I like Fergie, but it's mental that she had two solo #1s in the US!

Three if you count Glamorous!

 

I loved all the singles from The Duchess and still do, Fergie's quite the one-album wonder although that's ignoring all of her BEP hits of course.

 

83. BJORK (1,370,100)

 

http://www.polarmusicprize.org/wordpress3/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Bjork-baldur-335x335.jpg

 

22 HITS 1991-2005

 

BIGGEST HIT: IT’S OH SO QUIET

 

A gigantic haul of hits for Bjork but only 3 made the top 10 and only 1 spent more than 7 days in there. She’s of course known for her eccentric videos and dressing as a swan whilst laying an egg at an awards ceremony then going crazy at a journalist at the airport but that’s kind of why we love her. That and the music.

 

Discography:

 

 

Personal Highlight:

 

82.KERI HILSON (1,388,000)

 

http://ima.ulximg.com/image/src/artist/1418163409_80c5a6c2afc3e879b6c70d06699061a3.jpg/a987f4e09b71955c3c6200f7cb391442/1418163409_2007_keri_hilson_1_400_99.jpg

 

15 HITS 2005-2011

 

BIGGEST HIT: THE WAY I ARE

 

Long time backing vocalist Hilson actually first made the top 10 on Xzibit.s 2005 single “Hey Now” but it was in 2007 that she hit it big as a feature on Timbaland’s chart topper “The Way I Are”. The hits started to rack up with impressive speed most notably including “Knock You Down”, before she disappeared off the radar to star in films though we’re promised more.

 

Discography:

 

 

Personal Highlight:

 

81. ARETHA FRANKLIN (1,405,000)

 

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/franklin_aretha_2712.jpg

 

19 HITS 1980-1998

 

BIGGEST HIT: (I KNEW) YOU WERE WAITING FOR ME

 

Obviously she sold considerably more before the 80s but Franklin’s hit making days were in truth behind her until the Eurythmics made her “relevant”, as they say, in 1985. Her only chart topper came in 1987 with George Michael before she was made over as a dance diva in 1994 for a final flush of chart action for the great soul star.

 

I do like how it seems like some Universal unwritten law that whenever Iceland gets mentioned under any circumstances, Bjork gets one too. For me, she's always been more of a symbol I guess than a music artist I've engaged with. Like really, all I can tell you about her is that she's Icelandic, she wore a swan dress to the Oscars, "It's Oh So Quiet" and one time she smacked a photographer outside an airport. That's all I know and to be honest, I'm not fussed about finding out anymore

 

Yes Keri! Why not? Gotta root for the underdog and I don't think there's a bigger one in late-2000s RnB than Ms. Hilson. I still cringe and laugh when I think of her standing in that mall with copies of her album, commanding an audience of at most twenty people. She's a very anonymous artist in a lot of ways, lending herself well to hooks and the odd guest spot but she's never really had a solo hit of her own besides 'Knock You Down" and maybe 'Pretty Girl Rock' if we're being generous. Still, don't feel too bad for her, she'll have made bank through her song writing.

 

I didn't think Aretha would be making this list, I guess I always attribute her success more to the 60s, but looking at her chart history she was still pulling off the hits thirty years on so fair play. I don't really understand how "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" with Whitney Houston wasn't a world conquering smash but hey ho.

Keri Hilson! Knock You Down felt like it was huge at the time, although I'm thinking it was probably only a top 5 or 10.

 

I remember it was always on the radio when it came out though so it seemed like a much bigger hit than it was.

 

Keri Hilson being one above Bjork and just one below Aretha is bizarre. I'm gonna have to look up and see what their respective streaming is now. I know it's not included in this but it's sometimes surprising seeing what holds popularity on streaming and what doesn't.

 

EDIT: So despite streaming often favouring niche artists, Keri Hilson has double the monthly listeners of Bjork and her highest tracks top Bjork's by a factor of 5. Aretha Franklin has double again Keri Hilson's listeners.

Edited May 1, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter

Björk is an amazing artist. If you're interested in hearing more than just It's Oh So Quiet then try these...

 

Jóga

Hyperballad

Triumph of a Heart

Play Dead

Earth Intruders

Pagan Poetry

Bachelorette

Vökuró

Crystalline

All is Full of Love

 

She possibly maybe does take a little while to get but there is so much to be discovered with her.

 

80.BRANDY (1,507,000)

 

 

14 HITS 1994-2005

 

BIGGEST HIT: THE BOY IS MINE

 

A star at 15 Brandy had hit singles, songs on film soundtracks and starred in a sitcom “Moesha” all by the time she was 17. Let’s be honest though it was “The Boy Is Mine” that put her on the map spending 13 weeks at No 1 stateside becoming the biggest selling female duo single worldwide though it missed out on the No 1 spot here to B*Witched. She left Atlantic records in 2005 and the hits dried up though she’s starred in a fair few films and TV shows since.

 

Discography:

 

 

Personal highlight:

 

79.LOUISE (1,515,000)

 

 

12 HITS 1995-2003

 

BIGGEST HIT: LET’S GO ROUND AGAIN

 

All but 3 of Louise’s singles made the top 10 making her departure from Eternal in 1995 seem an entirely correct move. A high profile relationship then marriage to Jamie Redknapp seems to have stood the test of time though her final stab at a hit single was a rejigged working of the ASDA theme rather shamefully though it was for charity. After that she branched into presenting and TV (there’s a theme going on here) last being seen on “Strictly”.

 

Discography:

 

 

Personal highlight:

 

Björk's Hyperballad is actually one of my favourite songs, Björk in the 90's was unstoppable, she was just able to find that middle line whilst being very original and still accessible to the average person.

Edited May 2, 20178 yr by PeaceMob

78. JENNIFER RUSH (1,517,000)

 

 

4 HITS 1985-1989

 

BIGGEST HIT: THE POWER OF LOVE

 

Only 4 hits place Rush on our list, but when one of those is the million selling “The Power Of Love” it may make it easy to understand. It took a record breaking (at the time) 16 weeks from debut to top the charts en route to becoming 1985’s best seller and holds the record for being the first record ever by a female solo act to hit the magic million, perhaps she deserves her place then. The cosmetic work she’s had since is perhaps best overlooked.

 

All but 3 of Louise’s singles failed to make the top 10

I think you meant to say "all but 3 of Louise's singles made the top 10"! :heehee:

 

Let's Go Round Again being her biggest seller with a #10 peak certainly highlights how strong the singles market was in late 1997, given that she had 8 singles peak higher than that!

 

Looking at her chart runs, it's a shame that none of them managed 10+ weeks in the Top 75, all her hits were rather fleeting (although to be fair that was common for so many artists back then).

 

My favourite by her is definitely 2 Faced. :wub:

 

Really enjoying the thread so far Gezza! :D

Ooops altered! Thanks

Christmas 97 was pretty astronomical for sales. Still can't believe Lets Go Round Again was her biggest seller!

Louise is definitely one of my favourite 90s popstars. Still listen to 2 Faced, Naked and Pandora's Kiss often. :wub:

Edited May 2, 20178 yr by GTH

Brandy is a bloody phenomenal and vastly underrated artist. My favourite of those late 90's RnB girls - she has so many classics under her belt for me; Baby, Sittin' Up In My Room, The Boy Is Mine, Have You Ever?, What About Us? and Full Moon are all phenomenal tracks. Overall, my favourite from her is 2004's Afrodisiac.

 

Louise is beige as hell but she has some nice records. 2 Faced is probably my favourite.

 

I don't think I like any version of 'The Power of Love' particularly but Jennifer's version is probably the best. Celine did well but it was a bit by numbers for her.

77. YAZZ (1,522,000)

 

http://www.escuchar-musica-espagnola.com/Musica-De-Los-80/Yazz/images/Yazz-The-Only-Way-Is-Up.jpg

 

12 HITS 1988-1997

 

BIGGEST HIT: THE ONLY WAY IS UP

 

From Catwalk Model to George Michael’s hairdresser in the 80s, Yazz was on the periphery of fame for a while before Coldcut chose her to provide vocals on “Doctorin The House” which became a top 10 hit in 1988. The massive selling “The Only Way Is Up” which hit No 1 for 5 weeks and saw her selling a million singles in 1988 alone. The public grew weary quickly however and after 1990 she never saw the top 30 again.

 

 

76. DANNII MINOGUE (1,562,000)

 

 

21 HITS 1991-2007

 

BIGGEST HIT: ALL I WANNA DO

 

Dannii may have beaten Sister Kylie to a regular show on Aussie TV but there’s no real competition in terms of sales. Starting out foraging the same pop field as her sister she was reborn as a dance diva in 1997 and saw her front more credible club music for most of the late 90s/ early 00s. The demise of her pop career coincided with a move back into talent shows (in this case the daddy of them all- “X Factor”) and to become a TV “Personality” as they say.

 

Discography:

 

 

Personal highlight:

 

 

That's one thing I find interesting when people talk about upcoming judges for the X Factor and the like - they always think of people at the peak of their careers. When Dannii and Cheryl were chosen as judges, one was riding on her sister's coattails and had a similar reputation to Lisa Scott-Lee, and the other was only vaguely known as 'the WAG' out of Girls Aloud.

 

Who knew Dannii Minogue had released 21 singles!

 

Going back one, that Louise retrospective was really something; embarassingly, the only song that really rang a bell was Pandora's Kiss.

 

It's so interesting how the industry has changed in the last 20 years; half of these girls would have been dropped after their first #11 hit these days.

75. NENEH CHERRY (1,594,000)

 

 

14 HITS 1988-2000

 

BIGGEST HIT: 7 SECONDS

 

Arriving with considerable critical backing and the coolest producer in the land at the time (Tim Simenon of Bomb The Bass), “Buffalo Stance” didn’t disappoint at retail moving well over 200,000, good for the late 80s. Despite a decent selling debut and further top 10 singles it took a duet with Youssou N’Dour in 1994 to reignite her fortune, enough to put her on the radar for Comic Relief who asked her to co-sing her only chart topper “Love Can Build A Bridge” the following year.

 

Discography

 

 

Personal highlight: