Great One Hit Wonder Artists of the '90s Bands/Musicians
home Bands/Musicians

Great One Hit Wonder Artists of the '90s By   [150 more lists]

Want to listen to all these songs as a playlist? Switch to "Info View" to get all the videos on one page for easily playability!

Ranked in order of preference for their one big hit song. Clearly, there are going to be a lot of artists who had big singles in the '90s and didn't make my list. Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments, but I'm not putting "How Bizarre" on the list...so don't bother asking...

NOTE: I'm considering an artist a "one-hit wonder" if they had a big breakout single, and then basically faded from mainstream public view. Many of the artists listed below went on to release other singles (even if only from the album that also featured their big breakthrough hit) and other albums, particularly if you include their respective native countries. Some of them have even built up a devoted or cult following over the years. Many of them are still together. But for the purposes of this list, these are all artists who popped up on pop culture's radar between 1990 and 2000 and haven't really been heard from since.

Print Info View 6 Views: 15805    Items: 31
< >
Show:   5   25
Rank   Name
  1. 1
    The Verve formed in 1990 in England and built a considerable fanbase in the UK on the strength of their first few releases. (Lead singer Richard Ashcroft was even friends with Noel Gallagher!) Though they toured America with Lollapalooza in 1994, it wasn't until 3 years later that they found fame in the States with the release of "Bittersweet Symphony." It ended up basically being the worst thing that ever happened to The Verve, and they broke up soon after.

    Though Ashcroft had long swore The Verve would never get back together, they did reunite in 2007 for some shows and a new album, "Forth." Then they broke up again, for good this time. Maybe.
    BUY @ amazon
  2. 2
    A great song that completely stands the test of time intact, "Flagpole Sitta" has become ubiquitous since its initial release on Harvey Danger's 1997 debut, "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" The band had formed in 1992 and kept right on touring and releasing albums until 2009, when they played their final show at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle.
    BUY @ amazon
  3. 3
    Everything about Blind Melon's 1993 single "No Rain" has remained infamous to this day, from the opening guitar riff to Shannon Hoon's distinctive whine to, of course, the video's tap-dancing bee girl. The song came off the band's self-titled debut album, and turned that album into a quadruple-platinum hit. Nevertheless, the band wouldn't release another memorable single. While touring in support of their second release, "Soup," in 1995, Hoon was found dead of a cocaine overdose. The group disbanded in 1999 after failing to find a suitable replacement singer.
    BUY @ amazon
  4. 4
    Toadies' 1994 song ""Possum Kingdom"" is seriously messed up. What the hell is this song even about? It's just a bunch of cryptic, creepy lines about taking someone behind the boat house and showing them your ""dark secret,"" then it ends with lead singer Todd Lewis yelling ""Do you want to die!"" It's like a musical Thomas Harris novel.

    Nevertheless, the song made it to #4 on Billboard's ""Modern Rock"" list and brought no small amount of attention to the band's ""Rubberneck"" album. (It later made it into the video game ""Guitar Hero II,"" where you're probably concentrating on the buttons and not the lyrics anyway.)
    BUY @ amazon
  5. 5
    Few musical moments are more "90s" than the chorus of "What's Up?," from 4 Non Blondes 1992 debut album "Bigger, Better, Faster, More!" Impressive considering it's essentially just singer Linda Perry singing the word "Hey." 2 years later, Perry left the band to pursue a solo career. That didn't exactly play out, but she wound up becoming a massively successful songwriter for other artists, writing "Beautiful" for Christina Aguilera, "What You Waiting For" for Gwen Stefani among others.
    BUY @ amazon

Showing items 1 - 5 of 31

Post a Comment

my comment is about
Name or :
Get a new challenge Get an audio challenge Help
Incorrect please try again
Post!
Show Comments About:  
  1. JesusAlonso
    Great One Hit Wonder Artists of the '90s at 2/08/2012 8:01 AM
    didn't know that James song, but James had in "Seven" one of the best albums I've ever heard. Check out "Born of Frustration" or "Sound", for example.
  2. Lons [List Creator]
    Eels at 4/26/2011 6:26 PM
    It's a good song, and it made it to #11 on the UK Singles Chart...but never managed to find independent success stateside. Oh well...
  3. The Doctor
    Eels at 4/26/2011 5:21 PM
    I know this band for one song, and it wasn't what you are calling their one hit. Mr. E's Beautiful Blues from the Road Trip Soundtrack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZFLmhFn0mg
  4. shawn
    Great One Hit Wonder Artists of the '90s at 4/25/2011 3:43 AM
    i loved laid lol
  5. Clark Benson
    Crash Test Dummies at 4/17/2011 11:43 AM
    they did have one semi-hit circa 1991 as well - it got decent airplay in chicago at least when i lived there. "Superman's Song" - actually quite a good song though also with a bit of a novelty / easy to get sick of slant
  6. Clark Benson
    Toadies at 4/17/2011 11:39 AM
    while they totally deserve to be on this list as they only had one hit, I also really like the record they put out around 2001 or so.

make your votes count more

    register and your vote counts 2X register without facebook
    iPad users, go Landscape for the best experience!