A one-hit wonder is a musical artist who is successful with one hit song, but without a comparable subsequent hit. [1] The term may also be applied to an artist who is remembered for only one hit despite other successes. This article contains artists known primarily for one hit song in the United States, who are regarded as one-hit wonders by at least two sources in media even though the artist may have had multiple hits abroad.
Music reviewers and journalists sometimes describe a musical artist as a one-hit wonder, based on their professional assessment of chart success, sales figures, and fame.
For the purpose of his 2008 book One-Hit Wonders, music journalist Wayne Jancik defines a one-hit wonder as "an act that has won a position on Billboard's national, pop, Top 40 just once." [2] In his definition of an "act", Jancik distinguishes between a solo performer and a group performance (thus, for example, Roger Daltrey's "Without Your Love" is counted despite Daltrey's numerous hits as frontman for the Who), and a number of musicians appear multiple times, either with multiple bands or as a member of a band and as a solo artist. (Eponymous bands are generally not separated; thus Charlie Daniels is not counted as a one-hit wonder for "Uneasy Rider" and the hits of the Charlie Daniels Band are credited to him.)
Fred Bronson, a journalist and former writer for Billboard magazine, in his book Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits, uses the criterion that an artist is ineligible to be categorized as a "one-hit wonder" if they have a second song listed on the Billboard Hot 100. [3]
Disc jockey and music writer Brent Mann points out how some artists have been called a "one-hit wonder" despite having other charting singles; in these cases, one signature song so overshadows the rest of the artist's discography that only that song remains familiar to later audiences. As an example, English-born singer Albert Hammond enjoyed success with "It Never Rains in Southern California" (1972) rising to number 5 in the US, but his follow-up single, "I'm a Train" was dismissed by Mann as "totally forgotten" even though it charted at number 31 in 1974. [4] In another case, Scottish rockers Simple Minds followed their big hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (appearing in the opening and closing scenes of the film The Breakfast Club ) with "Alive and Kicking" which peaked at number 3 in the US, "Sanctify Yourself" which peaked at number 14 in the US, and "All the Things She Said" which peaked at number 28 in the US, yet the band is remembered primarily for the first song. [5]
On the other hand, some artists with long, successful careers have been identified as one-hit wonders by virtue of having reached the Top 40 of the Hot 100 only once. Consequence of Sound editor Matt Melis lists Beck ("Loser") and the Grateful Dead ("Touch of Grey") [6] as "technically" being one-hit wonders despite their large bodies of work. [7] Entertainment Weekly mentions prolific artist Frank Zappa as a one-hit wonder because his only Top 40 hit was "Valley Girl" in 1982. [8]
Chris Molanphy, a pop chart analyst and writer for Slate and The Village Voice , wrote that an artist can only be seen as a "one-hit wonder" if they have never had a second Billboard top 10 hit, if any subsequent top 40 singles were released within six months of their first big hit, and if the artist has not had three or more top 10 or Platinum albums. [9] [10]
Stuart Hamblen, American entertainer who released the single as a solo artist "This Ole House" (1954) and a single with his family as the group Cowboy Church Sunday School's "Open Up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In)" (1955). [11] [12]
In 1957, American duo Mickey & Sylvia had a hit with their song "Love Is Strange". By the 1970s, Sylvia Robinson was a solo act under the alias of Sylvia. Under this name, Sylvia had her first and only solo hit with "Pillow Talk" in 1973. [13] [14]
Ron Dante, American singer and songwriter is credited as a one-hit wonder with three different acts. In 1964, Dante appeared in a group called The Detergents who reached the US Top 20 with their hit "Leader of the Laundromat" (a parody of "Leader of the Pack"). Five years later, in 1969, Dante appeared in the group The Cuff Links who scored a top ten hit with "Tracy". That same year, Dante was also a member of the fictional band The Archies who scored a #1 hit with "Sugar, Sugar". [15]
Joey Levine, American session singer best known for his prolific work in the bubblegum pop and commercial jingle genera, who had recorded hits for the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus's "Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run)" (1968) and Reunion's "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" (September 1974). [16]
Eddy Grant, Guyanese-British singer had a hit with the English band The Equals called "Baby, Come Back" (1968), and as a solo artist for his 1983 song "Electric Avenue". [17] [18]
Norman Greenbaum, American singer and songwriter was a member of Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band who scored success in 1968 with the novelty song "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago". Greenbaum would later score a hit single for himself with "Spirit in the Sky" in 1970. [19]
English musician Tony Burrows sang the lead vocal on five one-hit wonders: Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" (February 1970); White Plains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'" (March 1970); the Pipkins' "Gimme Dat Ding" (April 1970); the First Class' "Beach Baby" (July 1974); and "United We Stand" (1970) by the first incarnation of the Brotherhood of Man. [20] [21]
Before he was the lead singer of English supergroup Bad Company, English-Canadian singer Paul Rodgers was in the English band Free who scored a single US hit in 1970 with the song "All Right Now". In 1985, while Bad Company was on hiatus, Rodgers was the lead singer of the British band The Firm who achieved one-off success with "Radioactive". [22] [23]
Dave Mason, English singer-songwriter was a member of the English–American supergroup Derek and the Dominos. In 1972, the group scored a US top ten hit with "Layla". Despite the success of the song, Derek & the Dominoes disbanded. Mason would find some success on his own nearly reaching the US top ten one more time with the 1977 song "We Just Disagree". [24] [25]
David Foster, acclaimed Canadian record producer who was a member of the Canadian band Skylark – "Wildflower" (1973) and as a writer and producer for John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" (1985). [26]
The Dwight Twilley Band produced two double one-hit wonders. The Dwight Twilley Band consisted of Americans Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour. The duo scored a hit in 1975 with "I'm on Fire". After the two split up, they both scored hits as solo artists. Seymour experienced major success as a solo artist first with his 1981 song "Precious to Me". Then, in 1984, Twilley had his turn at solo success with the song "Girls". [27] [28]
Bryan Ferry, English singer and songwriter was the lead singer of the acclaimed English band Roxy Music, who despite their fame, only managed to score one US Top 40 hit with "Love is the Drug" in 1976. Ferry scored another hit in 1988, only this time, as a solo performer with "Kiss and Tell". [29] [23]
Chris Norman, English singer was the lead singer of the English rock band Smokie who achieved chart success with the 1977 hit version of "Living Next Door to Alice". While Smokie never had another hit in the United States, Norman performed "Stumblin' In" with Suzi Quatro a year later and again found chart success. [30] [31]
Canadian musician Tom Cochrane was the lead singer of Canadian band Red Rider who found fame in 1981 with the song "Lunatic Fringe". Nearly a decade later, Cochrane managed to score a hit as a solo artist with his 1992 song "Life Is a Highway". [32] [33]
English singer Limahl sang lead vocal on two US one-hit wonder songs; the first, "Too Shy" in 1983, came during his tenure as the frontman for the English group Kajagoogoo. The next year, he had another hit single as a solo artist with "The NeverEnding Story", the title track to the film The NeverEnding Story . [34] The latter song charted at number 17 in May 1985.
Ish Ledesma, American musician has been a part of several musical groups. Two of which would become one-hit wonders. In 1983, his American group OXO reached the charts with "Whirly Girl". After the group's dissolution, Ledesma formed American group Company B who scored their own hit in 1987 with "Fascinated". [35] [36]
Jimmy Somerville, Scottish vocalist was the lead singer of two separate groups that are considered one-hit wonders. In 1984, British band Bronski Beat managed to achieve their only US hit with "Smalltown Boy". After they disbanded, Somerville became part of the British duo The Communards who managed to score a Top 40 hit with their version of "Don't Leave Me This Way" in 1987. [37] [38]
Dan Baird, American singer-songwriter who was lead singer and rhythm guitarist with the American band The Georgia Satellites "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" (1987), then as a solo artist with the single "I Love You Period" (1993). [39] [40]
In 1987, American musician Brent Bourgeois found success with the song "I Don't Mind At All" in the group Bourgeois Tagg. Bourgeois also managed to score a hit as a solo artist in 1990 with "Dare to Fall in Love". [41] [42]
Everlast, American rapper was part of the American hip-hop trio House of Pain who scored a Top 5 hit with their song "Jump Around" (1992). After the group split up, Everlast found solo success in 1999 with the hit song "What It's Like". [43]
Each artist listed here has been identified by at least two publications as being a one-hit wonder in the U.S. Numerous artists listed here have reached the Top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 more than once. The year indicates when the song charted or peaked. Based on the peak date, the entries are listed chronologically. If an entry did not chart, then it is listed based on the release date of the song. Some of the entries listed have non one-hit wonder artists featured on the song or are the main artist.
Uganda has formal diplomatic relations with many countries, some accredited. Since the colonial era and after independence Uganda has grown to be one of the most important African countries. Uganda has diplomatic relations with many countries throughout Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Uganda is a member of the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations since 1962.
Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Wonder is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of contemporary R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.
A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with only one hit single that overshadows their other work. Some artists dubbed "one-hit wonders" in a particular country had achieved success in other countries. Music artists with subsequent popular albums and hit listings are not properly considered a one-hit wonder, although artists with multiple hits have sometimes been erroneously labelled as "one-hit wonders" if one particular hit has become much more well-remembered years or decades later than their other hits. One-hit wonders usually see their popularity decreasing after their hit listing, and most often never return to hit listings with other songs or albums.
Stock Aitken Waterman are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through to the early-1990s. SAW is considered one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time by the Guinness World Records, scoring more than 100 UK Top 40 hits and earning an estimated £60 million in royalties. The trio had thirteen UK No. 1 singles including three consecutive UK No. 1's and three US No. 1 singles. They also had at least one record in the UK Top 100 Singles Chart every week between March 1986 and October 1990.
Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer. Known as the "Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With the band she recorded the notable hits "Tell Me Something Good," "Sweet Thing," "Do You Love What You Feel," and the platinum-certified "Ain't Nobody." Her debut solo album featured the number-one R&B hit "I'm Every Woman". Khan scored another R&B charts hit with "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" before becoming the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with her 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel for You." More of Khan's hits include "Through the Fire" and a 1986 collaboration with Steve Winwood that produced a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Higher Love."
Soy milk, also known as soya milk or soymilk, is a plant-based milk produced by soaking and grinding soybeans, boiling the mixture, and filtering out remaining particulates. It is a stable emulsion of oil, water, and protein. Its original form is an intermediate product of the manufacture of tofu. Originating in China, it became a common beverage in Europe and North America in the latter half of the 20th century, especially as production techniques were developed to give it a taste and consistency more closely resembling that of dairy milk. Soy milk may be used as a substitute for dairy milk by individuals who are vegan or lactose intolerant.
The Rembrandts are an American alternative rock duo, formed by Danny Wilde and Phil Solem in 1989. They had previously worked together as members of Great Buildings in 1981. The Rembrandts are best known for the song "I'll Be There for You", which was used as the main theme song for the NBC sitcom Friends.
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a song written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and published by Gladys Music, Inc. The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour", a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as "Can't Help Falling in Love with Him", which explains the first and third line ending on "in" and "sin" rather than words rhyming with "you".
Ray Peterson was an American pop singer who is best remembered for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her". He also scored numerous other hits, including "Corrine, Corrina" and "The Wonder of You".
Anthony Burrows is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in several transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of which were one-hit wonders, including "Love Grows " by Edison Lighthouse, "United We Stand" by Brotherhood of Man, "My Baby Loves Lovin'" by White Plains, "Gimme Dat Ding" by the Pipkins and "Beach Baby" by the First Class.
American musician Stevie Wonder has released 23 studio albums, three soundtrack albums, four live albums, 11 compilations, one box set, and 91 singles. His first album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, was released in 1962 when he was 12 years old, and his most recent, A Time to Love, was released in 2005. Wonder has had ten US number-one hits on the pop charts, as well as 20 R&B number one hits, and has sold over 100 million records, 19.5 million of which are albums; he is one of the top best-selling music artists of all time with combined sales of singles and albums. Wonder has 30 main album releases, all of which are single albums, apart from Songs in the Key of Life, which was released as a double album with a bonus four-track EP. There are 11 official compilation albums; in addition, a box set, The Complete Stevie Wonder, was released in 2005. Wonder is eighth on the list of artists with the most number-ones on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Kata Kolok, also known as Benkala Sign Language and Balinese Sign Language, is a village sign language which is indigenous to two neighbouring villages in northern Bali, Indonesia. The main village, Bengkala, has had high incidences of deafness for over seven generations. Notwithstanding the biological time depth of the recessive mutation that causes deafness, the first substantial cohort of deaf signers did not occur until five generations ago, and this event marks the emergence of Kata Kolok. The sign language has been acquired by at least five generations of deaf, native signers and features in all aspects of village life, including political, professional, educational, and religious settings.
The Wonder Who? was a nom de disque of The Four Seasons for four single records released from 1965 to 1967. It was one of a handful of names used by the group at that time, including Frankie Valli and The Valli Boys. Wonder Who? recordings generally feature the falsetto singing by Valli, but with a softer falsetto than on "typical" Four Seasons recordings.
American Sign Language (ASL) is the main language of members of the deaf community in the United States. One component of their language is the use of idioms. The validity of these idioms have often been questioned or confused with metaphorical language. The term idiom can be defined as, "A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements". The following examples are written in ASL glossing. These idioms further validate ASL as a language unique and independent of English. Idioms in ASL bond people in the Deaf community because they are expressions that only in-group members can understand.
Para Brahman or Param Brahman in Hindu philosophy is the "Supreme Brahman" that which is beyond all descriptions and conceptualisations. It is described as beyond the form or the formlessness that eternally pervades everything, everywhere in the universe and whatever is beyond.
Oprah Gail Winfrey, also known mononymously as Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the richest African-American of the 20th century and was once the world's only black billionaire. By 2007, she was often ranked as the most influential woman in the world.
Punjabi nationalism is an ideology which emphasizes that the Punjabis are one nation and promotes the cultural unity of Punjabis around the world. The demands of the Punjabi nationalist movement are linguistic, cultural, economic and political rights.
"Sometime" is a song written by Gene Thomas, originally released by Venus Records in 1961. After it enjoyed regional success, it was reissued on the United Artists label. The song became a top 100 hit on the national chart. The song was later covered by Doug Sahm and by the Flamin' Groovies.
The Ottoman expedition to Messina in 1613 was an attempt by the Ottoman Empire to deliver a disguised attack in the port of Messina, in the Spanish viceroyalty of Sicily. Due to the spywork of Viceroy Pedro Téllez-Girón, Duke of Osuna, the expedition was discovered and its members were captured or killed almost in their totality.
...an easy explanation as to why the group ended up with one-hit wonder status
The Easybeats were an international one-hit wonder with 'Friday on My Mind'...
...scored their lone hit, the 1973 chart-topper "Brother Louie,"
{{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help)Silver Condor was a short-lived rock band formed in New York that was able to wrangle one Top 40 Hit with You Could Take My Heart Away that reached No. 32 in 1981.
...they call me a one hit wonder at times...
One of the silliest one-hit wonders of the new wave era
"I Eat Cannibals" must be one of the weirdest one hit wonders of all time.
The oddly named new wave duo EBN-OZN had one novelty hit, "AEIOU Sometimes Y" in 1983, and then lapsed into obscurity.
Pop and dance-rock singer whose massive hit "The Power of Love" made her a European superstar in the '80s and '90s.
Few stars prove the meaninglessness of the label "one-hit wonder" better than Michael Damian
Norwegian trio One 2 Many is probably a prime candidate to the twofold title of least remembered one-hit wonder ever
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Short for 'Lyte Funky Ones,' LFO is the very definition of a one-hit wonder, and this is an appropriate time to celebrate that one hit, as August 1999 was also when that song, 'Summer Girls' hit number three on the US Billboard charts.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)