There are One-Album Wonders Too
There are some artists who are one-hit wonders. They had only one hit in the entire life of their music careers. There are also one-album wonders. At least, such artists didn't only have one hit song, rather they had one hit album. Either the album had huge sales or hit singles, that's a given. They had a mark in music industry.
Hanson (Middle of Nowhere)
Hanson became huge with their first mainstream album "Middle of Nowhere". They may be considered by others as one-hit wonder with the song "Mmmbop", their song "I Will Come to You" reached the top 10 of Billboard Hot 100. "Middle of Nowhere" also went 4x platinum in the US. After that, Hanson failed to make impact again, and eventually went indie.
Aqua (Aquarius)
Aqua became popular with their album "Aquarium" which had estimated sales of 14 million worldwide. It had global hits, and their second album was released three years after their debut album, and had sales of 4 million. That's not bad, but considered flop compared to their debut. Still, Aqua's hit "Barbie Girl" is iconic despite considered as a trash song. Lol!
Natalie Imbruglia (Left of the Middle)
She was very famous because of her song "Torn", which was one of the biggest hits of 1998. It was from her album "Left of the Middle", which has probable sales of 7 Million copies. That's considered huge, but Imbruglia seemed exhausted, and it's fine for her not too famous. She released subsequent albums but with lackluster sales.
Lauryn Hill (Miseducation of Lauryn Hill)
Her 1998 album "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" was huge with sales ranging 15-20 million copies, and included the number 1 hit "Doo Wop (That Thing)", Lauryn Hill might be someone who will make a follow up. However, she released "MTV Unplugged" (not a studio album) instead, and we haven't heard any album from her since.
Milli Vanilli ("All or Nothing"/"Girl You Know It's True"
Milli Vanilli became very popular with their album "All or Nothing" which was released in the US as "Girl You Know It's True". The song had five top 10 hits in Billboard Hot 100, and sold around 6 million copies in the US alone. However, lip-synching controversy was revealed, and the vocals in the album are from other people. A second album was released but as The Real Milli Vanilli, but it flopped.
Fugees (The Score)
Lauryn Hill may have been a one-album wonder, and so is the hip-hop group Fugees by which she is a part of. Of course, Fugees won't work without Lauryn Hill. The group had release an album which didn't do well, and it was only heard of when their second album "The Score" was released, which its sales range from 16 million or quite higher. It also scored hits such as "Killing Me Softly", "No Woman No Cry" and "Ready or Not".
Alanis Morisette (Jagged Little Pill)
I'm not sure if I'll include Alanis Morisette because she had subsequent two number albums in Billboard 200 after "Jagged Little Pill". "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" has even sold huge on its first week, and went 3 million US sales. However, the album dropped quickly, and it struggled to have a momentum. "Jagged Little Pill" remains a great album for her, which had sales of more than 30 million worldwide.
Leona Lewis
She should have done better if only her management continued their focus on her career. In fact, she was dubbed to be the next Mariah Carey. However, Leona Lewis only had one real hit album which is her debut "Spirit". The album was released after her win from UK X-Factor. The album went multiple platinum in several countries worldwide, and produced hits such as "Better in Time" and of course "Bleeding Love". She released "Echo", her second album, but it didn't do that well despite her UK Top 5 hit "Happy".
Do you know any artist who only had one real legendary album? You can share at the comments.
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