Amid the pop music staples of the early 2010s like Taylor Swift, the Black Eyed Peas, and Bruno Mars, there were even more artists that virtually disappeared without a trace after reaching their biggest chart success. In some cases, these artists continued their careers in a less ubiquitous way, enjoying success with a small but dedicated group of fans.
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Other artists moved on to new creative endeavors or slowed their professional lives to start a family. Whatever the reason for their seemingly overnight vanishing from the Billboard Hot 100, these artists left behind relics of the early aughts in all its feather-haired, skinny jean-clad glory.
Gotye
Literally someone we used to know, early 2010s artist Gotye disappeared from the top of the charts as quickly as he arrived with his 2011 hit single, “Somebody That I Used to Know.” The collaboration with Kimbra was the best-selling song of 2012, garnering the artists two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The song was virtually inescapable in the early 2010s, but it proved to be the only one of Gotye’s songs that would reach that level of global ubiquity.
By 2014, Wouter De Backer, the man behind Gotye, announced he would no longer be working on that particular project. He continued to work with The Basics and Ondioline Orchestra through the late 2010s until finally releasing another Gotye single with Kimbra in 2024.
La Roux
La Roux’s 2009 single “Bulletproof” captured the synth-heavy moxie of the early 2010s, but the pop act all but disappeared by the following decade. The duo, composed of singer Elly Jackson and producer Ben Langmaid, eventually split in 2012, leaving Jackson performing under La Roux as her solo stage moniker. Jackson’s sophomore follow-up, Trouble in Paradise, failed to meet the same level of success as her eponymous debut.
Although her chart performance has steadily decreased since the early 2010s, La Roux has still enjoyed a busy touring schedule, performing worldwide and at major festivals like U.K.’s Glastonbury and Germany’s Melt! Festival. She released her third album, Supervision, on her independent label, Supercolour Records.
Kreayshawn
Rapper and singer Kreayshawn had the internet in a chokehold with her 2011 earworm track, “Gucci Gucci.” Gucci Gucci, Louis Louis, Fendi Fendi, Prada, she raps in the hook. Them basic b****** wear that s***, so I don’t even bother. The music video for this cocky, in-your-face track racked up millions of views on YouTube in the first month that it was online. Her overnight fame quickly landed her a deal with Columbia Records, but after her records failed to produce the same success as “Gucci Gucci,” the label dropped her from its roster.
Kreayshawn continues to DJ and perform sporadically, and she also maintains an online shop of blinged-out merchandise with increasingly unhinged designs, including “Urinary Tract Infection” written in sparkly cursive and a bedazzled illustration of a plane flying toward the Twin Towers in New York City.
Hot Chelle Rae
Closing out our list of artists from the early 2010s who seemingly disappeared overnight is Hot Chelle Rae from Nashville, Tennessee. Every decade needs a hyper-idealistic going-out song, bonus points if the narrator is getting over a breakup or tough work week, and Hot Chelle Rae delivered with their double platinum single from 2011, “Tonight Tonight.” The song begins with the singer lamenting, It’s been a really, really messed up week, before breaking into a singalong-able bridge: La, la, la, whatever, la, la, la, doesn’t matter, la, la, la, oh well, la, la, la.
Released in January of that year, the song had just enough time to marinate in the charts to become a well-rounded summer anthem. There’s a party on the rooftop top of the world, they sing in the chorus. We’re dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign. Although the band has continued to record and tour their music, they haven’t reached the same level of their early success. Nearly a decade after singing about dancing on the Hollywood sign, the band released a single called “I Hate L.A.”
Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images
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