20 notable bands & artists that faded after starting strong

Considered by some critics in the mid-1960s as "the next Beatles," these Welsh power-poppers were the first band signed by the Fab Four's Apple label in 1968. Though the group enjoyed worldwide success with hits "Come and Get It," "No Matter What" (1970), "Day After Day" (1971), and "Baby Blue" (1972), financial and legal issues consistently plagued the band following Apple's demise. Sadly, vocalist Pete Ham took his own life in 1975, as did guitarist/bassist Tom Evans in '83. Drummer Mike Gibbins died of a brain aneurysm in 2005. Guitarist Joey Molland, as the only surviving member of the classic lineup, passed away in March 2025.

Candlebox hailed from Seattle, and part of a second wave of grunge that was more commercial- and pop-tinged. The band's self-titled debut from 1993 went quadruple platinum, thanks to singles "You" and "Far Behind." Two more albums followed in the '90s, but by 2000 the group had disbanded. It returned in the late 2000s, and has released albums somewhat regularly, but never to the level of that first record.

American "mod" wannabes with a power pop sound, The Click Five burst onto the scene with the debut Greetings from Imrie House (2005), which reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and earned plenty of popular acclaim from fans of the younger persuasion. However, by 2010, after releasing a total of three albums, The Click Five was history. It wasn't until 2025 that the group got back together, but by then plenty had forgotten about them.

Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby (1987) might be one of the great debut albums of all time. It featured hits like "Wishing Well," "Sign Your Name," "Dance Little Sister" and "If You Let Me Stay." The record should have been a springboard to success for the New York City crooner, but D'Arby never replicated the magic, nor even came close. He's since released four more albums and changed his name to Sananda Maitreya.

From England, The Darkness hit the ground running with its first two releases Permission to Land (2003) and One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back (2005). These rockers, who helped revive the glam movement, then broke up and weren't heard from again until 2012's Hot Cakes. The Darkness has made a nice comeback, with eight studio albums in the books, however, the critical belief is that it could have been massively huge if not for its own self-destruction.

A huge presence on the post-punk revival, with a healthy dose of dance pop and indie credibility, Scotland's Franz Ferdinand earned Grammy nominations for its first two records: Franz Ferdinand (2004) and You Could Have It So Much Better (2005). Then, after some time off, the band didn't put another record out until 2009. Its subsequent works have never come close to living up to the level of acclaim those first two albums garnered, which tended to see the band's overall notoriety wane.

In 1992, Gin Blossoms' second studio album (but first major-label release) New Miserable Experience (1992) dropped, and thanks to hits "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You," it earned multi-platinum status. Four years later, follow-up Congratulations I'm Sorry was also successful. One year later, Gin Blossoms had broken up and everything  its members achieved in a rather short time had been left in the past. Now, Gin Blossoms has resurfaced via various lineups and the classic stuff is still popular, but one might wonder what could have been had it kept going in the mid-to-late 1990s.

Singer-songwriter Greenbaum had four songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S during his career. So maybe he's not a true one-hit wonder. However, only 1969's "Spirit in the Sky" made it into the top 45, peaking at No. 3. More than 50 years after its release, "Spirit in the Sky" is still a classic rock favorite, but Greenbaum released just three solo studio records from 1969-72 before leaving the music business altogether, and never replicated the magic of that singular hit.

During the 1980s, The Hőoteŗs enjoyed some established success with hits like "All You Zombies," "Day by Day" and "And We Danced" in America. Though the band played Live Aid in its native Philadelphia, that portion of its success was short-lived. However, the single "Satellite," from 1987's One Way Home, proved to be a major hit in Europe, eventually leading the band to begin years of touring the continent.  

"My Sharona" is one of the great pop rock songs of all time — and likely the only song most rock fans remember from The Knack. It was off the band's 1979 debut record Get the Knack (1979). The group released two more albums through 1981, then disbanded the following year. It got back together for some work in the 1990s and even this century, but try to find a fan who knows about that, or any other songs from that later era.

In America, Mr. Big was a rather unknown until the No. 1 acoustic ballad "To Be with You," from its second record Lean Into It (1991) went on to dominate the charts in a dozen countries. The hit helped ignite and further the unplugged music craze that consumed the first half of the 1990s. However, since the band was formed in late 1980s, and has featured rock veterans in singer Eric Martin, unheralded guitarist Paul Gilbert and all-encompassing bassist Billy Sheehan, it never enjoyed any real U.S. success, other than that three-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1992.

Fronted by late crooner Eric Carmen, the Raspberries were a pop rock outfit that made the girls swoon, though they remained under the radar to most of the world. The band's biggest hits "Go All the Way" and "I Wanna Be with You" remain some brilliant pop rock. However, Carmen's bluesy vocals added plenty of credibility that should have allowed the group to earn more mainstream success, but after releasing four studio albums from 1972-74, the Raspberries were done. They did get back together for a reunion tour in the mid-2000s.

Florida rock outfit Saigon Kick already had one album under its belt when The Lizard came out in 1992. It featured the acoustic hit "Love is on the Way," which brought the group notoriety as part of the stripped-down, unplugged phase in rock of the early-to-mid 1990s. However, that blip was about it for Saigon Kick's brief taste of mainstream success. Even though the band has released five more albums since, they've come out in total obscurity. 

The Sex Pistols were the epitome of rebellion and anti-establishment attitude — at least publicly. The band helped usher in the punk movement in the United Kingdom and did not care who was ticked off in the process. Of course, that was the point. The Pistols recorded just one studio album, the legendary Never Mind the Bőllocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977), as inner strife and an overabundance of dysfunction (notably due to Rotten's actions) torpedoed the band just as it seemed to be ready to dominate the scene. But the Pistols still gave a massive middle finger to the establishment, and were one of the most influential rock bands — of any subgenre — in music history.

In 1995, diminutive rapper Skee-Lo had a breakout hit with "I Wish," which was also the title of his debut record. The song, which self-deprecatingly mocked his small stature, was quite catchy and earned him two Grammy Award nominations. However, he left the business and didn't record another record until 2001. Skee-Lo then went on another long hiatus before releasing his third and final studio album in 2012.

There was a lot going on with New York City's Soul Coughing in terms of overall sound (alternative rock, jazz, hip hop, experimental). But fans dug it out of the gate, with three albums from 1994-98. Critics praised the band for its creative, if not complex, sound, yet after 1998's El Oso, Soul Coughing was done, even with a rather devoted fan base and a cult-like following. It did reunite in 2024, but no new music has been released.

Back in 1991, Spin Doctors were all the rage, notably on college campuses, and thanks to MTV continuously playing breakout favorites "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" and "Two Princes" from the debut record Pocket Full of Kryptonite. Fueled with alternative pop and some decent funk, the record received Grammy consideration. However, by the time the group released its 1994 follow-up Turn It Upside Down, Spin Doctors was essentially a forgotten commodity. Though it has released seven studio albums, the first remains the most noteworthy.

Let's preface that Squier dropped out of mainstream ear shot, essentially after 1984, but never stopped recording music for soundtracks, commercials and video games. But his second and third records, Don't Say No (1981) and Emotions in Motion (1982) are two of the biggest releases in mainstream rock history, spawning such classic AM/FM rock radio hits as "In the Dark," "The Stroke," "My Kinda Lover," Lonely Is the Night," "Everybody Wants You" and "Emotions in Motion."

While The Stone Roses didn't garner the consistent mainstream success like other English bands of the time and after, they're widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the "Madchester" sound scene. From the working-class town of Manchester, the Roses excelled in mixing rock with the alternative//indie — and even some dance — sound. The band's self-titled 1989 debut is regarded as one of the greatest English albums ever. Yet, the band's next, and only other album, Second Coming, was released in 1994 to mixed reviews after years of legal issues with their former record label.

Another band that fell victim to the death of hair/glam metal in the early 1990s. Out of New Jersey, Trixter enjoyed immediate success with its self-titled debut album from 1990, thanks to the hit "Give It to Me Good"; it would crack the top 30 in.the U.S. Two years later, follow-up LP Hear! failed to crack the top 100 and after a third release in 1994, Trixter had fallen by the wayside. After years of the members doing their own thing, Trixter stalwarts Steve Brown and P.J. Farley have revived the band for club and throwback festival dates.