This is a list of songs that have charted in the top ten of the Billboard Adult Contemporary in 1981.
List of Billboard Adult Contemporary top ten singles which peaked in 1981| Top ten entry date | Single | Artist(s) | Peak | Peak date | Weeks in top ten | | Singles from 1980 |
|---|
| November 15 | "Love on the Rocks" | Neil Diamond | 3 | January 17 | 12 |
| November 22 | "Every Woman in the World" | Air Supply | 2 | January 17 | 11 |
| November 29 | "Guilty" | Barbara Streisand & Barry Gibb | 5 | January 17 | 9 |
| December 20 | "I Love a Rainy Night" | Eddie Rabbitt | 1 | January 17 | 9 |
| December 27 | "I Made It Through the Rain" | Barry Manilow | 4 | January 24 | 7 |
| "The Winner Takes It All" | ABBA | 1 | February 7 | 11 |
| Singles from 1981 |
|---|
| January 17 | "Killin' Time" | Fred Knoblock & Susan Anton | 5 | February 14 | 7 |
| January 24 | "The Tide Is High" | Blondie | 3 | February 7 | 4 |
| "9 to 5" | Dolly Parton | 1 | February 28 | 8 |
| January 31 | "My Mother's Eyes" | Bette Midler | 8 | February 7 | 3 |
| "Same Old Lang Syne" | Dan Fogelberg | 8 | February 21 | 6 |
| February 7 | "Smoky Mountain Rain" | Ronnie Milsap | 1 | February 21 | 6 |
| "Crying" | Don McLean | 2 | March 14 | 11 |
| February 14 | "Woman" | John Lennon | 4 | March 14 | 7 |
| February 21 | "Hello Again" | Neil Diamond | 3 | March 14 | 7 |
| "A Little in Love" | Cliff Richard | 6 | March 7 | 4 |
| "What Kind of Fool" | Barbara Streisand & Barry Gibb | 1 | March 14 | 10 |
| March 7 | "Somebody's Knockin'" | Terri Gibbs | 3 | April 11 | 9 |
| March 14 | "Just the Two of Us" | Grover Washington Jr. | 2 | May 16 | 12 |
| "Dare to Dream Again" | Phil Everly | 9 | March 21 | 4 |
| March 21 | "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" | Sheena Easton | 1 | May 2 | 9 |
| "Angel of the Morning" | Juice Newton | 1 | April 11 | 9 |
| "Mr. Sandman" | Emmylou Harris | 8 | March 28 | 6 |
| April 4 | "Her Town Too" | James Taylor & J.D. Souther | 5 | April 11 | 5 |
| April 11 | "Being with You" | Smokey Robinson | 4 | May 16 | 9 |
| "Lonely Together" | Barry Manilow | 7 | May 2 | 5 |
| April 25 | "Sukiyaki" | A Taste of Honey | 1 | May 16 | 11 |
| May 2 | "I Loved 'Em Every One" | T.G. Sheppard | 3 | May 16 | 7 |
| "Watching the Wheels" | John Lennon | 6 | May 16 | 4 |
| May 9 | "How 'Bout Us" | Champaign | 1 | May 30 | 9 |
| "Living Inside Myself" | Gino Vannelli | 5 | June 6 | 8 |
| May 16 | "What Are We Doin' in Love" | Dottie West & Kenny Rogers | 7 | June 6 | 6 |
| May 23 | "Since I Don't Have You" | Don McLean | 6 | June 6 | 5 |
| "America" | Neil Diamond | 1 | June 13 | 8 |
| May 30 | "Blessed Are the Believers" | Anne Murray | 10 | May 30 | 2 |
| June 6 | "All Those Years Ago" | George Harrison | 1 | July 4 | 8 |
| June 13 | "The One That You Love" | Air Supply | 2 | July 11 | 12 |
| "Still Right Here in My Heart" | Pure Prairie League | 4 | June 27 | 4 |
| June 20 | "The Boy from New York City" | The Manhattan Transfer | 4 | August 1 | 8 |
| June 27 | "I Don't Need You" | Kenny Rogers | 1 | July 11 | 11 |
| "Seven Year Ache" | Rosanne Cash | 6 | July 11 | 4 |
| July 4 | "Theme from Greatest American Hero" | Joey Scarbury | 3 | July 25 | 6 |
| July 11 | "Touch Me When We're Dancing" | The Carpenters | 1 | August 22 | 10 |
| "Promises" | Barbara Streisand | 8 | July 18 | 3 |
| "Queen of Hearts" | Juice Newton | 2 | August 22 | 12 |
| July 18 | "Elvira" | The Oak Ridge Boys | 8 | August 1 | 4 |
| July 25 | "It's Now or Never" | John Schneider | 5 | August 22 | 7 |
| August 1 | "Hearts" | Marty Balin | 9 | August 1 | 3 |
| "Slow Hand" | The Pointer Sisters | 6 | September 5 | 8 |
| August 15 | "Endless Love" | Diana Ross & Lionel Richie | 1 | September 5 | 9 |
| "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me" | Ronnie Milsap | 2 | September 12 | 10 |
| "Time" | The Alan Parsons Project | 10 | August 15 | 2 |
| August 22 | "Step by Step" | Eddie Rabbitt | 3 | September 5 | 10 |
| August 29 | "That Old Song" | Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio | 7 | September 12 | 6 |
| September 5 | "Feels So Right" | Alabama | 9 | September 12 | 3 |
| September 12 | "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" | Christopher Cross | 1 | September 26 | 9 |
| "A Heart in New York" | Art Garfunkel | 10 | September 12 | 2 |
| September 19 | "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" | Lulu | 2 | October 10 | 7 |
| September 26 | "For Your Eyes Only" | Sheena Easton | 6 | October 10 | 5 |
| "Hard to Say" | Dan Fogelberg | 2 | November 7 | 10 |
| "Share Your Love with Me" | Kenny Rogers | 1 | October 24 | 8 |
| October 3 | "We're in This Love Together" | Al Jarreau | 6 | October 31 | 6 |
| October 10 | "Here I Am" | Air Supply | 1 | November 7 | 9 |
| October 17 | "Theme from Hill Street Blues" | Mike Post & Larry Carlton | 4 | November 14 | 7 |
| October 24 | "Just Once" | Quincy Jones featuring James Ingram | 7 | November 14 | 5 |
| October 31 | "The Old Songs" | Barry Manilow | 1 | November 28 | 8 |
| "Oh No" | Commodores | 5 | November 21 | 7 |
| November 7 | "When She Was My Girl" | Four Tops | 9 | November 7 | 2 |
| November 14 | "Waiting for a Girl Like You" | Foreigner | 5 | December 12 | 6 |
| "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" | Diana Ross | 2 | December 5 | 9 |
| November 21 | "Yesterday's Songs" | Neil Diamond | 1 | December 19 | 11 |
| "I Want You, I Need You" | Chris Christian | 8 | December 5 | 4 |
| November 28 | "Castle in the Air" | Don McLean | 7 | December 26 | 7 |
| December 5 | "Comin' In and Out of Your Life" | Barbara Streisand | 2 | December 26 | 12 |
| "Turn Your Love Around" | George Benson | 9 | December 19 | 9 |
| December 19 | "Hooked on Classics" | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | 8 | December 26 | 6 |
| December 26 | "Leather and Lace" | Stevie Nicks & Don Henley | 10 | December 26 | 2 |