Some artists have been described as qualifying as one-hit wonders multiple times. This can occur if a performer is a member of two different groups, each of which had just one hit, or had one hit as a member of a group and one hit as a solo artist. The following are examples:
Stuart Hamblen, American entertainer, released as a solo artist the single "
This Ole House" (1954) and a single with his family as the group Cowboy Church Sunday School, "
Open Up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In)" (1955). In 1957, American duo
Mickey & Sylvia had a hit with their song "
Love Is Strange". By the 1970s,
Sylvia Robinson was a solo act under the alias of Sylvia. Under this name, Sylvia had her first and only solo hit with "
Pillow Talk" in 1973.
Ron Dante, American singer and songwriter, is credited as a one-hit wonder with three different acts. In 1964, Dante appeared in a group called
the Detergents who reached the US Top 20 with their hit "Leader of the Laundromat" (a parody of "
Leader of the Pack"). Five years later, in 1969, Dante appeared in the group
the Cuff Links, who scored a top ten hit with "
Tracy". That same year, Dante was also a member of the fictional band
the Archies who scored a number 1 hit with "
Sugar, Sugar".
Joey Levine, American session singer best known for his prolific work in the
bubblegum pop and commercial
jingle genera, recorded hits for the
Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus's "
Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run)" (1968) and Reunion's "
Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" (September 1974).
Eddy Grant, Guyanese-British singer, had a hit with the English band
the Equals called "
Baby, Come Back" (1968), and as a solo artist for his 1983 song "
Electric Avenue".
Norman Greenbaum, American singer and songwriter, was a member of
Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band, who scored success in 1968 with the novelty song "
The Eggplant That Ate Chicago". Greenbaum would later score a hit single for himself with "
Spirit in the Sky" in 1970. English musician
Tony Burrows sang the lead vocal on five one-hit wonders:
Edison Lighthouse's "
Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" (February 1970);
White Plains' "
My Baby Loves Lovin'" (March 1970);
the Pipkins' "
Gimme Dat Ding" (April 1970);
the First Class' "
Beach Baby" (July 1974); and "
United We Stand" (1970) by the first incarnation of the
Brotherhood of Man. Before he was the lead singer of English supergroup
Bad Company, English-Canadian singer
Paul Rodgers was in the English band
Free, who scored a single US hit in 1970 with the song "
All Right Now". In 1985, while Bad Company was on hiatus, Rodgers was the lead singer of the British band
the Firm who achieved one-off success with "
Radioactive".
Dave Mason, English singer-songwriter, was a member of the English–American
supergroup Derek and the Dominos. In 1972, the group scored a US top ten hit with "
Layla". Despite the song's success, Derek and the Dominoes disbanded. Mason would find some success on his own nearly reaching the US top ten one more time with the 1977 song "
We Just Disagree".
David Foster, acclaimed Canadian record producer, was a member of the Canadian band
Skylark that recorded "
Wildflower" (1973). While he has been involved in numerous hit records as a songwriter or producer, his only hit as a solo artist was the instrumental "
Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire", which reached #15 in 1985.
JD Souther had a #27 hit in 1974 with "Fallin' in Love" as a member of the
Souther–Hillman–Furay Band and a #7 hit in 1979 with "
You're Only Lonely" as a solo artist. The Dwight Twilley Band produced two double one-hit wonders. The Dwight Twilley Band consisted of Americans
Dwight Twilley and
Phil Seymour. The duo scored a hit in 1975 with "
I'm on Fire". After the two split up, they both scored hits as solo artists. Seymour experienced major success as a solo artist first with his 1981 song "Precious to Me". Then, in 1984, Twilley had his turn at solo success with the song "Girls".
Bryan Ferry, English singer and songwriter, was the lead singer of the acclaimed English band
Roxy Music, who, despite their fame, only managed to score one US Top 40 hit with "
Love Is the Drug" in 1976. Ferry scored another hit in 1988 as a solo performer with "
Kiss and Tell".
Chris Norman, an English singer, was the lead singer of the English rock band
Smokie, which achieved chart success with the 1977 hit version of "
Living Next Door to Alice". While Smokie never had another hit in the United States, Norman performed "
Stumblin' In" with
Suzi Quatro a year later and again found chart success. "Stumblin' In" would also be Quatro's only American top-40 hit despite consistent success in the UK, continental Europe, and Australia. (Quatro very narrowly missed the U.S. top 40 three times as a solo artist, peaking three songs between 41 and 45.) Canadian musician
Tom Cochrane was the lead singer of Canadian band
Red Rider, who found fame in 1981 with the song "
Lunatic Fringe". Nearly a decade later, Cochrane managed to score a hit as a solo artist with his 1992 song "
Life Is a Highway". English singer
Limahl sang lead vocals on two US one-hit-wonder songs; the first, "
Too Shy" in 1983, came during his tenure as the frontman of the English group
Kajagoogoo. The next year, he had another hit single as a solo artist with "
The NeverEnding Story", the title track to the film
The NeverEnding Story. The latter song charted at number 17 in May 1985.
Ish Ledesma, American musician, has been a part of several musical groups, two of which became one-hit wonders. In 1983, his American group
OXO reached the charts with "
Whirly Girl". After the group's dissolution, Ledesma formed American group
Company B, who scored their own hit in 1987 with "
Fascinated".
Jimmy Somerville, Scottish vocalist, was the lead singer of two separate groups that are considered one-hit wonders. In 1984, British band
Bronski Beat achieved their only US hit with "
Smalltown Boy". After they disbanded, Somerville became part of the British duo
the Communards who managed to score a Top 40 hit with their version of "
Don't Leave Me This Way" in 1987.
Dan Baird, American singer-songwriter, was lead singer and rhythm guitarist with the American band
the Georgia Satellites, who had the single "
Keep Your Hands to Yourself" (1987); then as a solo artist had the single "I Love You Period" (1993). In 1987, American musician
Brent Bourgeois found success with the song "I Don't Mind At All" in the group
Bourgeois Tagg. Bourgeois also managed to score a hit as a solo artist in 1990 with "Dare to Fall in Love".
Everlast, American rapper, was part of the American hip-hop trio
House of Pain who scored a Top 5 hit with their song "
Jump Around" (1992). After the group split up, Everlast found solo success in 1999 with the hit song "
What It's Like". == List ==