Being a one-hit wonder is an unfortunate fate, but what’s even worse is being remembered as a one-hit wonder when you legitimately had at least two hits!
Artists like a-ha, Extreme, and Vanilla Ice are all commonly viewed as one-hit wonders, but they had multiple charting hits. We’re here to correct this injustice, by giving some love to the bands that had two notable hits during their chart careers.
Lots of bands and solo artists had only two big hits. The two-hit wonder status touched every genre. We’ve got rappers, alt-rock bands, pop singers, and electronic dance acts.
What’s considered a hit? For the most part, we’ll define a hit as any song that reached the Top 40. But we’re making some exceptions to this rule, which are noted in the text.
We’re ranking these artists not by how high the songs charted, but based on the quality of their two hits, according to our subjective determination.
Let’s count down the 20 biggest two hit wonders in music history. Click the videos to enjoy some music that you might not have heard in many years.
The 20 Best Two Hit Wonders of All-Time
20 John Parr
Naughty Naughty (#23, 1984); St. Elmo’s Fire (#1, 1985)
“St. Elmo’s Fire (Main in Motion)” was one of the most glorious movie songs of the 1980s. Co-written by David Foster, with instrumentation by Toto, and backing vocals from REO Speedwagon and Mr. Mister, the song almost couldn’t miss.
Many listeners aren’t aware that Parr charted the heavier rock song “Naughty Naughty” the year before. Its chant-along chorus powered the track.
19 Fastball
The Way (#5 airplay, 1998); Out of My Head (#20, 1999)
The success of alt-rock band Fastball was incredibly short-lived, but they left us with two gems that unintentionally evoked memories of tv shows.
“The Way” gave Unsolved Mysteries vibes, with a lyrical tale about a couple that disappeared, to go along with an urgent, piano-driven beat. Meanwhile, with its gentle vocal and colorful organ, “Out of My Head” sounded strikingly like a ’70s sitcom theme song.
18 Spin Doctors
Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong (#17, 1992); Two Princes (#7, 1993)
The Spin Doctors were another alternative band with a brief moment in the spotlight. “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” became a Top 20 hit, thanks to airplay on MTV.
That song was catchy enough, but the next single, “Two Princes,” was even bigger, with its “Just go ahead now!” refrain. It’s the Spin Doctors song that is more remembered today.
17 KT Tunstall
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree (#20, 2005); Suddenly I See (#21, 2006)
KT Tunstall’s repeated “woo-hoo!” yelps powered the vibrant hit “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree,” the debut single for the Scottish performer. The sunny “Suddenly I See” created promise that maybe Tunstall could be a strong hitmaker for years to come.
But although she won Best British Female Solo Artist at the BRIT Awards in 2006, Tunstall could never recapture the success of her two hits.
16 Cobra Starship
Good Girls Go Bad (#7, 2009); You Make Me Feel… (#7, 2011)
When pop-punk exploded in the mid-2000s, all the coolest bands were on the Fueled by Ramen label. Cobra Starship were part of that crew, but they stood out from labelmates Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Paramore, and Gym Class Heroes with an electropop sound that emphasized peppy party anthems.
Cobra Starship scored two Top 10 hits in a three-year span, although their best songs were ones that did not chart, like the silly “Snakes on a Plane” theme and the gloriously trashy title track from their album Hot Mess.
15 a-ha
Take on Me (#1, 1985); The Sun Always Shines on TV (#20, 1985)
“Take on Me” is unassailable. It’s simply become one of the most popular songs from the 1980s and still pops up all the time, from karaoke bars to oldies radio stations to episodes of Family Guy.
The forgotten follow-up, “The Sun Always Shines on TV,” reached the Top 20, but isn’t nearly as good, and a-ha never made it back into the Top 40 in the U.S.
14 The KLF
3 am Eternal (#5, 1991); Justified and Ancient (#11, 1992)
Mysterious British electronic group the KLF dominated a genre that came to be known as “stadium house,” an acid house music sound with loud guitars and samples of crowd applause. “3 am Eternal” fit this description and became a surprise hit.
An even bigger surprise was “Justified and Ancient,” a collab with aging country music legend Tammy Wynette. It was the first rap-country collaboration in music history.
In 1992, during a bizarre performance at the BRIT Awards, the KLF announced they were leaving the music business forever — and they did.
13 The Presidents of the United States of America
Lump (#21, 1995); Peaches (#29, 1996)
Seattle-based rock trip the Presidents of the United States of America became MTV and alt-rock radio stars with the back-to-back hits “Lump” and “Peaches.” Both songs ran less than three minutes and included a heavy dose of humor.
“Peaches,” in particular, was complete nonsense, with lines like “Movin’ to the country / Gonna eat me a lot of peaches.” But it earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.
12 Extreme
More Than Words (#1, 1992); Hole Hearted (#4, 1992)
Extreme were put in the awkward position of scoring a massive smash hit with a song that didn’t sound like the rest of their music. The beautiful harmony ballad “More Than Words” topped the charts and made the band a video star.
But the rest of their album had more of a funk-metal sound. They managed a second hit with the album’s other acoustic song, “Hole-Hearted,” but they never charted higher than #95 after that.
11 Suzanne Vega
Luka (#3, 1987); Tom’s Diner (#5, 1990)
Suzanne Vega is a successful singer-songwriter who’s released more than a dozen albums over the years. She likely would’ve ended up a “cult favorite” artist, like Ani DiFranco, except that Vega stumbled into two big pop hits.
The first, “Luka,” was a wrenching tale of child abuse that earned Record and Song of the Year Grammy noms. The second, “Tom’s Diner,” was a remix by DNA that turned an a cappella tale about grabbing coffee at a diner into a dance-floor jam.
10 Neneh Cherry
Buffalo Stance (#3, 1988); Kisses on the Wind (#8, 1989)
It’s a little difficult to include Neneh Cherry on this list, because she’s had a long and fruitful career. But her two biggest hits both came from her debut album, with the flawless funky-pop-dance number “Buffalo Stance” getting to #3, followed by the #8 peak of the “Kisses on the Wind.”
“Buffalo Stance” was 20 years ahead of time. Full of spunk and attitude, it now seems tailor-made for the Best Melodic Rap Performance Grammy category, but that wouldn’t even be created until 2002.
The beautiful, haunting “7 Seconds,” a duet with Youssou N’Dour, got a good amount of VH1 airplay but only reached #98 in 1994.
9 The Rembrandts
Just the Way It Is, Baby (#14, 1990); I’ll Be There for You/This House is Not a Home (#17, 1995)
Four years before the Rembrandts exploded into the mainstream by writing and performing the Friends theme song, they had a modest hit with “Just the Way It Is, Baby,” a straightforward rock song that should’ve charted higher than it did.
The infectious Friends theme song dominated pop radio in 1995, topping the airplay chart for eight weeks. But it was never released as an official single until months later, when it was issued as a Double-A side with “This House is Not a Home,” giving it a misleading official peak position of #17.
8 Vanilla Ice
Ice Ice Baby (#1, 1990); Play That Funky Music (#4, 1991)
Vanilla Ice is often thought of as a one hit wonder because of the massive success of “Ice Ice Baby,” the first rap song ever to hit #1. But Ice almost topped the chart with the follow-up, the Wild Cherry interpolation “Play That Funky Music,” which got to #4.
No matter how much derision these songs received at the time, most people now look back with a sense of nostalgia and realize these are fun songs. MTV diehards may remember that Ice actually had another video that got airplay, the ridiculous rap ballad “I Love You,” which stalled at #52.
7 Men Without Hats
The Safety Dance (#3, 1983); Pop Goes the World (#20, 1987)
“The Safety Dance” is one of the classics of 1980s new wave music, with its catchy synth hook and funny lyrics — Cause your friends don’t dance, and if they don’t dance, well, they’re no friends of mine!
Just when it seemed that Men Without Hats were destined to be one-hit wonders, they returned to the charts with “Pop Goes the World.” In their native Canada, Men Without Hats actually earned six Top 40 singles.
6 Tesla
Love Song (#10, 1989); Signs (#8, 1991)
The hard rock band Tesla had a string of rock radio hits, but only two that broke through to pop radio. The gorgeous rock ballad “Love Song” was an unlikely hit during the hair metal era, crossing over to become a legit smash.
Two years later, Tesla recorded a live acoustic album (not part of the MTV Unplugged series, although it felt like it) and scored with a remake of the Five Man Electrical Band song “Signs.”
5 Blues Traveler
Run-around (#8, 1995); Hook (#23, 1995)
Blues Traveler found its niche in the jam band scene, with frontman John Popper’s recognizable voice and his harmonica playing becoming staples of the band’s sound.
“Run-around” was one of the biggest hits of 1995, spending nearly an entire year (49 weeks!) in the Billboard Hot 100. “Hook” featured rapid-fire lyrics and even more harmonica than “Run-around.”
Blues Traveler are still recording, and even earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album at the Grammys not too long ago. And they’ve had several songs on the AAA (Adult Alternative) charts. But they’ve never returned to the pop music mainstream.
4 Falco
Rock Me Amadeus (#1, 1985); Vienna Calling (#18, 1985)
Most people regard Falco as a one-hit wonder for the chart-topper “Rock Me Amadeus,” the awesomely bizarre tune with rap-sing lyrics about the life of Mozart that landed at #1 in 1985. But he also had a fantastic follow-up song, “Vienna Calling,” that reached the Top 20.
Falco also famously recorded the original version of “Der Kommissar,” but we’re not counting that as a hit since it didn’t chart in the U.S. until it was covered by After the Fire.
3 Tone Loc
Wild Thing (#2, 1988); Funky Cold Medina (#3, 1989)
The most prominent rap artist stuck with the two-hit label is Tone Loc, the L.A. rapper who scored two massive Top 5 hits with “Wild Thing” and “Funky Cold Medina.” He developed a signature sound, with his deep voice and heavy use of electric guitar samples behind his rhymes.
Loc was even the second rap act (after the Beastie Boys) to hit #1 on the album chart. But somehow he never earned another hit, unless you count the anti-violence all-star collab “We’re All in the Same Gang.”
2 Paula Cole
Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? (#8, 1997); I Don’t Wanna Wait (#11, 1997)
Singer-songwriter Paula Cole emerged during the Lilith Fair era and became one of the great one-album wonders in history, with the double-platinum This Fire. Promoted heavily by VH1, lead single “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” became a smash, and the follow-up, “I Don’t Wanna Wait,” also soared to #11 and became the theme to the teen drama Dawson’s Creek.
Cole scooped up a whopping seven Grammy nominations, including a rare nomination for Producer of the Year for a woman. She won Best New Artist and performed on the show. And then she couldn’t recapture that success, and never had even a minor hit for the rest of her career. But her two big hits were both excellent.
1 The Romantics
What I Like About You (#49, 1980); Talking in Your Sleep (#3, 1983)
The Romantics had two Top 40 hits: “Talking in Your Sleep,” and “One in a Million” (#37, 1984). But absolutely no one remembers the latter. The song people do remember is one that just missed the Top 40, “What I Like About You.”
So we’re bending the rules a bit, and counting “What I Like About You” as their second hit. It became their signature song, and remains popular to this day. It ranks as one of the best songs that didn’t reach the Top 40.
The underrated “Talking in Your Sleep” was a shimmering piece of pop-rock gold. Since both hits by the Romantics are certified classics, they earn the top spot on our list of the best two-hit wonders of all-time.
Special Case: Tracy Chapman
Calling Tracy Chapman a two-hit wonder is insulting, because she’s had an incredible career with several outstanding albums. We think she deserves consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in fact. But the stats show that she reached the Top 40 only twice, with the classic “Fast Car” (#6, 1988) and the bluesy “Give Me One Reason” (#3, 1995).
Her self-titled debut album, New Beginning, and Telling Stories are all brilliant albums — go listen to them now! The main purpose of this list is to highlight artists who recorded two big hits, and then largely disappeared from the limelight for good. That’s not Tracy Chapman. So we’re not going to tarnish her legacy by putting her on this list.
Incidentally, that’s the same reason Jimi Hendrix is not considered a one-hit wonder, even though technically, he only scored one Top 40 hit.
Two-Hit Wonders Who Missed the Cut
An extended list of additional two-hit wonders who didn’t quite make our Top 20:
Sixpence None the Richer
Quiet Riot
Crowded House
The Cardigans
Golden Earring
Dead or Alive
Ugly Kid Joe
General Public
Glenn Medeiros
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
Filter
Owl City
LFO
Jesus Jones
Tara Kemp
Snow
Dan Hill
Candlebox
Eve 6
Will to Power
Maxine Nightingale
Artists We Left Off This List Because They Had More Than Two Hits
These artists are sometimes referred to as two-hit wonders, but they all had three (or more) legitimate hits:
Mr. Mister
CeCe Peniston
Cutting Crew
Taio Cruz
Hozier
Simply Red
Psy
Fine Young Cannibals
Terence Trent D’Arby (now known as Sananda Maitreya)
Simple Minds
Europe
Snap!
Wang Chung
Carly Rae Jepsen
Greg Kihn Band
Naked Eyes
Crystal Waters
Kris Kross
Rick Astley
Human League
Escape Club
Sophie B. Hawkins
Sisqo
Mike + the Mechanics
Corey Hart
Animotion
Who is your favorite two hit wonder? Did we miss anyone noteworthy?
Last Updated on August 10, 2026
It’s easy for articles on one or two hit wonders to generate controversy when the criteria or country being considered is not mentioned, and it implies an artist is a one hit wonder when they have about twenty in another country. I was glad to see both were clear in this article.
It’s interesting reading this from a UK perspective as there are some I barely know one song from, and others where the artist was more popular over here.
A quick comparison with the main 20:
#20 John Parr – also a two hit wonder here, but the other hit is “Rock ‘n’ Roll Mercenaries” with Meat Loaf. “Naughty Naughty” only made #58.
#19 Fastball – one hit wonder with “The Way” (#21)
#18 Spin Doctors – four hit wonders; “Two Princes” (#3), “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” (#23), “Jimmy Olsen’s Blues” (#40), “Cleopatra’s Cat” (#29)
#17 KT Tunstall – six hit wonder; “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” (#28), “Other Side of the World” (#13), “Suddenly I See” (#12), “Under the Weather” (#39), “Hold On” (#21), “(Still a) Weirdo” (#39)
#16 Cobra Starship – same, but lower chart positions (#17 & #16)
#15 a-ha – err… 18, so I’m not going to list them all! “The Sun Always Shines on TV” is actually their own UK #1, “Take on Me” making #2. Still getting hits into this millennium.
#14 The KLF – six hit wonder, basically all their releases were top five. This includes “Doctorin’ the Tardis” which was released as The Timelords (#1), “What Time Is Love?” (#5), “3am Eternal” (#1), “Last Train to Trancentral” (#2), “Justified and Ancient” (#2) and “America: What Time Is Love” (#4)
#13 Presidents of the USA – four hit wonder. “Lump” (#15), “Peaches” (#8), “Dune Buggy” (#15), “Mach 5” (#29)
#12 Extreme – eight hit wonder, though no #1s. “More Than Words” was #2, the rest were outside the top ten. Only “Hip Today” didn’t make the top 40 (#44).
#11 Suzanne Vega – five hit wonder, “Marlene on the Wall” (#21), “Left of Centre” (#32), “Luka” (#23), “Tom’s Diner” (DNA feat. Suzanne Vega – #2), “No Cheap Thrill” (#40)
#10 Neneh Cherry – eleven hits, including the #1 “Love Can Build a Bridge” with Cher, Chrissie Hynde & Eric Clapton.
#9 The Rembrandts – one hit wonder with “I’ll Be There for You” (#3 in 1995, also #5 in 1997). So the kind of peak the US version would probably have got if released earlier and standalone.
#8 Vanilla Ice – five hit wonder; “Ice Ice Baby” (#1), “Play That Funky Music” (#10), “Rollin’ in My 5.0” (#27), “Satisfaction” (#22), “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)” with Jedward (#2)
#7 Men without Hats – one hit wonder with “The Safety Dance” (#6)
#6 Tesla – no hits. More well known here as Musk’s car brand.
#5 Blues Traveler – one hit wonder with “Traveler’s Blues” (#34 in 2021) — so I guess they are still recording.
#4 Falco – also a two hit wonder, “Rock Me Amadeus” (#1) & “Vienna Calling” (#10)
#3 Tone Loc – also a two hit wonder, “Wild Thing” (#21) & “Funky Cold Medina” (#13)
#2 Paula Cole – one hit wonder with “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” (#15). “I Don’t Want to Wait” narrowly missed at #43.
#1 The Romantics – no hits.
Oh and Tracy Chapman, only a one hit wonder with “Fast Car” (#4), but yeah, two #1 albums
So in most cases, they did better here (even some American acts), while a few never crossed over the pond at all. On the extended list, a few like the Cardigans (11 hits), Dead or Alive (8 hits), Simply Red (32 hits) & The Human League (17 hits) are worth a mention for being well beyond two hits.
This is great info Andrew. It is cool to compare how these artists fared in different countries. Thanks for sharing!