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 (such as "Take On Me" by A-ha in the United States,^[2][3][4] which topped a Rolling Stone magazine poll to find the top one-hit wonder).^[5][6] 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.

Criteria

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.

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 book The Billboard Book of 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."^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[5] 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.^[9]

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")^[10] as "technically" being one-hit wonders despite their large bodies of work.^[6] Entertainment Weekly mentions prolific artist Frank Zappa as a one-hit wonder because his only Top 40 hit was "Valley Girl" in 1982.^[11]

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.^[12][13]

Multiple appearances

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.^[14][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 Ohio Express ("Yummy Yummy Yummy"), also sang hits for the Third Rail, the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus ("Quick Joey Small") and Reunion ("Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)").^[16]

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 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.^[17] The latter song charted at number 17 in May 1985.

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s