How 4 One-Hit Wonders Accidentally Became Wedding Playlist Staples

Weddings can be wildcards on occasion. While the wedding playlist for any reception will usually be up to the tastes of the bride and groom, there are a few staple songs that always seem to make it to the rotation. And many of those songs are classic one-hit wonders. Let’s dive into a few one-hit wonders that are still go-tos for wedding playlists today!

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1. “Whoomp There It Is” by Tag Team

Is there anything particularly romantic about “Whoomp There It Is” by Tag Team? No. Is it a heartwrenching exploration of eternal love? Not at all. What it is, is an absolute bop that can get everyone in the room moving, from the kids to the newlyweds to grandma. It makes sense why this 1993 hit still makes it to DJ wedding sets nowadays. Sadly for the hip-hop group Tag Team, this song was their only chart-topping hit.

2. “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something

Soft rock always seems to make it to wedding playlists in some capacity. “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something is one of the more chill one-hit wonders to become a wedding playlist staple, and we get why. It’s a pop-rock bop with mild enough lyrics to make it perfect for a casual dancefloor moment.

3. “Mambo No. 5” by Lou Bega

Out of all the one-hit wonders to become wedding playlist fodder, Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5” is the most enduring. It doesn’t matter your walk of life, your age, or your location; this song is probably going to play at least once at any wedding you find yourself at. 

It’s odd, considering the song hasn’t aged terribly well. And when it was first released in 1999, “Mambo No. 5” became Bega’s only major chart-topper and peaked at no. 3 on the Hot 100 chart.

4. “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles

If you’re putting together a wedding playlist of one-hit wonders and need something on the country rock side of things, why not get a little vintage with this 1989 hit from Alannah Myles? “Black Velvet” wasn’t just a huge hit when it was first released, either. The song nabbed a Grammy for Myles and could have set her on an upward career trajectory. While she went on to deliver a few additional hits in her native Canada, Myles never had a Top 10 hit in the US again.

Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/ImageDirect

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