#1 This Week In 1971

In 1971 George Harrison's My Sweet Lord became the first single by an ex-Beatle to go to #1, staying there for three weeks. It's the only #1 song in chart history with Hindi lyrics, as the background singers sing the traditional Hare Krishna prayer. Harrison provided lead vocals and engineered the recording, with frequent Beatles sideman Billy Preston playing all instruments, except for eventual Yes member Alan White who played drums. The record was listed on a charts as a double-sided single with Isn't It A Pity, although Pity was much less played.

My Sweet Lord entangled Harrison in a years-long plagiarism battle due to its striking similarity to the Chiffon's 1963 smash He's So Fine. Harrison claimed the song had been inspired by the Edwin Hawkins Singers' Oh Happy Day, but a federal judge found Harrison to have unintentionally copied He's So Fine and he had to surrender most of the royalties. Ironically, the Chiffons later covered My Sweet Lord and Harrison bought the rights to He's So Fine.

TRIVIA: After My Sweet Lord, Harrison went on to land 12 more Top 40 singles as a solo artist including two more #1's: 1973's Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) and 1987's Got My Mind Set On You. In 2002 a posthumous release of My Sweet Lord returned to #1 in the UK.