20 one-hit wonders from the 2010s you totally forgot about

Cali Swag District’s career didn’t move much past 2010’s “Teach Me How to Dougie.” The good news is, though, “Teach Me How to Dougie” is still a very popular song in some fans’ eyes, so they might still be making money from the tune. 

If you remember Iyaz, it’s because of his 2010 hit song “Replay.” What might’ve accounted for Iyaz’s quick retreat back into relative obscurity is that many people, upon first listen, thought that “Replay” was sung by Sean Kingston.

Travie McCoy had a few hits earlier in his career with his band, Gym Class Heroes. But his solo work didn’t have quite as much longevity, and “Billionaire” featuring Bruno Mars was the peak of his career. 

Orianthi was branded as an unbelievable talent on the guitar, someone whose skills rivaled Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. While she was undoubtedly a good guitar player, her career definitely didn’t measure up to some of her comps, and her only hit was 2010’s “According to You.” 

While La Roux still has a career overseas, in the United States, she’s only had one hit: 2010’s “Bulletproof.” The song still lives on in the hit film Pitch Perfect, though, so at least La Roux has that. 

“Like a G6” by Far East Movement was a song that everyone was bopping to in 2010. Unfortunately for the band, that’s about all they’re known for now. 2010 was a great year for one-hit wonders, though. 

In pop culture at large, Rebecca Black still has a very niche following. But in music specifically, she’s still just the girl who was inexplicably famous for about a month in 2011 after dropping her hit song “Friday.”

In the early 2010s, artists were churning out song after song about tonight being the night, and no song better encapsulates that era’s vibe than 2011’s “Tonight Tonight” by Hot Chelle Rae. Unfortunately for the band, that was their only hit. 

Gotye ruled 2012 with his hit song “Somebody That I Used to Know.” The song had a catchy beat and a unique sound, and its music video entranced viewers. But once the song fell out of popularity, so did Gotye. 

Grouplove had a moment in 2012 after releasing the hit song “Tongue Tied.” The song played on every radio station, and it was even covered by Glee. The group still makes music, but they haven’t reached any sort of mainstream success like what they had with “Tongue Tied.”

Of Monsters and Men became popular in the United States in 2013 thanks to their song “Little Talks.” And when 2013 was over, so was their popularity here. The group is still popular across the pond, though, and “Little Talks” had a resurgence in the 2020s thanks to TikTok. 

Icona Pop might not be popular anymore, but they’ll always be iconic because their 2013 hit “I Love It” introduced the world to Charli XCX, and she most definitely is not a one-hit wonder. 

A Great Big World became an overnight sensation thanks to its song “Say Something,” a version of which featured Christina Aguilera. The group never reached the heights it did with “Say Something” after 2013, though. 

2014 radio airwaves were dominated by Magic!’s song “Rude.” People absolutely loved it. While the group has steadily released music since then, it hasn’t made any noise in the United States, leaving mainstream music fans of his country to see Magic! as a one-hit wonder. 

Although Walk the Moon is considered a one-hit wonder, the band did one-hit wonder-dom right by writing a song, “Shut Up and Dance,” that has been played at almost every wedding and high school dance in the United States since it became popular in 2015. 

Everyone in 2016 heard the song “7 Years” by Lukas Graham. Even if you didn’t like it, you couldn’t escape it. But eventually, people did escape Graham himself. He’s released more music since then, but nothing has been nearly as successful as his first hit. 

Desiigner is a rapper who became famous in 2016 when his song “Panda” hit the airwaves. Most listeners only knew the eponymous lyric from “Panda,” but that didn’t stop it from overwhelming pop music that year. 

In Latin America, Luis Fonsi is anything but a one-hit wonder. But in the United States, he might be the ultimate one-hit wonder. In 2017, he dropped “Despacito,” and its remix featuring Justin Bieber went on to be one of the most commercially successful songs of all time. Since then, Fonsi hasn’t been heard of in the U.S.

In 2018, whether you were at house parties, tailgating, at a bar, or just thumbing through radio stations, you probably heard Sheck Wes’ “Mo Bamba” and wondered what you were listening to. It was loud, catchy, and kind of confusing, but after 2018, the song and Wes faded from the mainstream. 

Arizona Zervas has released music since 2019, but it hasn’t caught on the way his hit song “Roxanne” did that year. But at least he had success once. It’s more than can be said for many other musicians.