Audio by Andrew Aguiniga
After that first groovy riff hits and the iconic drawn-out “hey, do it now,” almost anyone can identify the song “Play That Funky Music.” But can you name who it’s by? Or where they went after their 15 minutes of funk?
That’s the bittersweet fate of the one-hit wonder: artists who crash the charts, soundtrack a summer, then disappear as fast as they arrived. When the hype fades away and the next hit rolls in, the artist falls under the radar, immortalized only by their one track that keeps people dancing. But what turns an artist from chart-topping fame to a trivia night answer?
The career of a one-hit wonder begins the same as any artist. Whether it’s their debut or a random single that suddenly gains traction, a song becomes a hit, and for a brief moment, they’re in the spotlight. From there, their career might either take off, giving them adequate time to establish themselves as a named artist. However, for the less lucky, this fame is short-lived and they never have a song that reaches that level of commercial success again. While their hit lives on, listeners don’t remember their name. They earn the title of a one-hit wonder.
PJ Bloom, music supervisor and the owner and founder of Rogue Music Group, also makes the point that some artists’ status changes over time.
“History may categorize an artist as a one-hit wonder for a finite period of time. An artist could have another hit much later in their career. In this case, they were a one-hit wonder, then they’re not,” Bloom said.
Bloom gives the example of Nena, the artist behind “99 Luftbaloons” from 1983. The song was her only hit, until 20 years later she was back in the buzz with “Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime.” While the hit was smaller, it could arguably remove her from the one-hit category, showing the nuance that comes with the title.
The 1990s were a golden era for one-hit wonders. Before algorithms and trends were able to dictate what went big, success came with MTV exposure, radio play and sheer luck. Some notable hits include “Macarena” by Los del Río, “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus, “There She Goes” by The La’s and “I Wish” by Skee-Lo. These artists captured lightning in a bottle, never seeming to replicate it. Or did they?
Many artists widely regarded as one-hit wonders continue to make music long after their initial breakout. Blind Melon, for instance, is thought of as a one-hit wonder by many due to their 1993 song “No Rain.” The sunny, bittersweet ‘90s anthem accompanied their iconic bee girl music video is classic sing-along. However, the band’s discography stretches far beyond that one moment. The rest of their music is more gritty and grunge, ignoring the pop-like polish of their biggest hit. They’ve made multiple albums and actually have quite the following despite their widespread reputation.
Similarly, Marcy Playground, best known for the chart success “Sex and Candy,” went on to produce five studio albums, their most recent in 2012. Much of their other music is more surreal and introspective storytelling, marked by frontman John Wozniak’s hazy, dreamlike lyrics. Their story highlights a common truth among one-hit wonders; sometimes the breakout single doesn’t define the artist’s real sound, it just happens to be the one the world wanted at the time.
Meanwhile, Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” briefly turned a group of activists into stadium sensations. When the world moved on, the band quietly returned to political folk music, content to let their brief brush with fame fade.
While the one-hit wonders of past decades relied on radio play and MTV rotations to find fame, today’s artists navigate an entirely different landscape.
Bloom states that at this point in time, the internet is the “single largest point of music discovery.”
“Nowadays, a significantly smaller audience can drive a song to hit status than could have done pre-internet,” Bloom said. “Today, a song could be defined as a hit if it finds success on a singular platform like TikTok, even when it’s not successful on other platforms.”
This has made one-time viral success stories more common than ever.
Another difference is in the speed. In the 1990s, a hit might dominate for months. Now, songs can trend for just a few days. The 15 minutes of fame have become 15 seconds of virality. On TikTok, songs are often remembered less for who made them and more for the trend they are associated with. Many become labeled as “that song from TikTok,” separating the music not just from the artist’s name, but from an artist altogether.
TikTok’s influence on music allows it to breathe new life into songs from decades past. An example is Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” which became a massive hit again nearly 40 years later, after it was featured on “Stranger Things” and started trending across TikTok. While not generally considered a one-hit wonder, Kate Bush was able to find a whole new audience years after her time in the spotlight.
For the artists, it can serve as an unexpected encore, giving them renewed relevance and even new fans decades after their supposed “one hit” moment.
While some artists may not have gotten the recognition they deserved, the fate of being a one-hit wonder isn’t inherently negative. Maybe they did their job just right; they gave us a song that lasted forever, even if their fame didn’t.
