11 Surprising One-Hit Wonders

We all love Norah Jones, but she's still on this list
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2010 8:42 AM CDT
11 Surprising One-Hit Wonders
This is a 1970 photo of Jimi Hendrix performing on the Isle of Wight in England.   (AP Photo/FILE)

You would never guess, but Jimi Hendrix was technically a one-hit wonder. Yep, the definition of the term is “an artist or band who only has one song make the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart,” regardless of album sales or performance on other charts, writes Sam Greenspan. He goes on to list 10 more very surprising one-hit wonders on 11points.com:

  • Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey”: “Go figure—an eternally loyal army of hippies doesn't translate into huge financial returns.”
  • Garth Brooks, “Lost in You”: His “only top 40 single was from that rock album he made under the pseudonym ‘Chris Gaines.’ No song actually attributed to Garth Brooks has ever made the top 40. Ouch.”

  • Weezer, “Beverly Hills”: “And yet, if I walked up to 90% of people I've ever known and said, ‘You take your car to work...’ they'd respond, ‘I'll take my board.’”
  • Blink-182, “All the Small Things”: Even though “there was a point where they had a song in every single teen or college comedy movie that came out for like an eight-year span.”
  • Norah Jones, “Don’t Know Why”: “We're rapidly coming up on the ten-year anniversary of when people were just crapping themselves left and right over Norah Jones,” but no other singles really scored.
For the complete list, click here. (More one-hit wonders stories.)

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