3 Artists Who Never Scored a No. 1 Hit Under Their Own Name, but Scored No. 1 Hits As Songwriters

As we’ve mentioned before, being a songwriter can be somewhat of a thankless job. In the music industry, songwriters are surely respected by their peers. However, to the general public, the names of the writers behind some of the biggest hits remain in obscurity. Well, to an extent, songwriters sign up for that. However, musicians who don’t are the recording artists, who then either have their songs re-recorded or write for other artists. With all that in mind, here are three recording artists who’ve never had a No. 1 hit under their own name, but have as songwriters.

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Bruce Springsteen

This is probably the most common and notable example of this occurrence. While Bruce Springsteen is highly praised and has just about earned every accolade there is to earn in the music business, he’s never had a No. 1 hit on a major chart, including the Billboard Hot 100. As a recording artist, he’s gotten close, as “Dancing In The Dark” peaked at No. 2, but as a songwriter, he did reach the top of the chart.

The only No. 1 hit song of Bruce Springsteen’s is Manfred Mann’s Earth Band cover of “Blinded By The Light”. Released by Springsteen in 1973, MMEB covered their version of the song in 1976. Subsequently, it went on to peak at No. 1 on the Hot 100.

Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein‘s claim to fame is certainly not his music career. Although he did have one and released a good amount of music on his own. While none of his music did well under his name, he had one of his songs become a country music standard and a No. 1 hit: Johnny Cash’s cover of “A Boy Named Sue”.

Silverstein and Cash released both their versions during the same year, and as you might expect, Cash’s outperformed Silverstein’s by a landslide. Nevertheless, following the release of Cash’s rendition, the single peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts.

Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro was seemingly a songwriter first and a performer second, but she did release her own music. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Nyro had risen to fame thanks to her own recordings as well as covers of her songs. Nyro herself never had a No. 1 hit as a performer; her highest charting single was a cover of “Up On The Roof”. However, as a songwriter, that was not the case.

Nyro’s major No. 1 hit as a songwriter was “Wedding Bell Blues” by The 5th Dimension. Released by Nyro in 1967, The 5th Dimension released this track as a single in 1969; it then went on to grace the top spot on the Hot 100 for three weeks.

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