3 Songs You Didn’t Know Were One-Hit Wonders in the 90s

I’m a big fan of so many one-hit wonders from the 90s. And, surprisingly, I still run into the occasional one-hit wonder that I honestly had no clue was a one-hit wonder. Some of these solitary hitmakers are so famous and well-known, or make such good music, that it seems strange that they only made it big on the US charts just one time. Let’s take a look at a few such one-hit wonders from the 90s that you probably didn’t know were one-hit wonders!

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“Praise You” by Fatboy Slim

Any big beat fan reading this is probably scratching their head right now. There’s no way that Fatboy Slim, one of England’s most famous big beat producers, could possibly be a one-hit wonder. Technically, Fatboy Slim would be considered a one-hit wonder in the United States, as he only had a single Top 40 hit there. But in the UK? Not a chance.

Fatboy Slim enjoyed a slew of Top 40 hits in his native UK from the late 1990s through the 2010s. However, he only charted in the US twice. The first time was in 1998 with “The Rockafeller Skank”, which peaked at No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And his only Top 40 hit in the US was “Praise You” from 1999, which peaked at No. 36.

“Sex And Candy” by Marcy Playground

I could have sworn this alternative rock group had at least a couple of other big hits in the US. Apparently, my memory has deceived me. The 1997 post-grunge jam “Sex And Candy” was Marcy Playground’s only major charting hit. The song made it to No. 8 on the Hot 100 and topped the Alternative Airplay chart, and also did well in Canada, Australia, and the UK. 

Sadly, Marcy Playground never made it to the Hot 100 again, though “It’s Saturday” from 1999 made it to the Alternative Airplay chart again.

“Criminal” by Fiona Apple

This still rubs me the wrong way. Fiona Apple is one of the greatest songwriters of the 90s. Yet, technically, she only scored one major charting single thus far in her career. She doesn’t deserve to be on a list of one-hit wonders from the 90s, and yet, she only made it big on the charts once with the song “Criminal”. That 1997 hit was Apple’s only song to make it to the Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at No. 21.

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