4 Pop Songs That Helped Artists Escape the One-Hit Wonder Curse

Getting sucked into the black hole of becoming a one-hit wonder is no fun; but luckily, these four artists managed to escape the dreaded curse by releasing second chart-topping pop songs. Some of these artists are still quite famous for music that they’ve released in the years since, and it’s all thanks to that curse-breaker second hit. Let’s take a look, shall we?

1. “Play That Funky Music” by Vanilla Ice

We haven’t heard much from Vanilla Ice nowadays, but he did enjoy a fairly successful career in the early 1990s. “Ice Ice Baby” is still his most well-known song, and it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 21 whole weeks in late 1990.

Ice could have slipped into obscurity pretty quickly without a strong follow-up, and his string of luck was stretched further with the release of “Play That Funky Music” just a few months later. That track hit no. 4 on the Hot 100. Two additional hits reached the chart the following year.

2. “Good Time” by Carly Rae Jepsen and Owl City

Owl City may be canceled for good, but this sophomore collaborative hit with Carly Rae Jepsen helped dig the latter pop star out of the “one-hit wonder” hole dug by “Call Me Maybe”.

“Call Me Maybe” was a massive hit in 2012, and it stayed on the charts for 50 weeks; nine of those weeks were spent consistently at no. 1. It’s the kind of bubblegum pop track that one wouldn’t be surprised to learn was the artist’s one-hit wonder claim to fame. Fortunately for Jepsen, “Good Time” was released a few months later and was a Top 8 hit as well. Jepsen is still working on music and touring today, with a handful of Hot 100 tracks under her belt thus far.

3. “Gentleman” by Psy

The grip “Gangnam Style” had on international audiences in 2012 seemed like it was the result of something otherworldly. Few Korean artists managed to hit the Hot 100 like Psy did at the time. That particular song peaked at no. 2 and stayed on the charts for 31 weeks. Americans were obsessed. It could have easily become one of many pop songs to curse its maker as a one-hit wonder.

Fortunately, Psy’s sophomore single “Gentleman” hit the Top 5 the following year and stayed there for 15 weeks. He’s still more or less a Korean darling, but the international charts still love his music. The 2022 song “That That” hit the Hot 100 as well, proving that Psy is much more than a one-hit wonder.

4. “Pocketful Of Sunshine” by Natasha Bedingfield

“Unwritten” was massively popular back in 2005. The song was a breakthrough hit for Natasha Bedingfield and hit no. 5 on the Hot 100, where it stayed for 42 weeks. It was a radio favorite at the time and still is today, more or less.

Luckily, Bedingfield continued to top the charts afterward, starting with “Pocketful Of Sunshine” in 2008. That song did almost as well as “Unwritten”, though it stayed on the charts for less time. She’s since had more lower-ranking hits reach the Hot 100 in 2005, 2007, and 2011.

Photo by Andreas Rentz

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