One-hit wonders in the United States

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A one-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon; the combination of artist and song that scores huge in the music industry with one single, but is unable to repeat the achievement. The term can refer to the artist, the song, or both together.

Contents

[edit] Criteria

Billboard magazine journalist Wayne Jancik's book The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders defines a one-hit wonder rather conservatively, as "an act that has won a position on Billboard's national, pop, Top 40 just once." He therefore includes influential performers such as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix solely on the basis of their Top 40 performance on the Billboard Hot 100. In his definition of an "act", Jancik distinguishes between a solo performer and any group he or she may have performed in; thus Roger Daltrey is distinguished from The Who. He restricts his reporting time to the period from the start of the "rock-and-roll era" (defined by the author as 1 January 1955) to 31 December 1992. The latter date was picked to allow a five-year "lag time" before publication for a listed one-hit wonder to produce a second hit; this unfortunately does not allow for a longer hiatus between hits for a particular performer. For example, Lenny Kravitz is listed for "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" (No. 2, August 1991);[1] the book therefore misses subsequent hits, such as "Fly Away", which peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999.

Fred Bronson, a journalist and former writer for Billboard magazine, in his book Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits, uses the criteria that if an artist has another song hitting the Billboard Hot 100, is ineligible to be considered a one-hit wonder[2]; this criteria, however, is not widely accepted by journalists.

[edit] Songs by decade

Each decade of one-hit wonders has a corresponding entry:

[edit] One-hit wonders from other media

Actor Steve Martin scored one Top 40 hit with the song "King Tut", which peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.
Comedian/radio personality Rick Dees scored one Top 40 hit with the song "Disco Duck", which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.

The list of Billboard one-hit wonders also features artists better known for talents other than pop vocals:

Muppeteer Jim Henson hit the Billboard Top 40 twice: as Ernie with "Rubber Duckie" (#16, September 1970),[28] and Kermit the Frog with "The Rainbow Connection" (#25, November 1979)[15]

[edit] "Double one-hit wonders"

Singer Tony Burrows recorded songs with five different one-hit wonder groups.

A number of artists have also been double one-hit wonders, having a hit both with a group and solo.

Singer Tony Burrows may be the most prolific "one-hit wonder" — he sang lead vocals on five singular hits for five groups in the United States:

[edit] Solo career one-hit wonders

Singer Roger Daltrey of music group The Who became a one-hit wonder with his solo hit "Without Your Love", which peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980.
Singer Nick Lachey of music group 98 Degrees became a one-hit wonder with his solo hit "What's Left of Me", which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006.

A number of members of successful bands became one-hit wonders when they went solo:

[edit] Re-recordings of songs by one-hit wonders

Some songs have been solitary hits for different acts, in some cases almost simultaneously on the charts, due to an artist or label trying to "cash in" on the popularity of a particular song.[46] In other cases, a song may be rerecorded as a cover much later, providing a second artist with the same solo hit.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Jancik, Wayne (1998). The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-7622-9
  • Whitburn, Joel (2000). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-7690-3

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Jancik, p487
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Jancik, p28
  4. ^ Jancik, p498
  5. ^ Jancik, p76
  6. ^ Jancik, p363
  7. ^ a b Jancik, p426
  8. ^ a b Jancik, p500
  9. ^ Jancik, p197
  10. ^ Jancik, p177
  11. ^ a b Jancik, p502
  12. ^ Jancik, p237
  13. ^ Billboard Hot 100 - Artist Chart History - Paris Hilton
  14. ^ Jancik, p443
  15. ^ a b Jancik, p503
  16. ^ Jancik, p323
  17. ^ Jancik, p27
  18. ^ Jancik, p504
  19. ^ Jancik, p85
  20. ^ Jancik, p378
  21. ^ Jancik, p411
  22. ^ a b c d e f g Jancik, p505
  23. ^ Jancik, p409
  24. ^ a b Jancik, p507
  25. ^ Jancik, p367
  26. ^ Jancik, p457
  27. ^ Jancik, p448
  28. ^ Jancik, p288
  29. ^ Jancik, p243
  30. ^ Jancik, p403
  31. ^ Jancik, p429
  32. ^ a b Jancik, p501
  33. ^ Jancik, p382
  34. ^ Jancik, p332
  35. ^ Whitburn, p357
  36. ^ Billboard - Artist Chart History - Nick Lachey
  37. ^ Jancik, p419
  38. ^ Whitburn, p417
  39. ^ Jancik, p445
  40. ^ Jancik, p32
  41. ^ Jancik, p358
  42. ^ Jancik, p486
  43. ^ a b Jancik, p508
  44. ^ Jancik, p460
  45. ^ Jancik, p509
  46. ^ Jancik, p12
  47. ^ Jancik, p268
  48. ^ Jancik, p452

[edit] External links

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