20 unforgettable hit wonders of the 2010s (2023)

FAQs

What is the #1 one-hit wonder? ›

It's somewhat surprising to learn that Elle King is a one-hit wonder, especially with some of her outstanding collaborations. However, “Ex's and Oh's” remains her only chart-topping release.

"Call Me Maybe" Is Officially The One-Hit Wonder of 2012.

Technically speaking, Carly Rae Jepsen, Gotye and Kimbra, La Roux and Estelle are all one-hit wonders, but the internet hasn't let these artists fall out of the collective consciousness that easily.

For the purposes of this list, a one-hit wonder is defined as an artist who ONLY had ONE charting hit. Allow me to explain. You might not know the name Luis Fonsi, but you definitely know his record-breaking hit “Despacito.” He's a one-hit wonder, right? NOPE, he's actually a multi-platinum megastar.

Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis found international success with their song of animal sounds, which asked the question: "What does the fox say?" Their answer was an annoying series of sounds that took over radio airwaves and landed at No. 6 on the US charts.

According to Guinness World Records, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies.

With five top-20 hits for five different bands, Tony Burrows is surely the most successful – and the most anonymous – one-hit wonder the American pop charts have ever known.

The master list of one-hit wonders. But after all of that, our original results basically still hold true. The 1980s had the least amount of one-hit wonders, and the 1960s still had the most.

Benny Mardones – the only singer in history to be a one-hit wonder… twice!

Who was the three time one-hit wonder? ›

But, exactly 50 years ago, one performer took it to the extreme. Starting in February 1970, Tony Burrows, a British recording session singer, had three top hits, with three different one-hit wonder bands, all at the same time — and few people knew it.

Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" was the number 1 song of the year, topping the Hot 100 for 7 consecutive weeks. Four of Katy Perry's singles, "Firework", "E.T.", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" and "Teenage Dream" managed to enter the list, with "Firework" and "E.T." being numbers 3 and 4 respectively.

"Only Girl (In the World)" was Rihanna's fourth number-one song of 2010, and she was the first female and the first artist since Usher (in 2004) with four number-one singles in a calendar year.

Chesney Hawkes – 'The One and Only' (1991)

The Nik Kershaw-penned 'The One and Only' features in the film, sung by Hawkes, and would go on to reach number one in the UK singles charts.

However, legendary musical artists like Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed, Garth Brooks and the Grateful Dead are all technically one-hit wonders, too, in that none had more than one song among the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart throughout their careers.

So that's a grand total of 60 one-hit wonders in the roughly 50 or so years under review, or a little more than one per year.

Fountains of Wayne struggled to maintain a consistent level of popularity after this, however, and is now considered a one-hit wonder.

They struck gold with their debut single “Ho Hey,” an irritating novelty song that seemed destined to cement the Lumineers' status as a one-hit wonder.

The band is best known for their biggest hit single "Heat Waves", which went viral on social media platform TikTok. It reached number one in Australia in February 2021 and was voted number one on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2020.

Is Gangnam Style a one-hit wonder? ›

"Gangnam Style" by Psy (2012) is undoubtedly the greatest one hit wonder song of all time. The Korean pop song became known worldwide through the very successful video clip with the famous "Gangnam Style" dance. This became a number 1 hit in more than 30 countries and sold more than 10 million records worldwide.

3. What did the fox tell the crow? Ans: The fox told the crow that “you are a fine bird, sir! You have lovely feathers.

The 1980s had more than 200 one-hit wonders – ie, acts who made the UK's Top 40 once only in their careers.

Taylor Swift has once again made music history by claiming every single top 10 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart at once. No other artist has ever held all 10 spots at the same time, according to Billboard.

Sir Mix-A-Lot

One of the most successful one-hit wonders of all time, it peaked at No. 1 on July 4, 1992, and spent a total of 28 weeks on the chart. The song achieved multiplatinum status in July 1992, when sales reached 2 million. It was re-released in 2002, and digital sales totaled 500,000 by May 2005.

Mississippi Queen – MOUNTAIN – #1

Although Mountain played one of the most memorable sets at Woodstock in 1969. Unfortunately, the success didn't last as long as it should have. Either way, the song Mississippi Queen became an instant rock classic.

Who has had a #1 hit every decade? ›

Cher's career as a recording artist spans seven decades and she is the only artist to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades.

4, 1958 inception through the Oct. 22-dated ranking: Most Weeks Spent on the Billboard Hot 100: 91, “Heat Waves,” Glass Animals.

During the early 1960s Checker had thirty more chart hits. Eleven of these reached the top twenty, including a re-release of “The Twist” in 1962 that reached number one and made Checker the only artist to have had the same single song at number one on different releases.

A less common term in the music business that you don't hear very often, but still exists is "two-hit wonder". That term means that this artist was lucky enough to peak in the top 40 threshold of the Billboard Hot 100 a SECOND time with one more song, before losing momentum.

Sometimes artists become one-hit wonders because they create a song that becomes a hit due to a particular fad. For example, Rick Dees had a hit — his only one — with his song “Disco Duck," which capitalized on the disco craze during the 1970s. At other times, one-hit wonders may just be the result of bad timing.

2009 is the year of The Black Eyed Peas, with their album The E.N.D., which has sold over 11 million copies worldwide. “I Gotta Feeling” is its second single, which dethrones their first release and helps the band keep up their reign atop the charts. The two songs occupy the two top positions simultaneously.

What was the 1 hit in 2015? ›

"Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars came in at number one, spending a total of fourteen consecutive weeks at the top position of the Billboard Hot 100 during 2015.

The #1 song on the list was "Low" by Flo Rida and T-Pain, after having released the song in 2007 and spent 10 weeks at number-one. The song that came in at number two was "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis and at #3 was Alicia Keys' song "No One", after spending 5 weeks at #1 in December 2007.

Wonder's single "Fingertips" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, at the age of 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart.

The soul singer topped Rihanna, Katy Perry and last year's champ, Lady Gaga to take Billboard's prize.

"Beach Baby" is a song by the British band The First Class. Written by John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare, the song became the band's only substantial hit. The subject of the lyrics is not holiday love, but a broken love relationship between two high school students in Los Angeles in the 1950s.

The oldest artist to hit number one on the Hot 100 is Louis Armstrong in 1964 with ” Hello, Dolly!” at the age of 62. The oldest woman to top the Hot 100 is Cher with “Believe” in 1999 at the age of 53. The youngest artist to hit number one on the Hot 100 is Stevie Wonder in 1963 with ” Fingertips Pt.

The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits of all time: 20. Though unclear for how long, the Beatles still reign supreme as the artist with the most No.

Not one of Led Zeppelin's 16 singles has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

What year had the most 1 hit wonders? ›

The 1980s had the least amount of one-hit wonders, and the 1960s still had the most.

They were one of the most popular and original American alternative bands of the 2000s but before calling it quits, The White Stripes only had one Top 40 single.

The single scored number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for one week and number two in the UK Singles Chart. The song was Basil's only Top 40 success. It was named Number 6 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80's.

With the release of her new album, Billie Eilish has made it to the top once again. Billie Eilish hits home yet again with her new album, Happier than Ever. As the artist who created 2019s number one album, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” Eilish's new release proves she is not a one-hit-wonder.

Pharrell is not a one-hit wonder.

"Take On Me" by A-ha (1984)

While A-ha is definitely not a one-hit wonder in its native country of Norway, the band only had one big hit in the US: "Take On Me" topped the charts in 1985.

Glass Animals is led by Dave Bayley, who is the band's lead singer, main songwriter and producer.

Frontman David Bailey said he was “gutted” to cancel the shows but had no option due to issues with his “vocal cords”. He wrote: “Gutted to say we have to cancel our shows tomorrow and the following day in Madrid and Lisbon. I absolutely hate cancelling shows, but my vocal cords have had it.”

From Wikipedia: 'Gangnam Style' is a Korean neologism that refers to a lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district of Seoul, where people are trendy, hip and exude a certain supposed 'class'.

The moral of the famous “The Fox and The Crow” story is “Never believe flatterers”. In the given story, none of the words said by the fox was genuine, and his only intention was to grab the cheese. The crow believed his sweet words and ended up losing his food.

What is the moral of the story the fox and the crane? ›

The Fox and crane story moral is one should not try to make fun of the other's limitations; and people will treat you the same you treat them.

The two longest running number-one singles of 1980 are "Call Me" by Blondie and "Lady" by Kenny Rogers with each single obtaining six weeks on top of the chart. Every song that went to number one for 1980 stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 over twenty weeks.

The first number-one song of the Billboard Hot 100 was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson, on August 4, 1958.

Al Martino's "Here In My Heart" was the track to Top the first ever chart (Nov 1952) so, technically, this was the first track to debut at Number 1. But ignoring this, the first artist to enter at Number 1 in the established chart was Elvis Presley ("Jailhouse Rock", Jan 1958).

During the early 1960s Checker had thirty more chart hits. Eleven of these reached the top twenty, including a re-release of “The Twist” in 1962 that reached number one and made Checker the only artist to have had the same single song at number one on different releases.

When the track reached No. 1, Stevie became the youngest solo artist to have topped the Billboard Hot 100 – though another future Motown superstar, Michael Jackson, was aged just 11 years 155 days when The Jackson Five's “I Want You Back” topped the Billboard charts in January 1970.

As to be expected, due to his far greater number of total chart entries, Elvis has the advantage over The Beatles in most performance categories. Presley placed 102 titles in Billboard's top 40, while The Beatles had 50 entries that made it that far up the chart.

Who has the most #1 albums? ›