One-hit wonders get a bad rap. After all, countless musical acts spend their entire careers in search of a single Top 40 song.
Fewer still are lucky enough to become one-hit wonders more than once. This is distinct from two-hit wonders, where the same artist climbs the Billboard charts again. Instead, they made multiple appearances on the official Billboard Top 40, with different bands or also as a solo act.
Several notable figures have gotten close. Dave Mason almost reached the Top 10 with 1977’s “We Just Disagree” after playing early sessions and the first concert by Derek and the Dominos. By the time “Layla” hit, however, Mason was long gone. Tom Cochrane created a No. 6 solo smash in 1991 with “Life is a Highway” after leading Red Rider on “Lunatic Fringe.” But that 1981 classic-rock radio staple somehow never reached the Billboard Top 40.
READ MORE: 40 Biggest One-Hit Wonders
Patty Smythe only had one hit with Scandal, 1984’s No. 7 smash “The Warrior,” before soaring to No. 2 in 1992 with “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough,” a duet with Don Henley. Many forget, however, that Smythe’s follow-up solo single “No Mistakes” also reached the Top 40.
Oddest of all might be Benny Mardones, who was also a repeat one-hit wonder – but with the same song. “Into The Night” rose to No. 11 in 1980 and then returned to the charts as a No. 20 hit in 1989.
Still, as the following list of 10 Multiple One-Hit Wonders shows, others seemed to have a knack for out-of-the-blue earworms. One of them scored a lone group hit and then a lone solo hit in successive years. A pair of singers sang on the only high-charting singles from two different acts in the same year – and one was part of an unbelievable five stand-alone Top 40 songs.
Here’s a look back at 10 Multiple One-Hit Wonders:
No. 10. DAN BAIRD
Georgia Satellites
YouTube / Countdown
Dan Baird was frontman as the Georgia Satellites soared to No. 2 with their debut single “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” in 1987. They never got any higher than No. 45 afterward. Baird left in 1990 and hit three years later as a solo artist with the No. 26 single “I Love You Period.”
No. 9. RON DANTE
The Archies / The Cuff Links
YouTube / PS Cesar
The Archies were a studio invention created around singer Ron Dante by writers and producers Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss. When the “band” reached No. 1 with “Sugar Sugar” in the summer of 1969, Vance and Pockriss created another mock group called the Cuff Links. Dante sang the calorie-free “Tracy” into the Top 10 that October amid very, very different sounds: At the top of the charts, the Temptations‘ tough R&B hit “I Can’t Get Next To You” was spending its second week at No. 1.
No. 8. LIMAHL
Kajagoogoo
Daily Express / Hulton Archive, Getty Images
Limahl sang lead vocal on two one-hit wonders: Kajagoogoo’s debut single “Too Shy” went to No. 5 on the Billboard singles chart in the summer of 1983. In September of the following year, Limahl released “The NeverEnding Story,” a No. 17 solo hit that served as the title song for a contemporary film.
No. 7. TONY BURROWS
Edison Lighthouse / Brotherhood of Man
YouTube / Demon Music Group
Tony Burrows got off to a fast start in 1970, scoring one-off hits with the Brotherhood of Man’s No. 13 single “United We Stand” in January and then with Edison Lighthouse’s No. 5 smash “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” in February. He wasn’t done. Burrows then sang the White Plains’ “My Baby Loves Lovin'” to No. 13 in June and the Pipkins’ novelty song “Gimme Dat Ding” to No. 9 in July. Incredibly, that’s Burrows on the First Class’ October 1974 one-hit wonder “Beach Baby,” too.
No. 6. PHIL SEYMOUR
Dwight Twilley Band
YouTube / Awards Show Network
Phil Seymour and Dwight Tilley arrived in Los Angeles from their native Oklahoma in 1974 calling themselves Oister before a label rep suggested a name change to the Dwight Twilley Band. They reached the Top 20 together with 1975’s “I’m on Fire,” but by 1977 the increasingly overlooked Seymour was gone. He re-emerged on the charts in 1981, peaking under his own name at No. 22 with “Precious to Me.”
No. 5. JAY FERGUSON
Jo Jo Gunne / Spirit
YouTube / TopPop
Jay Ferguson is probably best remembered for 1977’s Top 10 smash “Thunder Island” but he also had another low-charting solo hit in 1979 with “Shakedown Cruise.” His one-hit wonders were with earlier groups. First, he helped Spirit to their best chart finish when they reached No. 25 with “I Got a Line on You” in 1968. Ferguson then became a two-time one-hit wonder in 1972 as Jo Jo Gunne nearly matched his previous high with the No. 27 single “Run Run Run.”
No. 4. DWIGHT TWILLEY
Dwight Twilley Band
YouTube / Awards Show Network
Dwight Twilley should have had more momentum in the wake of his split with Phil Seymour, considering they’d hit in 1975 with “I’m on Fire” as the Dwight Tilley Band. But his lone solo hit arrived three years after Seymour’s when “Girls” reached No. 16 (with some help from Tom Petty) in 1984.
No. 3. JD SOUTHER
Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
Koh Hasebe / Shinko Music, Getty Images
JD Souther’s only solo hit was “You’re Only Lonely,” which got to No. 7 in 1979. By then, he’d already co-written a slew of Eagles songs, while also reaching No. 27 in 1974 with “Fallin’ in Love” alongside members of the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield in the the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band.
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No. 2. BRYAN FERRY
Roxy Music
Keystone, Getty Images
Bryan Ferry somehow only managed one Top 40 hit – 1976’s “Love is the Drug” – with Roxy Music. He’d have to wait more than a decade to score his lone solo smash with 1988’s “Kiss and Tell.” They had remarkably similar chart runs: Ferry got to No. 30 the first time and No. 31 the second.
No. 1. PAUL RODGERS
Free / The Firm
Hulton Archive, Getty Images
Before he was the lead singer of Bad Company, Paul Rodgers fronted Free for their only high-charting song, 1970’s No. 4 smash “All Right Now.” He scored another one-hit wonder with the Firm in 1985, while Bad Company was on hiatus, with the No. 28 single “Radioactive.” Despite superstar help from Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, the Firm never got higher than No. 61 again.
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