The 20 best '90s one-hit wonders

By the way, we’re going chronologically. In 1990, hip-hop was still nascent, at least in the larger music market, and songs that would emerge were often, well, gimmicky. Like a white guy named Vanilla Ice. Or a joke rapper who croons his own hook off-key. Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” is lyrically simple, and the Biz was not known for his flow. However, “Just a Friend” is fun. It’s silly, and the Biz says, “Oh snap!” Goofy songs make for the perfect one-hit wonders.

Digital Underground was quite influential in the early days of hip-hop; they gave Tupac Shakur his big break, and…their one hit was a joke song built around Shock G’s alter ego, Humpty Hump. Sporting an obviously fake nose and wild attire, Humpty was an oddball character Shock G used to deliver some of his sillier lyrics. That being said, there are some genuinely funny lines in “The Humpty Dance,” and it still entertains us.

Hope you don’t get whiplash as we pivot from the oh-so-silly Humpty Hump to the too-serious-for-her-own-good Sinead O’Connor. The late O’Connor was troubled, to be sure, mixing together moments of social triumph with statements that marred her legacy. A complicated, real human being, one might say, who also happened to have a great voice. “Nothing Compares 2 U” was a cover; originally, the song was written by Prince, but it then, now, and forever belongs to Sinéad thanks to this version, a genuinely incredible vocal performance.

Getting even one hit as a house music band is impressive enough. “Groove is in the Heart” is the first single from the first album by Deee-Lite, and it just screams “Early ‘90s dance club.” The band had two DJs, and the frontwoman was named Lady Miss Kier. This song rips, but getting fans to dive into the world of dance club music was always going to be a tough sell.

4 Non Blondes is a silly name for a band, and Linda Perry dressed ridiculously, and it’s fun to do an impression of her singing the chorus of “What’s Up?” You know why that’s fun to do, though? Because it’s an earworm of a chorus. It’s catchy as all get out, and the time has come to say that, while it’s fun to poke fun at “What’s Up?,” but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good song.

The Breeders’ “Cannonball” wasn’t a big hit, but it did climb to 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 and second on the Alternative Airplay chart. The single went gold, and we’re Breeders fans and particularly fans of the album “Lash Splash,” so we’re definitely going to include it. Kim Deal rules. The bass on this song is incredible. It’s a hit!

Yeah, we were surprised to see Beck considered a one-hit wonder, but really, after “Loser,” he didn’t follow it up with another song that was really what one would call a “hit.” His second-highest-charting single, “Where It’s At,” topped out at 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and five on Alternative Airplay, to compare with “Cannonball”). Which, when you think about how gimmicky (but good) “Loser” is, maybe all that makes sense.

Lisa Loeb put a clip of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” parodying her on her own YouTube channel. So Lisa Loeb rules: she had a number-one hit, and at the time she didn’t have a recording contract, which is wild. It might be controversial to call Loeb a one-hit wonder because another song of hers climbed pretty far up the charts, but technically that was a Lisa Loeb & the Nine Stories song. Also, you don’t remember what it was called, so we’ll stick with this designation.

It’s tough when you are a one-hit wonder, and your one well-known song has a title as generic as “Good.” Were you to go back in time and tell Better Than Ezra that their cultural legacy was going to be a Norm MacDonald joke and that this song, they might even call it “It Was Good” simply to give it some specificity. Regardless, a good song.

Now here’s a title you remember! In the wake of the grunge fervor, several bands suddenly found themselves with a hit if they had a song that was at all grungy and effective. Toadies was one such band, and “Possum Kingdom” was one such song. The song became a single in 1995, though, so by the time Toadies could follow it up, the grunge moment had faded.

The fact that Eels ever had a song that got played on mainstream radio, much less became a top-40 radio hit, much less became the number-one on the Alternative chart, is a surprise. Mark Everett’s project has always been eccentric, though often compelling. “Novocaine for the Soul” is a novelty song, in a way, in that it sounded novel at the time, but it is not likely to inspire longstanding popularity. It’s a really good song, though.

Detractors of nepotism shield your eyes, because Bob Dylan’s son is here. Of course, Jakob surely got a professional boost by having an icon for a father, but the proof is in the pudding: “One Headlight” was a hit. It was almost inescapable for a minute there. Frankly, that was alright, because it is a really good song. The Wallflowers’ cover of “Heroes” for the “Godzilla” soundtrack was hit-adjacent, but that was the last hurrah. What’s interesting is that, unlike many one-hit wonders, “One Headlight” wasn’t the band’s first single. In 1996, “6th Avenue Heartache” rose to 33rd on the charts.

“How Bizarre” is a remarkable earworm, which helped make this OMC’s one hit. The story of that hit, though, is pretty interesting. The Fuemana brothers, Phil and Pauly, were Polynesian guys who named the band Otara Millionaires Club after the poor New Zealand suburb they grew up in. Pauly took over the band and shortened the name to OMC, and then the kid from Otara ended up with a top-five hit in the United States with “How Bizarre.” Unfortunately, Phil died of a heart attack at 41 in 2005, and Pauly died after a long illness at 40 in 2010, but OMC made its mark on the world.

A catchy song that was a big hit, “Bitter Sweet Symphony” could have made the career of The Verve. The only stumbling block was that the song was built around a hook sampled from an orchestral rendition of a Rolling Stones song. The remarkably unlikeable Allen Klein, the Rolling Stones’ longtime manager who was unscrupulous and unpleasant even for the music industry, sued the Verve for all the royalties for the song. Eventually, though, after Klein died his song, along with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, worked out a deal to return the royalty rights to “Bitter Sweet Symphony” to The Verve.

The number-one song to contain the words “disco lemonade.” Sure, with a title like “Sex and Candy,” this Marcy Playground tune could have been dismissed as some simple attention-grabbing antics. That’s not what it is, though. Instead, it’s a slice of ‘90s alt-rock that is still a good listen.

It’s not a surprise that Dan Wilson, frontman of Semisonic, has gone on to have a very successful career as a songwriter. Not everyone is built to front a massive band, but Wilson’s acumen for crafting a tune shines through in “Closing Time.” It’s pop-rock perfection, and still a good song to play late at night at a bar.

Harvey Danger was a Seattle band who formed as grunge was taking off, and having seen that fad come and go they wrote “Flagpole Sitta,” in part, as a commentary on that era. As such, it feels like arguably the most-‘90s song on this list. The alt-rock sound, the snarky vocals, the anti-sellout message, it’s all there. Plus, a title like “Flagpole Sitta” just feels oh-so 1998.

One of the most famous covers that a lot of people don’t realize is the cover. That’ll happen with a one-hit wonder, especially when the original song wasn’t that big. Natalie Imbruglia took Ednaswap’s “Torn” and turned it into an emotional ballad. It’s pop music produced within an inch of its life, but that isn’t always a bad thing.

And now, visions of Rachael Leigh Cook walking down the stairs dance in your head. “Kiss Me” isn’t subtle, and it certainly isn’t edgy. It’s syrupy, nearly sappy, pop music. We said nearly sappy, though. Sixpence None the Richer rode that line, and in the process gave us a mushy romantic song we don’t mind.

We end by partying like it’s 1999 with Len’s “Steal My Sunshine.” What, you thought we’d end with “Mambo No. 5?” In that old-school way, and in a way we have now seen with a few one-hit wonders, the success of “Steal My Sunshine” for an unknown band started with a movie soundtrack, the movie “Go” in this case. Back then, you would still hear a song for the first time on the radio, even if you then immediately rushed to Napster to download “Steal My Sunshine.” Len could have used that money! Ah well. At least they got to be a one-hit wonder.