List of Top Selling Rhythm & Blues Singles number ones of 1965

In 1965, Billboard published a chart ranking the top-performing singles in the United States in rhythm and blues (R&B) and related African American-oriented music genres; the chart has undergone various name changes over the decades to reflect the evolution of such genres and since 2005 has been published as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The chart returned in the issue of Billboard dated January 30, 1965, having not been published since the issue dated November 23, 1963. No official explanation has ever been given as to why Billboard ceased producing R&B charts. Chart historian Joel Whitburn has 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". It was published under the title Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles through the issue dated May 29 and Top Selling Rhythm & Blues Singles thereafter; during the year, 13 different singles topped the chart.

When the R&B chart returned from its hiatus, the first number one was "My Girl" by the Temptations, which held the top spot for six consecutive weeks. The song was one of several of the year's chart-toppers to be released under the Motown label and its subsidiaries; Marvin Gaye, the Supremes and the Four Tops also reached number one in 1965 with singles released under the Detroit-based label. Motown, founded by Berry Gordy Jr in 1959, had released its first million-selling single two years later, and would go on to become one of the most successful and influential labels of the 20th century and bring unprecedented levels of mainstream success to Black music.

The Four Tops had the year's longest-running number one, spending nine consecutive weeks atop the chart with "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)". James Brown was the act with the highest total number of weeks atop the chart during the year; he spent eight weeks at number one between August and October with "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (Part 1)" and a further four weeks at number one with "I Got You (I Feel Good)", which reached number one in the issue of Billboard dated December 4 and stayed there for the remainder of the year. Brown, nicknamed "the Godfather of Soul", is regarded as one of the most influential Black musicians of all time and one of the most successful acts in the history of Billboard's R&B singles chart, with more than 100 of his songs having entered the listing. Gaye was the only other act to achieve more than one R&B number one in 1965, but both "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar" spent just a single week in the top spot.