Bon Jovi, The Killers, Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner all deserved to have some number 1s as all have songs that last the test of time.

Bananarama are an act i would like to mention, never had either a number 1 single or album in the UK.

Edited yesterday at 15:521 day by Padamic_Tension

12 minutes ago, Padamic_Tension said:

Bon Jovi, The Killers, Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner all deserved to have some number 1s as all have songs that last the test of time.

Bananarama are an act i would like to mention, never had either a number 1 single or album in the UK.

I’m glad you have mentioned Bananarama, as I love them, but beyond my taste, I wouldn’t put them on a par with Bon Jovi and Tina Turner - particularly for cultural impact.

It just shows that having a number one song often has nothing to do with enduring popularity or legacy. The biggest travesty is not that some of these amazing artists listed in this thread never had a Number One but that Geri Haliwell had 4... awful singer and even more awful songs!

And Westlife had 14!!

Alot of the British acts were helped in the 70s and 80s by a TOTP performance.

Agreed about Bananarama, they were be very much a British pop act but have some good tunes.

Edited yesterday at 18:301 day by Steve201

1 hour ago, GreyAsh said:

I’m glad you have mentioned Bananarama, as I love them, but beyond my taste, I wouldn’t put them on a par with Bon Jovi and Tina Turner - particularly for cultural impact.

Yeah I completely agree, I personally love Bananarama but they have definitely not had the same cultural impact as many other bands mentioned in this thread. That said, it's a shame something like 'Cruel Summer' or 'Love In The First Degree' never managed to bag them a #1.

I know most wouldnt class as huge but was a shame S club juniors/8 missed out having multiple number 2s

Luckily rochelle and frankie got 1 with the Saturday's

3 hours ago, Mangø said:

Yeah I completely agree, I personally love Bananarama but they have definitely not had the same cultural impact as many other bands mentioned in this thread. That said, it's a shame something like 'Cruel Summer' or 'Love In The First Degree' never managed to bag them a #1.

They are probably their 2 most cultural songs especially cruel summer which isn't a personal fave of my own.

21 minutes ago, Padamic_Tension said:

They are probably their 2 most cultural songs especially cruel summer which isn't a personal fave of my own.

I'd have thought Venus was their signature tune...it even reached Number One in USA!

Some big names and I think that you’d perhaps get a different answer depending on age / demographic.

Based on UK popularity and cultural appeal perhaps The Killers would be my shout but Springsteen, Bob Marley, Bon Jovi and Amy Winehouse all worthy mentions.

Agree that Janet Jackson never really was huge in the UK definitely not to the level she was in the US.

If we were to discuss the biggest act without a UK #1 albums wise I’d probably say it’s Britney!

Def Leppard are another act who never had a number 1 single and agree about Britney it sounds unbelievable when you say she never had a UK number 1 album.

Bob Dylan

On 07/06/2026 at 17:06, danG said:

looking at the legacy acts mentioned (and some I've added) Killers and RHCP are firmly in front in terms of British Spotify listeners (well strictly speaking London only but a good indication). I suspect RHCP would be ahead if you took away the bias of Mr Brightside.

849k The Killers

808k Red Hot Chili Peppers

701k Radiohead

575k Green Day

555k Bob Marley & The Wailers

551k The Cure

545k Amy Winehouse

524k Nirvana

517k The Smiths

481k AC/DC

470k Hall & Oates

455k Bruce Springsteen

433k Guns N Roses

420k Foo Fighters

397k Bon Jovi

392k Metallica

389k Muse

340k Eagles

334k R.E.M.

331k Dolly Parton

290k Led Zeppelin

276k Bob Dylan

272k Shania Twain

252k Tina Turner

232k Depeche Mode

224k Janet Jackson

204k Pulp

166k The Who

103k Sash!

Honestly the vast majority of these are not surprising. Huge names but the UK is heavily bias to pop and dance music.

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by Paramore

Thanks for the list! Surprised to see Bruce ahead of Bon Jovi, GNR and Metallica.

19 minutes ago, Sour Candy said:

Thanks for the list! Surprised to see Bruce ahead of Bon Jovi, GNR and Metallica.

I'm more surprised to see Hall & Oates that high! I know You Make My Dreams and Rich Girl are big streamers but didn't think anything else by them would push them that high...

I might do a poll of the artists mentioned to see who people definitively put at the top of this list.

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by Mangø

Avril Lavigne. She has so many hits that have stood the test of time, and she drew an incredible crowd when she played Glastonbury a couple of years ago.

'Girlfriend' in particular was a viral moment, best selling song worldwide in 2007, and was the most watched YouTube video of all time for a period. Kept off the UK top spot by a Comic Relief song.

Surprised Lana Del Rey hasn't already been brung up actually - not one of the biggest but certainly one who feels like she should have one

I'd put Selena Gomez above both Avril & Lana, she has way more hits and a longer span of them.

Together Again had that crazy chart run that made it outsell many number 1s

The best song for me to deserve for an artist that never got there!

3 minutes ago, Dobbo said:

I'd put Selena Gomez above both Avril & Lana, she has way more hits and a longer span of them.

There's no way I'd put Selena above Avril in terms of impact, both in terms of as an act and the size of their hits/most well-known songs.

Selena's only had one top 5 hit, and I'd probably bet most of the public could name more Avril songs than Selena songs.