Rarely does country music ever cross over into “true” one-hit wonder territory. Namely, I consider a one-hit wonder to be a musician who makes it to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart a single time. A lot of country acts failed to get there; it’s just the nature of pop music. However, some country one-hit wonders from the 90s managed to do it, while others made it to the Hot Country Songs chart with a solitary hit. Let’s look at a few of them, shall we?
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Billy Ray Cyrus
Alright, maybe not everyone forgot about Billy Ray Cyrus. He’s definitely out there doin’ stuff. But younger country fans may not be totally acquainted with the certified earworm that is “Achy Breaky Heart”. Some might only know him as Miley Cyrus’ dad, or the other guy on Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”. We need to fix that now, because “Achy Breaky Heart” was a huge country hit in the 90s and the reason why line dancing became a thing again in that decade. I’d be bold enough to say this is one of the more influential country songs of the turn of the 20th century.
Ty England
Ty England enjoyed a handful of decent singles on the country charts in the mid-to-late 90s, two of which made it to the Top 40 of the Hot Country Songs chart. However, his only song to get close to the Hot 100 was the 1995 hit “Should’ve Asked Her Faster”, which made it to No. 21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart that year. You don’t hear much from England nowadays, as his last release was in 2007. It’s a shame, because he’s really a talented country musician.
Yankee Grey
Yankee Grey is technically a two-hit wonder, but I just couldn’t leave them off this list. I really feel like this group deserved a better chance. Yankee Grey was a country music band from Ohio that formed in the late 1980s. Their debut single, the 1999 song “All Things Considered”, was their only Top 10 hit and made it to No. 8 on the country charts and No. 54 on the Hot 100.
The band enjoyed a second Top 40 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart, the 2000 release “Another Nine Minutes”, which was less successful and made it to No. 74 on the Hot 100. The band only released two albums, the second of which didn’t chart at all, nor did it yield any singles. I can’t help but wonder what could have been.
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