List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1963

The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart published since August 1958 by Billboard magazine which ranks the best-performing singles in the United States.^[1] In 1963, 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,^[1] and 21 different singles spent time at number one.

In the issue of Billboard dated January 5, the Tornados were at number one with "Telstar", retaining the top spot from the final chart of 1962. Of the 20 subsequent singles to occupy the peak position during 1963, 18 were by acts which had never previously reached number one, either on the Hot 100 or on the separate sales and airplay charts which Billboard had published prior to launching the consolidated listing.^[2] Only the Four Seasons, who reached number one in March with "Walk Like a Man", and Bobby Vinton, who topped the Hot 100 with "Blue Velvet" in September, had achieved a previous chart-topper.^[3] Some of the year's chart-topping acts experienced very short runs of success. Jimmy Soul, who spent two weeks atop the Hot 100 with "If You Wanna Be Happy", his second single to enter the chart, not only never reached number one again, but in fact never achieved any subsequent entries at all.^[4] "Dominique", which spent the final four weeks of the year at number one, was the only Hot 100 entry which the Singing Nun ever achieved.^[5] In June, the Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto reached number one with "Sukiyaki"; it was the first, and until 2020, the only song by an artist from Asia to top the chart.^[6] Originally released in Japan as "Ue o Muite Arukō", it was covered in 1962 by the British jazz band leader Kenny Ball and retitled after an item of Japanese food as it was felt that the original title would be too unusual for Western audiences.^[7] Sakamoto's original version was then released in the United States under the same title; as of the 21st century, it remains the only Japanese-language song to top the Hot 100.^[7]

Of the 18 acts to reach number one for the first time in 1963, only Little Stevie Wonder would go on to top the Hot 100 again.^[2] The singer and multi-instrumentalist, who was only 13 years old when "Fingertips (Part II)" spent three weeks in the peak position in 1963, reached number one a further nine times between 1973 and 1986 after dropping "Little" from his stage name.^[8] "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs was the year's longest-running chart-topper, spending five weeks at number one. As no act had more than one number one during the year, the group also had the highest total number of weeks in the top spot during 1963. "Sugar Shack" was also the final number one on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart before that listing was discontinued; it eventually returned to the magazine a little over a year later.^[9] No official explanation has ever been given as to why Billboard ceased producing R&B charts. Chart historian Joel Whitburn contended that "there was so much crossover of titles between the R&B and pop singles (Hot 100) charts that Billboard considered the charts to be too similar".^[10] Eight other singles also topped both charts in 1963.^[9]

• 1963 in music
• List of Billboard number-one singles
• List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 1963
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from 1958 to 1969

• Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-89820-160-4.
• Whitburn, Joel (2005). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955–2002. Record Research Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-89820-155-0.