A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.
Characteristics
Some one-hit wonders are the result of novelty songs during fads. Examples include Rick Dees’ "Disco Duck", related to the disco craze of the 1970s; C. W. McCall's "Convoy", related to the CB radio craze of the 1970s; and Buckner & Garcia’s "Pac-Man Fever", related to the 1980s-era arcade game Pac-Man .
Some artists, such as Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, had their careers cut short by death, while others, such as New Radicals and The La's, broke up immediately after their one hit. More commonly, however, one-hit wonders are serious-minded musicians who struggled to continue their success after their popularity waned.
Because one-hit wonders are popular for only a brief time, their hits often have nostalgic value and are featured on era-centric compilations and soundtracks to period films. One-hit wonders are normal in any era of pop music, but are most common during reigns of entire genres that do not last for more than a few years, such as disco, new wave and grunge.
Though the term is sometimes used in a derogatory manner, some fans often have a great passion for these songs and the artists who created them. Some one-hit wonder artists have embraced this following openly, while others distance themselves from their hit in an attempt to craft successful songs with different sounds, or embark on new careers as songwriters (such as Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes and Gregg Alexander of New Radicals), recording industry executives (such as Gerardo), or even game show hosts (such as Chuck Woolery of The Avant-Garde). One-hit artists who possess a significant legacy of music outside of the singles world (e.g. or Buffy Sainte-Marie with Illuminations ) may however distance themselves severely from their hit single ("Mister Can't You See") as they are likely to feel their hit in no way represents what they stand for.
Questions of definition
Most American music industry insiders consider a song in the top forty positions of the Billboard Hot 100 to be a hit. Thus, any performer who recorded only one song that reached the Top 40 is, technically, a one-hit wonder. However, the term is more generally applied to musicians best known for only one song.
Wayne Jancik's book The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders (Billboard Books, 1998) 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 such performers as Janis Joplin (for "Me and Bobby McGee") or Jimi Hendrix (for "All Along the Watchtower"), solely on the basis of their Top 40 performance. 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); the book therefore misses subsequent hits, such as "Fly Away", which peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1999.
In the United Kingdom, the term one-hit wonder is used to describe a singer or band who had only one hit reach the Top 75 on the UK Singles Chart. The term was first used by the Guinness Book of Hit Singles from the 1970s, and originally referred strictly to those artists whose first chart action was: "a number one hit, and then nothing else, ever." This is now commonly known as a "true" one hit wonder.
Below is a list of some criteria that also affect a performer's status as a one-hit wonder:
- There are many acts who earned a single Billboard Top 40 hit, but who are not typically classified as one-hit wonders due to other successes. Jancik, however, includes many of these artists, as they fall within his strict definition as a single act with a single top-40 placement. For example:
- album or even concert ticket sales: e.g. Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Rush, and Garth Brooks (whose only Billboard Top 40 hit was in his Chris Gaines persona)
- success on other, genre-specific charts: e.g. Snow Patrol, Incubus, The Lightning Seeds, KoRn, Queen Latifah, The Prodigy, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Weezer, blink-182, and System of a Down
- critical acclaim: e.g. Spirit, Randy Newman, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The White Stripes, The Church, Amy Winehouse, Beck, and Marshall Crenshaw
- strong fan followings: e.g. Rush, Frank Zappa, Grateful Dead, Faith No More, and Queensrÿche
- influence on other musicians: e.g. Jimi Hendrix, Rush, Lou Reed (with The Velvet Underground), Janis Joplin, Devo, Iggy Pop (with The Stooges), and Bo Diddley
- success as a songwriter or producer: e.g. Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mickey Newbury, J. J. Cale, Norman Smith, and McFadden & Whitehead
- Some artists, including Livin' Joy, Wall of Voodoo, and Modern English, never had a top-40 pop hit, but did have a song that received considerable airplay, even long after its day of release.
- Many popular British artists like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Right Said Fred, The Verve, BBMak, All Saints, Billie Piper, Busted, and Take That are considered one-hit wonders in the US, although they have many hits in their native UK. Similarly, US bands They Might Be Giants, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Blue Oyster Cult are one-hit wonders in the UK but not in their native US. Conversely, two British bands, Wang Chung and Breathe, as well as the Anglo-Australian duo Air Supply, are one-hit wonders in the UK but not in the US.
- Prominent members of popular groups who have only one solo hit typically are not seen as one-hit wonders. Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian, The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, and Michael Nesmith of The Monkees each achieved chart success only once as solo artists, but are all well-known for their contributions to music through their respective bands. Nesmith is also famous for creating Pop Clips , a concept that others would eventually turn into MTV.
- Conversely, groups led by popular solo artists are usually not called one-hit wonders. Derek and the Dominos' sole hit "Layla" is associated with group leader Eric Clapton, who had great success and fame before and after the Dominos.
- Performers who have consistent success in one part of the world but who are known for only one song outside that region are usually considered one-hit wonders in the latter. Austria's Falco and Germany’s Nena were very successful in German-speaking countries, and Canada's Tom Cochrane has had similar success in his homeland, but all are considered one-hit wonders in the US and UK.
- A small number of artists have the distinction of being regarded as one-hit wonders in both the US and UK, but with different songs. American husband and wife duo Art and Dotty Todd scored a hit in the UK with "Broken Wings" in 1953, but did not make it to the top forty in their homeland until "Chanson D'Amour (Song of Love)" in 1958. Rock band The Icicle Works' sole UK top 50 hit was 1983's "Love Is a Wonderful Colour"; however, in North America, their only top 40 entry was "Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)" in 1984. Another group, After the Fire, had their sole UK Top 40 hit with their debut single, 1979's "One Rule for You" and their sole US Top 40 hit with one of their final singles, 1982's "Der Kommissar" (an English-language cover of a German-language hit by the aforementioned Falco).
- Performers who are successful in specific genres, but produce only one crossover hit, are generally considered one-hit wonders by the public at large, but not by fans of their respective genres. Celtic music singer Loreena McKennitt and Christian rock group Jars of Clay are popular within their respective genres, but known to the greater public for a single song each. Similar situations are common among crossover country artists and hair metal groups.
- Performers who had more than one Top 40 hit are sometimes considered one-hit wonders, if one signature song greatly overshadows the rest of their repertoire. a-ha’s "Take on Me" made the top 10 of VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders , even though the group had two Billboard Top 20 singles: "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV". However, "Take On Me" is much more remembered today, at least in the US (note that "The Sun Always Shines on TV" was a #1 hit in the UK: higher than "Take on Me"). Similarly, Great White is sometimes called a one-hit wonder for "Once Bitten Twice Shy", but "The Angel Song" was also a Top 40 hit. Furthermore, the band had several songs that charted under the Top 40 but did well on genre-specific charts that were quite popular among fans of the hair metal and hard rock genres. Strawberry Alarm Clock's #1 "Incense and Peppermints" so overshadowed their #23 "Tomorrow" that they are often considered a one-hit wonder. The same applies for Falco in the US; his #1 "Rock Me Amadeus" greatly overshadowed its #18 follow-up single "Vienna Calling" in that country. The same is true for German singer Peter Schilling whose international hit "Major Tom (Coming Home)" vastly overshadowed the album it was released on and the titular single from it, "Diff
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