The music industry describes an artist known primarily for a sole hit single as a “One-hit Wonder.”
The generally accepted criterion for an artist to receive this classification in the U.S. is a hit song which reached the top 40 in the national singles chart known as the Billboard Hot 100.
Other factors, such as success overseas, hit songs on specific genre charts, critical acclaim, or general influence in the industry, are not taken into account.
During the 1990s some 327 artists managed to get one hit song into the Billboard Hot 100. An essential requirement for inclusion was that the song must have been released as a physical single, and was not, for example, simply an album track.
Our LifeDaily team chose its favorite 25 songs from the huge selection of One-hit Wonders available, and here they are:
- The Impression That I Get – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
- Feed The Tree – Belly
- What Is Love – Haddaway
- Walking In Memphis – Marc Cohn
- Legend Of A Cowgirl – Imani Coppola
- Good Vibrations – Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch
- Steal My Sunshine – Len
- Unbelievable – EMF
- Informer – Snow
- Jump – Kris Kross
- No Rain – Blind Melon
- Rump Shaker – Wreckx-N-Effect
- Cotton Eye Joe – Rednex
- The Humpty Dance – Digital Underground
- You Get What You Give – New Radicals
- One Of Us – Joan Osborne
- Jump Around – House Of Pain
- Barely Breathing – Duncan Sheik
- Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice
- Closing Time – Semisonic
- Tubthumping – Chumbawamba
- Macarena – Los Del Rio
- Rico Suave – Gerardo
- I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred
- Baby Got Back – Sir Mix-A-Lot
Do you remember any of these One-hit Wonders?
Which is YOUR favorite, or do you have other songs you would prefer?
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