29 minutes ago, Mangø said:

'The Best' surely sounds like a massive 80s number one, no?

Also until I got into the charts I wrongly assumed for a number of years that 'What's Love Got to do with it' had reached number 1.

43 minutes ago, Mangø said:

'The Best' surely sounds like a massive 80s number one, no?

I wouldn’t personally say so tbh - it sounds like a hit I guess but I think it sounds like a top 10 rather than a chart topper

With all the "non-#1s" of the 2000s/2010s then I've no idea what "sounds" like should have been chart-toppers tbf.

4 minutes ago, Dobbo said:

With all the "non-#1s" of the 2000s/2010s then I've no idea what "sounds" like should have been chart-toppers tbf.

Haha, yes this is fair. I guess everything depends upon the era we relate to and our expectations accordingly

Plus tbh I do find Tina Turner a tad overrated. I think her performance ability was a lot better than most of the songs she had

Janet and Bon Jovi are the ones that stand out to me as they’ve had several notable hits. Janet especially as he’s had at least five or six top 3 hits?

I went with Depeche Mode also as I always had the impression they had a strong (although not huge) fan base and that they must have got a quick No.1 somewhere. It’s odd they never had a top 3 hit tbh. Led Zeppelin is another I almost went for as again they were such a legendary rock band you’d have thought they would have had one somewhere.

13 minutes ago, Supercell said:

Led Zeppelin is another I almost went for as again they were such a legendary rock band you’d have thought they would have had one somewhere.

Led Zeppelin were famously averse to releasing singles though. If they'd released singles conventionally I'm sure they could have managed a #1 or two.

Depeche Mode, Amy Winehouse, The Cure

I could've sworn Girlfriend went #1 for Avril.

I voted Janet obvs!

There are some on the list who I wouldn't consider to be big acts let alone the biggest without a number one. Avril Lavigne had a couple of relatively well known songs but was seen as a joke by most people I know. The Killers have 1 big song, it's almost like saying Chesney Hawkes is a big act.

The 2 I would consider the biggest without a number one are Led Zeppelin and Nirvana. Led Zeppelin didn't release singles but all their albums except their first one topped the albums chart and if you ask anyone who was around at the time they'll tell you just how big they were. When I was at school in the early 90s Nirvana were by far the most popular band amongst my peers. The reason their chart positions didn't reflect this is because people bought the albums rather than the singles and those who didn't buy the album would get a copied tape off someone.

7 minutes ago, My Random Music said:

The Killers have 1 big song, it's almost like saying Chesney Hawkes is a big act.

😂😂🫣

16 minutes ago, My Random Music said:

The Killers have 1 big song, it's almost like saying Chesney Hawkes is a big act.

Most people my age could probably recite Somebody Told Me, Human and When You Were Young off by heart. All These Things That I've Done, Read My Mind and The Man are also really popular!

Yeah objectively I'd argue that most people could name Smells Like Teen Spirit as by FAR Nirvana's biggest song in the same way Mr Brightside is by far the biggest Killers song. And objectively The Killers were very popular with their first 3 albums all clearing a million (and their debut easily clearing 2) - feels like the two are very similar, just experienced by different generations.

45 minutes ago, My Random Music said:

There are some on the list who I wouldn't consider to be big acts let alone the biggest without a number one. Avril Lavigne had a couple of relatively well known songs but was seen as a joke by most people I know. The Killers have 1 big song, it's almost like saying Chesney Hawkes is a big act.

Somebody Told Me, All These Things I've Done, When You Were Young, and Human, with a combined 11 Platinum certifications between them, were apparently not big hits for The Killers.

Avril is hugely respected in the music industry. Some of today's biggest artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish cite Avril as a major influence on their music.

No Avril without Alanis though!

Yeh, the one thing I’d add about Nirvana is that they led a new style in grunge (along with Pearl Jam)!

That's a fair comment about "Smells Like Teen Spirit". However it was evident to see how big Nirvana were, you'd have to be living under a rock to not know who Kurt Cobain was and many of us knew Krist and Dave too. The "Nevermind" album cover is amongst the most recognisable album covers ever. The sheer quantity of people wearing Nirvana t-shirts.

I was still in my 20s when The Killers were in their prime so wasn't over the hill yet and I do remember a couple of other songs they did but certainly not all those listed and I haven't heard any except "Mr Brightside" in the last 20 years or so. They were popular no doubt, but they were just one of many indie bands of the time beginning with K. I know the singer is Brandon Flowers but that's pretty much all I know about them, couldn't name another member or tell you how many of them there were. I believe they had an album called "Hot Fuzz" but wouldn't recognise the cover. I can't ever recall seeing someone in a Killers t-shirt. The only thing that makes them stand out compared to other indie bands of the time is the longevity of "Mr Brightside".

Regarding Avril Lavigne, her influence on a couple of modern Disney pop singers who don't even write their own music doesn't say much for her credibility.

1 hour ago, My Random Music said:

There are some on the list who I wouldn't consider to be big acts let alone the biggest without a number one. Avril Lavigne had a couple of relatively well known songs but was seen as a joke by most people I know. The Killers have 1 big song, it's almost like saying Chesney Hawkes is a big act.

The 2 I would consider the biggest without a number one are Led Zeppelin and Nirvana. Led Zeppelin didn't release singles but all their albums except their first one topped the albums chart and if you ask anyone who was around at the time they'll tell you just how big they were. When I was at school in the early 90s Nirvana were by far the most popular band amongst my peers. The reason their chart positions didn't reflect this is because people bought the albums rather than the singles and those who didn't buy the album would get a copied tape off someone.

I could name a ton of Avril songs and quite a few Killers songs. I could name one Nirvana and one Led Zeppelin song lol. This is a very subjective question so I wouldn't make sweeping statements like Avril "was seen as a joke" because to a lot of people she's an icon

I would probably not include Avril as being up there with the likes of Led Zep but that’s my opinion. The poster above is really just coming across as patronising in their arguements now.

On 10/06/2026 at 02:44, Jay79x said:

gonna say Janet, most people are aware of her over several decades

I remember seeing a statistic once that she’s only the artist with at least five US number ones not to have single UK number one. I actually think that might be just her and Morgan Wallen now.

If you ask the GBP, I imagine they would say Together Again is her number one.

11 minutes ago, No Sleeep said:

I could name a ton of Avril songs and quite a few Killers songs. I could name one Nirvana and one Led Zeppelin song lol. This is a very subjective question so I wouldn't make sweeping statements like Avril "was seen as a joke" because to a lot of people she's an icon

Sure there are different ways to measure how big an artist is and the best way is a matter or opinion but surely nobody could seriously say that Avril Lavigne is bigger than Led Zeppelin.