - Jul 1970, Australia 1 for 1 weeks Feb 1971, Australia Goset 1 - Aug 1970, South Africa 2 of 1970, US BB 3 - Jul 1970, Canada 4 - Jul 1970, Italy 5 of 1970, France 7 - Aug 1970, Australia 16 of 1970, US BB 26 of 1970, POP 26 of 1970, Global 33 (5 M sold) - 1970, US CashBox 35 of 1970, Germany 45 of the 1970s, DDD 47 of 1970, RYM 61 of 1970, Acclaimed 2195
3	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water	1970		UK 1 - Feb 1970, US BB 1 - Feb 1970, Canada 1 - Feb 1970, Australia Goset 1 - Mar 1970, Grammy in 1970, DDD 2 of 1970, Germany 4 - Apr 1970, US CashBox 5 of 1970, Holland 5 - Feb 1970, Switzerland 5 - Mar 1970, Australia 5 of 1970, Norway 7 - Apr 1970, US BB 9 of 1970, France 10 - Apr 1970, Europe 18 of the 1970s, RYM 19 of 1970, 28 in 2FM list, Global 33 (5 M sold) - 1970, POP 41 of 1970, WXPN 41, Rolling Stone 47, Acclaimed 64, Scrobulate 66 of oldies, Belgium 162 of all time, Germany 239 of the 1970s
4	Shocking Blue	Venus	1970		US BB 1 - Dec 1969, Canada 1 - Dec 1969, France 1 - Apr 1970, Switzerland 1 - Oct 1969, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Aug 1970, Australia Goset 1 - Jan 1970, Norway 2 - Feb 1970, Germany 2 - Jan 1970, Holland 3 - Jul 1969, Italy 3 of 1970, US CashBox 6 of 1970, South Africa 7 of 1970, UK 8 - Jan 1970, Japan 15 of all time (international songs), POP 17 of 1970, Australia 19 of 1970, Europe 20 of the 1960s, US BB 21 of 1970, RYM 26 of 1969, Global 33 (5 M sold) - 1969, DDD 34 of 1969, Germany 261 of the 1960s
5	Led Zeppelin	Whole Lotta Love	1970		France 1 - Jan 1970, Germany 1 - Mar 1970, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Sep 1970, Australia Goset 1 - Feb 1970, TheQ 1, DDD 1 of 1969, Canada 2 - Dec 1969, US BB 4 - Dec 1969, Holland 4 - Dec 1969, Switzerland 5 - Mar 1970, RYM 8 of 1969, Australia 11 of 1970, Europe 11 of the 1960s, Scrobulate 11 of classic rock, US BB 38 of 1970, POP 38 of 1970, Belgium 48 of all time, US CashBox 54 of 1970, Poland 74 of all time, Rolling Stone 75, Acclaimed 85, Germany 120 of the 1970s, WXPN 400

Top hits - US and UK singles