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Dancing with the Stars has recently released the names of the contestants for the new season, and questionable celebrity status aside, two of them are one-hit wonders (and one is an almost).
Macy Gray reached national prominence after “I Try”, the second release from her debut album, spent half a year on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually peaking at #5. The single won her a Grammy Award for “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance” in 2001.
Unfortunately, with the exception of a featured role on the Black Eyed Peas’ “Request Line” (which stalled at #63), none of Macy’s subsequent singles have cracked the Hot 100. She has remained busy, however, acting in movies including Training Day and Lackawanna Blues in between recording albums. She has also guest starred on That’s So Raven, American Dreams, and other television series from time to time.
For a brief time, Aaron Carter was a major force in tween pop. The brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, Aaron was 12 years old when his single “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)” was released. The song became a Top 40 hit, reaching #35 on the Hot 100, and sold more than 500,000 copies.
Like Macy, Aaron only had one other song chart, “That’s How I Beat Shaq”, which only reached #96. He’s also acted in a few projects, including a small recurring role on 7th Heaven, but he’s probably best known as a reality star in E’s short-lived House of Carters, which ran in 2006.
Some people might also consider Kelly Osbourne a one-hit wonder, since she’s had a song appear on the Hot 100. I define a one-hit wonder as someone who’s had a song reach the Top 40 on the Hot 100 but has never been able to duplicate the feat. But there is no one universal definition of the term.
As such, it’s worth pointing out that Kelly’s cover of Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” spent two weeks on the Hot 100, peaking at #74. Another single and personal favorite of mine, “One Word”, wasn’t a mainstream hit in the United States, but it did go all the way to #1 on the dance chart and was a Top 10 hit in England.
