John Denver hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “Annie’s Song” on July 27, 1974. That track was originally released as part of Denver’s album “Back Home Again” and followed his signature track “Sunshine on My Shoulders.”“Annie’s Song” claimed the top spot from George McCrae’s hit “Rock Your Baby.” The track held at number one for two weeks and was succeeded by Roberta Flack’s "Feel Like Makin' Love.”According to “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits,” Denver wrote the song about his first wife and college sweetheart Ann Martell in ten minutes while riding on a ski lift. The pair married in 1967, eventually divorcing in 1983. “I’d never had an experience like that ever before. The divorce was one of the most unhappy moments of my life,” Denver told the Los Angeles Times of the split.