One-hit 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 have had great 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 do not ever return to hit listings with other songs or albums.

For other uses, see One Hit Wonder (disambiguation).

Music industry

In 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 [the] national, pop, Top 40 record chart just once."[1] Billboard magazine defines a U.S. one-hit wonder as an "artist that cracks the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and never makes it back to that position."[2]

This formal definition can include acts with greater success outside their lone pop hit and who are not typically considered one-hit wonders,[3] while at the same time excluding acts who have multiple hits which have been overshadowed by one signature song,[4] or those performers who never hit the top 40, but had exactly one song achieve mainstream popularity in some other fashion (that is, a "turntable hit" or a song that was ineligible for the top-40 charts).[5]

Lists of one-hit wonders

"20 to 1: One Hit Wonders"

In 2006, the Australian series 20 to 1 aired the episode "20 to 1: One Hit Wonders", a list of songs that had been the only one by that artist to have success in Australia.

#TitlePerformerYear
1"My Sharona"The Knack1979
2"Born to Be Alive"Patrick Hernandez1979
3"Video Killed the Radio Star"The Buggles1979
4"Turning Japanese"The Vapors1980
5"Funkytown"Lipps Inc.1979
6"Come on Eileen"Dexys Midnight Runners1982
7"Spirit in the Sky"Norman Greenbaum1969
8"99 Luftballons"Nena1983
9"Don't Worry, Be Happy"Bobby McFerrin1988
10"Pass the Dutchie"Musical Youth1982
11"Rockin' Robin"Bobby Day1958
12"Slice of Heaven"Dave Dobbyn and Herbs1986
13"Counting the Beat"The Swingers1981
14"Tubthumping"Chumbawamba1997
15"I'll Be Gone"Spectrum1971
16"Mickey"Toni Basil1982
17"Achy Breaky Heart"Billy Ray Cyrus1992
18"Venus"Shocking Blue1969
19"Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)"Lou Bega1999
20"Tainted Love"Soft Cell1981

Ireland
See also: List of one-hit wonders in Ireland

C4's UChoose40: One Hit Wonders

In September 2006, New Zealand's terrestrial music channel, C4, aired an episode dedicated to "One Hit Wonders" on the weekly theme-based chart show, UChoose40, where the chart was ranked entirely by viewer's votes from the website.[6][7]

The top ten songs were ranked as follows:

#TitlePerformerYear
1"Teenage Dirtbag"Wheatus2000
2"How Bizarre"OMC1996
3"Because I Got High"Afroman2001
4"Ice Ice Baby"Vanilla Ice1990
5"Eye of the Tiger"Survivor1982
6"Tubthumping"Chumbawamba1997
7"My Sharona"The Knack1979
8"Video Killed the Radio Star"The Buggles1979
9"Who Let the Dogs Out?"Baha Men2000
10"I Touch Myself"Divinyls1991

United Kingdom
Main article: List of one-hit wonders on the UK Singles Chart

Note: not to be confused with the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles list from 1979 to 2001 which lists acts with their only Top 75 charting record being a number one hit. Several of these artists including The Proclaimers, Shakespears Sister, Haddaway, Kajagoogoo and Hanson have in fact had more than two Top Ten hits.

The Nation's Favourite One Hit Wonders (2016)

A UK poll of 2,000 music fans compiled by marketing research company OnePoll.[8]

  1. Video Killed the Radio Star – Buggles (1979)
  2. It's Raining Men – The Weather Girls (1982)
  3. Spirit in the Sky – Norman Greenbaum (1969)
  4. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers (1988)
  5. Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of) – Lou Bega (1999)
  6. Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinéad O'Connor (1990)
  7. Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice (1990)
  8. Don't Leave Me This Way – Thelma Houston (1976)
  9. Cotton Eye Joe – Rednex (1995)
  10. Macarena – Los del Rio (1993)
  11. Sugar, Sugar – The Archies (1969)
  12. Who Let the Dogs Out – Baha Men (2000)
  13. Kung Fu Fighting – Carl Douglas (1974)
  14. Seasons in the Sun – Terry Jacks (1973)
  15. Saturday Night – Whigfield (1994)
  16. There She Goes – The La's (1988)
  17. Achy Breaky Heart – Billy Ray Cyrus (1992)
  18. Tell Laura I Love Her – Ricky Valance (1960)
  19. Me and Mrs Jones – Billy Paul (1972)
  20. Mickey – Toni Basil (1982)
  21. Don't Worry, Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin (1988)
  22. Stay – Shakespears Sister (1992)
  23. Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry (1976)
  24. What Is Love – Haddaway (1993)
  25. 99 Red Balloons – Nena (1983)
  26. Jump Around – House of Pain (1992)
  27. My Sharona – The Knack (1979)
  28. We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off – Jermaine Stewart (1986)
  29. Turning Japanese – The Vapors (1980)
  30. MMMBop – Hanson (1997)
  31. In the Year 2525 – Zager & Evans (1969)
  32. Funkytown – Lipps Inc. (1979)
  33. A Girl Like You – Edwyn Collins (1994)
  34. Pass the Dutchie – Musical Youth (1982)
  35. Rock Me Amadeus – Falco (1985)
  36. The Hustle – Van McCoy (1975)
  37. Witch Doctor – Ross Bagdasarian (1958)
  38. Tubthumping – Chumbawamba (1997)
  39. The Ketchup Song (Aserejé) – Las Ketchup (2002)
  40. Grandad – Clive Dunn (1971)
  41. Spaceman – Babylon Zoo (1996)
  42. Groove Is in the Heart – Deee-Lite (1990)
  43. Don't Give Up On Us – David Soul (1976)
  44. Barbados – Typically Tropical (1975)
  45. Unbelievable – EMF (1990)
  46. Too Shy – Kajagoogoo (1983)
  47. Pop Muzik – M (1979)
  48. You Get What You Give – New Radicals (1998)
  49. The Safety Dance – Men Without Hats (1983)
  50. Somebody's Watching Me – Rockwell (1984)

One-Hit Wonders from the 1980s

Classic Pop magazine's list[9] only includes acts who made the UK's Top 40 (as compiled by Gallup) once only in their careers and does not include acts which feature members from other successful bands from the 1980s. The top ten is as follows:

  1. "The First Picture of You" – The Lotus Eaters
  2. "Twilight Cafe" – Susan Fassbender
  3. "Big in Japan" – Alphaville
  4. "Broken Land" – The Adventures
  5. "Waiting for a Train" – Flash And The Pan
  6. "Waiting for a Star to Fall" – Boy Meets Girl
  7. "99 Red Balloons" – Nena
  8. "Let My People Go-Go" – The Rainmakers
  9. "The Captain of Her Heart" – Double
  10. "Kissing with Confidence" – Will Powers

One-Hit Wonders from the 1990s

In 2020, Absolute Radio 90s compiled a list of 'the 20 greatest one-hit wonders of the 1990s' as part of their 10th birthday celebrations; the list was as follows (listed in alphabetical order):[10]

In addition to these one-hit wonders, the NME also recognised the following hits in their one-hit wonders feature from 2014:[11]

One-Hit Wonders from the 2000s

From the BBC in March 2017 (based on a combination of chart position and sales):[12]

  • Afroman – "Because I Got High" (2001)
  • The Bravery – "An Honest Mistake" (2005)
  • DJ Pied Piper & The Masters of Ceremonies – "Do You Really Like It?" (2001)
  • Duffy – "Mercy" (2008)
  • Gnarls Barkley – "Crazy" (2006)
  • Junior Senior – "Move Your Feet" (2002)
  • Las Ketchup – "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" (2002)
  • Spiller (featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor) – "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" (2000)

From the BBC Radio 2 show One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg which started on 2 November 2020...[13][14](in alphabetical order):

  • Bodyrockers – "I Like the Way"[15]
  • Caesars – "Jerk It Out"[16]
  • Kevin Lyttle (feat. Spraga Benz) – "Turn Me On"[17]
  • Nizlopi – "The JCB Song"[18]
  • Planet Funk – "Chase the Sun"[19]
  • Sweet Female Attitude – "Flowers"[20]
  • The Temper Trap – "Sweet Disposition"[21]

One-Hit Wonders from the 2010s

The Official Charts Company's list[22] of the biggest one-hit wonder releases of the 2010s, is based on sales and streams. Like the Classic Pop list it uses the UK singles Top 40 chart as the cut-off point. The top ten is as follows:

  1. "Let Her Go" – Passenger
  2. "7 Years" – Lukas Graham
  3. "Waves" – Mr. Probz
  4. "Somebody That I Used to Know" – Gotye featuring Kimbra
  5. "Shut Up and Dance" – Walk the Moon
  6. "Dancing on My Own" – Calum Scott
  7. "Riptide" – Vance Joy
  8. "Feel It Still" – Portugal. The Man
  9. "Ho Hey" – The Lumineers
  10. "This Girl" – Kungs vs. Cookin' on 3 Burners

United States
Main article: List of one-hit wonders in the United States

See also

References
  1. Jancik, Wayne (1998). The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders. New York: Billboard Books. p. IX. ISBN 9780823076222.
  2. Leight, Elias (28 March 2023). "Is TikTok Actually Creating More One-Hit Wonders?". Billboard. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  3. Melis, Matt; Consequence of Sound staff (20 September 2016). "The 100 Best One-Hit Wonder Songs". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  4. Mann, Brent (2003). 99 Red Balloons ...and 100 Other All-Time Great One-Hit Wonders. Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806525167.
  5. Rahsheeda, Ali (2 May 2013). "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s". VH1. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  6. Life (14 November 2009). "One Hit Wonders". onehittwonders.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2016.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "OnePoll Market Research & PR Surveys | New York, California, Texas, London". OnePoll Research. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  9. "Top 40 80s One-Hit Wonders". 19 February 2019. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  10. "The 20 greatest one-hit wonders of the 1990s". Absolute Radio. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  11. "90s One-Hit Wonders That'll Make You Feel Nostalgic - Where Are They Now?". NME. 10 December 2014. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  12. "What happened to the one-hit wonders of the noughties? - BBC Music". www.bbc.co.uk. 27 March 2017. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  13. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg". Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  14. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg - Episode guide". Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  15. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg, Music from Bodyrockers, OPM and we ask what makes a One Hit Wonder?". Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  16. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg, Music from Caesars, Divinyls and we chat to the producer behind Bellini". Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  17. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg, Music from House of Pain, Kevin Lyttle, plus a chat with Vanilla Ice". Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  18. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg, Christmas Special with music from Renée & Renato, Nizlopi and our guest Aled Jones". Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  19. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg, Music from Planet Funk, Dawn Penn and a chat with Deep Blue Something". Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  20. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg, Music from Deee-Lite, OMC, plus a chat with Sweet Female Attitude's Leanne Brown". Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  21. "BBC Radio 2 - One Hit Wonders with OJ Borg, Music from Cornershop, Temper Trap and we chat to Russ Abbot". Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  22. "The Top 40 biggest one-hit wonders of the decade". www.officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.

Further reading
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