One unforgettable Top 40 moment can outlive a whole shelf of platinum albums, especially when it comes with a giant hook.
For this U.S.-focused guide, one-hit wonder means an act with exactly one Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 entry through December 31, 2025, counting each credited act separately.
Late 1950s and Early 1960s One-Hit Wonders
The Hot 100 era begins with doo-wop, novelty records, instrumentals, and one Belgian nun at number one.
- Which group scored its only U.S. Top 40 hit with Little Star in 1958?
Answer: The Elegants - Which children's melody helped inspire Little Star?
Answer: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star - Who recorded the 1959 hit Sea Cruise?
Answer: Frankie Ford - Whose backing track was used beneath Frankie Ford's vocal on Sea Cruise?
Answer: Huey 'Piano' Smith and the Clowns - Which act took Alley Oop to number one in 1960?
Answer: The Hollywood Argyles - What kind of character is Alley Oop?
Answer: A comic-strip caveman - Who recorded the 1962 chart-topper Hey! Baby?
Answer: Bruce Channel - Which harmonica player appears on Hey! Baby?
Answer: Delbert McClinton - Which performer took Dominique to number one in 1963?
Answer: The Singing Nun - What was the Singing Nun's birth name?
Answer: Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers - Who recorded the 1963 U.S. number-one hit Sukiyaki?
Answer: Kyu Sakamoto - What is the song's original Japanese title?
Answer: Ue o Muite Arukō - Which surf-rock band recorded Wipe Out?
Answer: The Surfaris - Is Wipe Out primarily vocal or instrumental?
Answer: Instrumental - What sound opens the famous recording of Wipe Out?
Answer: A breaking-board sound followed by laughter and the words 'wipe out'
Mid-1960s Garage, Pop, and Novelty Hits
These acts each placed one song in the U.S. Top 40, even when careers continued elsewhere.
- Which British group recorded Have I the Right? in 1964?
Answer: The Honeycombs - Who was the Honeycombs' notable female drummer?
Answer: Honey Lantree - Which vocal group sang Popsicles and Icicles?
Answer: The Murmaids - Who wrote Popsicles and Icicles before later fame with Bread?
Answer: David Gates - Which British group recorded Concrete and Clay?
Answer: Unit 4 + 2 - What contrasting materials appear in that song title?
Answer: Concrete and clay - Which Minnesota garage band recorded Liar, Liar?
Answer: The Castaways - What high vocal hook repeats in Liar, Liar?
Answer: The title phrase - Who sang the 1965 protest hit Eve of Destruction?
Answer: Barry McGuire - Who wrote Eve of Destruction?
Answer: P. F. Sloan - Which band recorded the Beatles-like 1966 hit Lies?
Answer: The Knickerbockers - What British band did listeners often mistake the Knickerbockers for?
Answer: The Beatles - Which novelty group topped the chart with Winchester Cathedral?
Answer: The New Vaudeville Band - What older style did Winchester Cathedral deliberately imitate?
Answer: 1920s dance-band or vaudeville pop - Who wrote Winchester Cathedral?
Answer: Geoff Stephens
Late 1960s One-Shot Classics
Flower-power optimism, psychedelic futures, and playful Beatles satire close the decade.
- Which band recorded Little Bit O' Soul in 1967?
Answer: The Music Explosion - Which British songwriting duo wrote Little Bit O' Soul?
Answer: John Carter and Ken Lewis - Which husband-and-wife duo recorded Reach Out of the Darkness?
Answer: Friend & Lover - What were the duo members' first names?
Answer: Jim and Cathy Post - Who recorded Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)?
Answer: John Fred and His Playboy Band - Which Beatles title did Judy in Disguise parody?
Answer: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - Which duo recorded In the Year 2525?
Answer: Zager and Evans - What kind of future does In the Year 2525 imagine?
Answer: A dystopian future shaped by technology and human decline - Which Florida group recorded Love (Can Make You Happy)?
Answer: Mercy - In what year did Love (Can Make You Happy) reach the U.S. Top 10?
Answer: 1969 - Who recorded Spirit in the Sky?
Answer: Norman Greenbaum - What musical style inspired the gospel-flavored Spirit in the Sky?
Answer: Gospel music - Was Norman Greenbaum raised in the Christian faith sung about in the song?
Answer: No, he was raised Jewish - What signature instrument texture drives Spirit in the Sky?
Answer: A fuzz-toned electric guitar - Which television country singer inspired Greenbaum to write a gospel-themed song?
Answer: Porter Wagoner
Early 1970s Pop Crossovers
British studio projects, Dutch rock, summer grooves, and an unexpected Joni Mitchell cover take the next shift.
- Which studio group recorded Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)?
Answer: Edison Lighthouse - Which singer fronted the Edison Lighthouse recording?
Answer: Tony Burrows - Which Dutch band took Venus to number one in 1970?
Answer: Shocking Blue - Who sang lead on Shocking Blue's Venus?
Answer: Mariska Veres - Which British group recorded In the Summertime?
Answer: Mungo Jerry - Who wrote In the Summertime?
Answer: Ray Dorset - Which British group recorded the 1970 cover of Woodstock that reached the U.S. Top 40?
Answer: Matthews Southern Comfort - Who wrote Woodstock?
Answer: Joni Mitchell - Which duo recorded One Toke Over the Line?
Answer: Brewer & Shipley - What squeaky-clean TV program famously performed the song as if it were a spiritual?
Answer: The Lawrence Welk Show - Which band recorded Dancing in the Moonlight?
Answer: King Harvest - Who wrote Dancing in the Moonlight?
Answer: Sherman Kelly - Where did King Harvest record its hit version?
Answer: Paris - Which band had the 1973 U.S. number-one hit Brother Louie?
Answer: Stories - Which British group recorded the original Brother Louie?
Answer: Hot Chocolate
Dance-Floor Wonders from 1974 to 1980
Disco, soul, novelty kung fu, and a band responding to a heckler take over the dance floor.
- Who recorded Kung Fu Fighting?
Answer: Carl Douglas - Which producer helped create Kung Fu Fighting?
Answer: Biddu - Which group recorded Afternoon Delight?
Answer: Starland Vocal Band - What inspired the title Afternoon Delight?
Answer: A menu item at a Georgetown restaurant - Which band recorded Play That Funky Music?
Answer: Wild Cherry - What audience request inspired the song's title line?
Answer: Play some funky music, white boy - Which Detroit vocal group recorded Float On?
Answer: The Floaters - What personal details do the Floaters introduce in the long album version?
Answer: Their names, zodiac signs, and romantic preferences - Which artist used the single-letter name M for Pop Muzik?
Answer: Robin Scott - What year did Pop Muzik top the U.S. chart?
Answer: 1979 - Who recorded Born to Be Alive?
Answer: Patrick Hernandez - In which country was Patrick Hernandez born?
Answer: France - What genre best describes Born to Be Alive?
Answer: Disco - Which act recorded the synth-disco number-one hit Funkytown?
Answer: Lipps Inc. - In which U.S. city was Lipps Inc. formed?
Answer: Minneapolis
Early 1980s Synths, Cheerleaders, and Arcade Fever
New wave meets novelty pop as the one-hit club fills with video stars and electronic hooks.
- Who recorded Tired of Toein' the Line?
Answer: Rocky Burnette - Which rockabilly singer was Rocky Burnette's father?
Answer: Johnny Burnette - Which British musician scored his only U.S. Top 40 hit with Cars?
Answer: Gary Numan - What electronic instrument defines much of Cars?
Answer: Synthesizer - Which duo recorded Pac-Man Fever?
Answer: Buckner & Garcia - What arcade character inspired Pac-Man Fever?
Answer: Pac-Man - Who recorded Mickey?
Answer: Toni Basil - What was Toni Basil's major profession beyond singing?
Answer: Choreographer and dancer - Which band recorded Come On Eileen?
Answer: Dexys Midnight Runners - What album contains Come On Eileen?
Answer: Too-Rye-Ay - Which German band recorded 99 Luftballons?
Answer: Nena - What does Luftballons mean in English?
Answer: Balloons - What is the English-language version called?
Answer: 99 Red Balloons - Who recorded Puttin' on the Ritz in 1982?
Answer: Taco - Who wrote Puttin' on the Ritz decades earlier?
Answer: Irving Berlin
Mid-to-Late 1980s One-Hit Wonders
A musical-showstopper, Austrian arena chant, comedy cowboy song, and a cappella number one keep the decade unpredictable.
- Which band recorded Too Shy?
Answer: Kajagoogoo - What stage name did Kajagoogoo's original lead singer use?
Answer: Limahl - Which band recorded The Politics of Dancing?
Answer: Re-Flex - What was the title of Re-Flex's album containing that song?
Answer: The Politics of Dancing - Who performed One Night in Bangkok?
Answer: Murray Head - Which musical introduced One Night in Bangkok?
Answer: Chess - Which Austrian band recorded Live Is Life?
Answer: Opus - What audience response is heard prominently on the live-style recording?
Answer: Clapping and chanting - Which Italian-based act recorded Tarzan Boy?
Answer: Baltimora - Who appeared as Baltimora's frontman?
Answer: Jimmy McShane - Which British band recorded I Wanna Be a Cowboy?
Answer: Boys Don't Cry - What Western fantasy does I Wanna Be a Cowboy parody?
Answer: A swaggering cinematic cowboy persona - Who recorded Don't Worry, Be Happy?
Answer: Bobby McFerrin - What unusual production fact distinguishes Don't Worry, Be Happy?
Answer: All sounds are made with McFerrin's voice and body - Which actor appears in the song's playful music video?
Answer: Robin Williams
Late 1980s and 1990s One-Hit Wonders
Hip-hop, alternative rock, dance pop, and an unforgettable bee-costume video round out this strictly defined U.S. list.
- Which duo recorded It Takes Two?
Answer: Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock - What Lyn Collins recording is sampled prominently in It Takes Two?
Answer: Think (About It) - Which band recorded What I Am?
Answer: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - What instrument plays the song's distinctive psychedelic solo?
Answer: Electric guitar - Who recorded Just a Friend?
Answer: Biz Markie - Which Freddie Scott song supplied its sung refrain?
Answer: You Got What I Need - Who recorded Nothing Compares 2 U?
Answer: Sinéad O'Connor - Who wrote Nothing Compares 2 U?
Answer: Prince - Which dance group recorded Groove Is in the Heart?
Answer: Deee-Lite - What is Deee-Lite's lead singer's stage name?
Answer: Lady Miss Kier - Which Australian band recorded I Touch Myself?
Answer: Divinyls - Who was the Divinyls' lead singer?
Answer: Chrissy Amphlett - Which British duo recorded I'm Too Sexy?
Answer: Right Said Fred - What older novelty song inspired the duo's name?
Answer: Right Said Fred by Bernard Cribbins - Which hip-hop group recorded Jump Around?
Answer: House of Pain
Keep the game going with music trivia, 70s trivia, 80s trivia, and 90s trivia.
Sources and Further Reading
- Billboard Hot 100 chart archive
- Library of Congress National Recording Registry
- Songwriters Hall of Fame song and writer archive
- Grammy Awards artist database
- Official Charts Company archive
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