Definitely Duffy and Emeli Sande. Sam Smith as well. As much as they have had hits since their debut nothing seems as massive as their first album.

Feel like Glynne left it too long, but apparently she's a bit of a diva so probably saw herself as the kind of global megastar that could get away with a long hiatus. I remember when she didn't turn up for Radio 1's Big Weekend because she was 'ill' or something, though the word on the street was that she'd been partying too hard supporting the Spice Girls.

That was the Isle of Wight Festival 2019 - they had her stage and band setup and everything!

 

Biffy Clyro got an extended set in the end though, so I wasn’t complaining.

First name I thought of was Khalid. Had real potential then just became a bit of a nothing artist.

 

Great example. He felt like he was everywhere in 2018/2019, even bigger than the likes of the Weeknd. And it's almost as if either he literally fell off the face of the earth or every single person in the world decided simultaneously to stop liking his music.

I think Sabrina has what it takes to keep this going for years if she plays her cards right.

 

Also, I definitely wouldn't include Sam Smith in this. Obviously no album has quite matched the sales of the debut, but that's an impossibly high bar that very few artists ever reach - it's not to say the others have been failures or they've even fallen off since then particularly.

 

As much as it pains me to put forward this suggestion: Sophie Ellis-Bextor :(

Kt Tunstall, her first era was huge and after that it was all decline which is a shame as I like her, Emeli Sande pretty much the same.

Duffy does spring to mind but the circumstances surrounding it are different to the others due to what was happening in her life.

From older acts Dina Carroll and Gina G are 2 I loved but sadly fell of the face of the planet although Dina Carroll did have success for a much longer period.

 

Headie One comes to mind, getting a #1 album in 2020 to his follow-up reaching #52 this year is a crazy fall off.

Lil Nas X?

Lil Nas X?

 

Give it a bit more time. Everyone thought he'd be a one hit wonder after OTR but he came back a few years later with Montero. Think he could be type of act who gets the odd big hit then disappears, like Meghan Trainor.

Sam Smith had a number one single in 2022!

In the early 1990's, Shabba Ranks was the world's biggest Reggae star, a double Grammy winner and the fastest rising new artist on the scene, with people falling over themselves to get him on their show. Then he exposed himself as a vile homophobe on Channel 4's The Word and was promptly dropped from his world tour, ditched by his label and the world cancelled him so hard that few have had such bigger falls . He limped out a further couple of poorly received albums and then promptly disappeared down the toilet he belonged in.

lol who said Katy Perry she stayed at the top for like 5 albums and 10 years lol that's why Nelly Furtado doesn't fit either

 

has to be someone who fall big after album 1 like Emelie Sandé for instance

 

Why? Who said? Big one day, gone the next. That fits the definition. Same for Spice Girls, Nelly Furtado, Britney Spears, Christina Aguileta, and on and on

 

Melanie C, she went from selling nearly 3 million records in the U.K. during Northern Star era to selling less than 200,000 records in the entire Reason era in the U.K.

The Emeli Sande one makes me sad - her follow up albums have been good, but she definitely was in too many places for too long and I think this hampered her.

 

 

lol who said Katy Perry she stayed at the top for like 5 albums and 10 years lol that's why Nelly Furtado doesn't fit either

 

has to be someone who fall big after album 1 like Emelie Sandé for instance

 

Well that's exactly the point. Her contemporaries who rose to fame at the same time like Gaga and Taylor Swift are still on top whereas Katy's latest album disappeared into the ether after a single week on the chart. She did fall off quite dramatically from the Witness era onwards. One album wonders are ten a penny but its a bit more unusual for an artist to go from "guaranteed hit" status to struggling to scrape a top 40 within a few years. Nelly Furtado and Jess Glynne are similar examples.

As others said, Jess Glynne waited too long.

 

I'd probably say the same about Calum Scott - he didn't make much of a splash with anything he released from his second album.

You could argue he didn't make much of a splash with anything he released from his first album either :kink: 'Dancing On My Own' blowing up was a bit of a fluke tbh

 

If we're going male solo singers, there's a lot less as I think the music world is a lot more forgiving of male artists....

 

A recent(ish) example I can think of though is Maverick Sabre - hits and good sales of first album followed by no more hits and albums getting next to no sales

Emeli Sandé also waited too long, as did Katy Perry between Prism and Witness (although I know that era being a dog's dinner was also a main contributing factor)

 

In that time the climate had changed so much.

Jessie J - she just disappeared and vanished

Pixie Lott - her last album failed to make top 100, and she's only had gigs on Voice Kids (which nobody watched) and "Who Do You Think You Are" (the geneolagy programme)

FloRida - was everywhere between 2008-2013....did Eurovision and now nowhere.

Pitbull - see FloRida (sans Eurovision)

Example - Popular between 2010-2013/4....had a few lower ranking albums and singles.

The Hoosiers - First album and few singles popular in 2008. Second album spawned a top 20 single....disappeared and now back as a duo, with no impact.

2 Chainz was the rent a rapper of choice in 2013, then everyone forgot about him.

 

Then it was Quavo's turn in 2017/2018, same thing happened (ok Lana remembered him this year at least). And I just remembered French Montana as well.

 

Example is another great... example. Really was up there with Calvin in the early 10s then for some reason couldn't maintain relevance.

Edited October 28, 2024Oct 28 by Dobbo