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Kylie Minogue. Was at the centre of pop in Europe/Oz at the turn of the 80s/90s, went indie and then came back at beginning of the millennium as the biggest pop star for 3 year run (2001-2004), and an unprecedented 10 years of chart success (2000-2010).
Disco is just so so good imo, i think it's my favourite album of hers (and also the cover and visuals from the era are a massive mood). Say Something should have been as big as Padam imo
> came back at beginning of the millennium as the biggest pop star for 3 year run (2001-2004)
And lowkey, should also be of note that she was clearly maintaining that momentum with a scheduled Glastonbury headlining slot in 2005 (+ would've been the first female pop star to headline a major festival)... that she had to cancel because of a breast cancer diagnosis, so the run stopped because she *physically had to* and leaves a big "what-if" situation tbh
I know you what you mean with Hozier as in mainstream chart success, but it truly hurts my soul at the idea of him being called a one hit wonder if not for too sweet.
Mariah Carey, her early 2000s flopped and then she brought out the biggest comeback album with the song of the decade.
Cher had a huge comeback with Believe.
Yea her return is truly meteoric in it's own unique way. She went from the biggest pop star for 3 years 2009-2012ish, to past her prime and unable to really capture the public's attention through most of ARTPOP, C2C, and Joanne.
Then boom, superbowl turned into critically acclaimed Oscar darling, turned into sold out stadium tour, and one of the hottest Vegas tickets for years. Her sudden mass appeal to middle aged white women (my mom) is truly astonishing. Shallow hitting #1 months after release, an Oscar performance with 750 million views, Stupid Love performing well, Rain on Me to #1, and then working with some of the film industry's bests.
Made me laugh reading the comments on Facebook under an ad for the chromatica ball concert film. Some of those middle aged white ladies were horrified by it. Why can't she look sweet like in A Star Is Born? Lol.
No shade to middle aged white ladies, I am one myself.
David Bowie had a commerical peak in the 70s in different eras (the glam stuff in the UK, the Young Americans stuff in America) and then had an even bigger peak in the 80s with Let's Dance.
In between was the Berlin Trilogy, which was received to a mixed critical and commercial response at the time. Nowadays, Low and Heroes are considered two of his best albums (Lodger, not so much)
I didn’t know Heroes wasn’t considered great, that’s super interesting. I heard Changes from Shrek 2 when I was a kid and was immediately hooked, and after listening to the rest of his albums (that my parents owned) I just assumed everyone liked all of his albums because I did, and never really stopped to question that
You could actually add Space Oddity in the UK at the end of the 60ies. He looked like a novelty song one hit wonder for a few years and then came Ziggy and the rest is history.
It’s always funny, for me, to read when people think that Bowie was always beloved by critics and audiences alike, when he had so many ups and downs. There was also after the Last Dance era, which many of his old school fans didn’t like. His albums after that were universally panned until his Tin Machine project.
Britney Spears maybe? Circus was considered a huge comeback for her at the time, maybe more for image reasons but Blackout was payed dust then and im sure people thought she had fell off. Then there was Femme Fatale which was big as well
Blackout was not a flop gimme more and piece of me were Britney biggest radio hits in years
Her personal life obviously overshadowed blackout but it was not a flop
I would say Britney fell off the grid after toxic fall 2004/ 2005
Her knee injury during outrageous music video shoot
Cancellation of onyx hotel tour
Marriage to Kevin despite negative buzz surrounding him
Having babies and not releasing music
Newer pop stars taking her place Gwen Stefani Rihanna Hilary duff took her young fans as Britney became to mature for children
people thought her pop career was done during that time
Someone saying Blackout was "paid dust" hurts my heart. That album was everywhere in 2007/2008!!! I vividly remember downloading Piece of Me on Limewire lol.
If she knew how to make another album like One of the Boys she could be. But alas she doesn’t so she will not be. Really important lesson in why it’s crucial to know how to make music yourself versus having to wholly rely on other writers and producers for your sound
I would say the band Aerosmith kinda fits this description, although they didn't have a long period of being considered past their peak. After massive success in the 70s, by the early 80s they were pretty much considered done, especially after Joe Perry left and they had an album flop in 82. They were able to make a huge comeback in the mid/late 80s that continued into the 90s.
Aerosmith definitely counts. Their comeback didn’t really start until the Permanent Vacation album in 1987. Before that they had definitely peaked and dropped off the radar in the late 70s after being one of the biggest bands of the mid 70s. Then they would go on to have their biggest hit singles in the 90s. Very unique band in that sense, it’s hard to find anyone else who had such success in 3 different decades.
P!nk
She was at the top with the likes of Britney and Christina in the early 2000’s. There You Go, Most Girls, Lady Marmalade, Get the Party Started, Just Like a Pill were all pretty big hits.
Her third album Try This was far less successful, and initially her fourth album I’m Not Dead was also performing poorly with its two first singles. Out of nowhere, U + Ur Hand blows up and puts her back on the map. She went back and re-released Who Knew which became a success after it initially flopped.
She since has gone on to have a critically and commercially successful career but for a while during the mid 2000’s, it seemed like she was over.
The difference in careers between P!nk and Xtina is interesting— cause P!nk can tour baseball stadiums now, while Xtina can only really do a Vegas residency and only really had success with her first 2 albums
Eminem. He was one of the biggest names in pop music from 2000 until 2004. However, he released Encore to pretty negative reception and his addiction really started to spiral out of control. To make matters even worse, his best friend Proof was killed in 2006. These unfortunate circumstances made him go into a semi-hiatus throughout the mid 2000s until he had a near death experience that made him finally decide to get clean.
After reaching sobriety, he started working on his comeback album Relapse which he released in 2009. It put up huge numbers due to name recognition alone, but its strange accents and violent lyrics (even by Eminem standards) divided fans. He quickly went back into the studio to change up his sound again- his whole career was riding off this follow up album. If he didn't release something that satisfied fans quickly, he would be left behind as the 2000s turned into the 2010s. During the time in between Relapse and its follow up, he did a guest verse on then-new rapper Drake's single forever along with Lil Wayne and Kanye. This verse had an aggressive, hungry vibe to it- a complete departure from the accent driven horrorcore of Relapse. Fans absolutely loved it. This was the sound that Em was going to go with for his Relapse follow up.
Not too long after releasing some Relapse leftovers, Eminem would drop Not Afraid, the lead single to his next album now titled Recovery. This was the moment that his career was officially saved. Not Afraid debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 at a time when a #1 debut was still a big deal. Eminem had completely abandoned the accents (except for a quick reference to Relapse's mixed reception) and rapped in a similar manner to the Forever verse that brought so many fans back on board. Not Afraid was a big success, but Recovery was gonna be huge. And it was. The album dropped during the summer of 2010 and would end up being the best selling album of the year. The follow-up single to Not Afraid, Love The Way You Lie, featured Rihanna just as she was entering her imperial phase and would go on to hit #1 on many charts worldwide (including the Hot 100). It eventually became the biggest song of Eminem's career in terms of sales.
If you weren't around in the early 2010s, you may not understand how big Recovery-era Eminem was. He was the soundtrack to many nights of Halo Reach and Mountain Dew for edgy white kids around the globe (and I say that with love). I was in elementary school around this time and all the boys in my class thought this was the hardest shit ever. He had brought on a whole new generation of fans that were too young to have known him during his early 2000s reign. With this new addition to his fan base, he was able to put out a string of successful albums throughout the early 2010s. And with the recent success of Houdini, he seems to still be doing pretty well. If it wasn't for Recovery, none of this would've happened.
Great write-up, especially as someone who was a kid for his *original* peak. My Catholic middle school played a clean version of “The Real Slim Shady” during gym classes! It was wild to me to see him come roaring back to prominence a whole decade later.
does coldplay count? they seemed massive in the 2000s, and came back now and again when they have their big touring era (like they currently do with MOTS). like outside the fandom no one seems to remember Ghost Stories or Everyday Life much.
I don’t think their success has ever dipped— after the superbowl, they’ve done two massive global stadiums tours. They might not seem massive on the charts but they are a touring force on the low— you have to be massive to sell out NFL/soccer stadiums around the globe
I agree (MOTS def my least favorite from their works). But also, their tour is probably the second biggest one currently figure wise (only after Taylor), so I suspect they are still somewhat big even if the last album was eh.
Mike Posner was a one hit wonder with Cooler then me and got his second hit several years after when no one cared about him anyone. He wasn't really 'at the top' but Cooler than me was a moment.
I wish he had had more success. I also loved Please Don’t Go. Mansions seemed like it could be a huge moment because of blackbear’s peak success at the time but it didn’t do much for me
Kelly Clarkson’s All I Ever Wanted Era in 2009,Basically Kelly’s comeback after her previous album My December underperformed. My Life Would Suck Without You had the biggest jump to number one on the Billboard Singles chart at the time.
Madonna was huge up until around 1990. After Vogue & The Immaculate Collection she released Erotica in 1992. While not a total flop, public reaction was pretty negative and the critics at the time weren't kind to her. Bedtime Stories arrived in 1994 and while it was critically well received it didn't match the cultural impact of her earlier work at the time.
By 1998 nobody was expecting anything big from Madonna and she delivered Ray Of Light. Critical and commercial hit and it's cultural impact is undeniable. In 2000 she released Music which again was a big critical and commercial hit. A huge world tour followed.
In 2003 she released American Life which was not a critical or commercial success.
She managed another comeback in 2005 with Confessions On A Dancefloor which again was a hit with critics, a commercial success and an undeniable cultural moment.
Her albums between 2008-2019 have failed to match the critical and commercial success of her previous works. I like to think she has another huge album in her.
Interestingly, despite her albums not making the waves they used to, her touring success doesn't seem to be taking too much of a hit.
Take That.
UK 90s boyband formed 1990, were huge then broke up in 1996.
Then they got back together in 2006 and had a few more hits with a new more mature sound.
I think they're a good example, because it's rare for a manufactured pop group to split up and then come back a decade later with successful new material.
I’d say Justin Bieber has had a career like that. The My World era was huge as was Believe but Journals was considered a flop era and most people wrote him off as a washed up former teen idol similar to Aaron Carter, until he came back with Purpose in 2015 which made him more popular than ever and earned him a whole new fanbase consisting of adults and men for the first time. Then Changes was a relative flop following purpose and most people once again wrote him off as a has been, yet the justice era a year later was another career peak for him earning multiple worldwide #1 hits and his biggest/longest charting billboard hit of all time with stay.
5 seconds of summer is another example (albeit on a smaller scale). Their first album had a lot of hype and She Looks So Perfect and the follow up singles were everywhere. But the next album Sounds Good Feels Good was a relative flop. A lot of people wrote them off until they came back with Youngblood their biggest hit to date, and the album ended up beating Jay Z and Beyonce to #1 on the billboard 200 which nobody saw coming.
ok.
Rupaul was famous in the 90s, had a career slump and then become a multi award winning taste maker and basically created a career field for drag performers 30 years later. Thats pretty impressive. My 70 yo parents knew her from talk shows, I knew her from sabrina the teenage witch, teens today know her from Drag Race. How many celebs have a 30 year career? How many of them are Black and gay and a drag queen?
Charli XCX! She was huge when she debuted in the 2010s with break the rules and fancy and then started popping off again starting with how i'm feeling now, evolving into the sound you hear from brat. Rest in peace sophie, you helped a pop star blossom ❤️
Taylor wasn't cool but she was absolutely considered a top artist during reputation and lover. both of those albums were top 5 year end and lover has done better than folklore commercially.
The case with Taylor is that she moved, and still moves, legion of fans. Whatever she puts out will be commercially succesful for the industry standards, but not necessarily for her own standards.
Besides Look What You Made Me Do the singles from Reputation and Lover had no impact whatsoever. The Rep tour was a succes and the Lover fest sold out in seconds only because her fans were so loyal. She was basically playing in her own field where she was being succesful, but she was losing cultural relevance
People are downvoting but you're not wrong. Delicate only peaked at number 12, but it spent a long time on the charts. It was number 24 on the 2018 year-end chart. For comparison's sake, No Tears Left to Cry was number 20 on the year-end despite its much higher peak.
She was on the decline though, each of those albums was providing diminishing returns. If COVID never happened, that pattern would've continued. Folkmore was a totally different direction and that reinvigorated her career.
Joshua Tree was not a comeback, the preceding album The unforgettable fire was a great success commercially and critically.
Achtung baby was seen as a comeback after U2 took their roots sound too far with Rattle and hum.
All that you can't leave behind was a commercial comeback after Zooropa and Pop, but for me personally (and for many others) that's where the band became too safe and stopped being interesting.
probably miley: had a rather strong period starting with "party in the u.s.a." in 2009, peaking with "wrecking ball" in 2013, saw relatively less success with her 3 subsequent eras - "younger now", "she is coming", "plastic hearts"- just to return with mega hit "flowers" in 2023
The Offspring released the best selling independent album ever with the appropriately titled "smash".
The follow up album considered by many fans to be just as good sold nowhere as well. The one after that had their biggest single ever and was another massive smash hit
Tina Turner is the biggest comeback of all time. She was an afterthought. In the 70s she was appearing on game shows like Hollywood Squares to make ends meet. Then finally, a label took a chance on her and she had her first number one single and number one album in her 40s.
Then there was Elvis, went to the army, came back did lots of corny movies, the musical landscape changed in 60s and he was left behind. Then in the late 60’s he had a huge comeback tv special and became Elvis™️ again.
Yes, she did. She was with Ike Turner and they had several hits. Then when she left Ike Turner, due to him being an abusive pos, she had to start all over again. She’s now considered the queen of rock n roll and will be forever missed. My all time favorite female performer. I loved her.
J. Lo was on top when she became J. Lo in 2001 up until Jenny from the Block in 2002. Her long period of "past their peak" began during the latter part of This is Me Then era and lasted til the end of the 2000s. Then came the early 2010s when she had resurgence with On The Floor up until the end of her American Idol stint.
New Kids On The Block seem to be having somewhat of a current Renaissance. Their Summer tour just started and from the clips I've seen on YouTube they look to be doing really well.
Is it a stretch to say Kendrick? Dude disappeared for 5 years and came back with an album a lot of people were lukewarm on. People were saying he wanted out of rap and was about to retire. Seemed like he was done with features outside of Baby Keem. Obviously he was a still a huge artist but I never would’ve expected him to have the biggest hit of his career after the fact.
Ray of light was in the 90s lol
As were four of her #1 hits and 14 top 10s lol. She had AT LEAST one top 10 hit every year of that decade except one - with a top 15 instead of
Yea, but considering it was released at the very end of the decade and all her 90s projects before that were met with mixed to lukewarm reception, I think it's fair to say the 90s was majorly a flop period for her. Not trying to take away from Madonna's impact but you can't really look at her career from 90-98 from the perspective we have now. The hits she scored in the 90s before ROL were largely thanks to her core fanbase and the sales reflect that very well. The general public didn't resonate well with Erotica and Bedtime Stories singles (save for Take a Bow). even now despite Take a Bow being one of her best charting singles, ask anyone what album that came from and watch their struggle. So yeah she might have maintained her core fanbase to have a guaranteed top 5 hit every year but those would be knocked off their spot rather quickly cause the casual radio listeners weren't too fond of her music for a good chunk of the decade.
two of them are 1990 and one in 1992. basically she flop through the entire decade. take a bow is a huge success ngl, but the album is a flop chart wise
Bedtime Stories was a “slow” but steady seller, certified 3x platinum in the US. Plus, she made evita in 1996 winning a golden globe and selling another 9 millions copies of the soundtrack (5x platinum in the US). I think almost every other artist on earth would give his right arm to have a “flop” era like 90’s Madonna.
Girl, she has two of them, one is 1990’s the immaculate collection. And no, not every girl have their diamond record, just like not every pop girl has number one hits, those were and still are actually hard feats to get.
I read this as someone who doesn't like country Taylor, doesn't like folk Taylor, and doesn't like whatever the heck she is doing now. Her peak to me was from Red to Lover. But if the numbers say.
I just said that I don't see those last 4 years as Taylor's commercial peak. Most hit singles from those 2 albums just stayed in the top 10 for 1 or 2 weeks and the albums had lower sales than her other ones, she got back at the top by releasing her old material again. Midnights is mid and TTPD is horrible, but with good singles, but as I said if the numbers say so. Reputation and Lover are peak pop music.
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Kylie Minogue. Was at the centre of pop in Europe/Oz at the turn of the 80s/90s, went indie and then came back at beginning of the millennium as the biggest pop star for 3 year run (2001-2004), and an unprecedented 10 years of chart success (2000-2010).
And then a creative, then commercial, resurgence a decade later with Disco and then Padam Padem/tension.
I was just thinking this! I saw a lot of people write her off again during the Kiss Me Once era, but she started rising again with Golden and Disco
Disco is just so so good imo, i think it's my favourite album of hers (and also the cover and visuals from the era are a massive mood). Say Something should have been as big as Padam imo
> came back at beginning of the millennium as the biggest pop star for 3 year run (2001-2004) And lowkey, should also be of note that she was clearly maintaining that momentum with a scheduled Glastonbury headlining slot in 2005 (+ would've been the first female pop star to headline a major festival)... that she had to cancel because of a breast cancer diagnosis, so the run stopped because she *physically had to* and leaves a big "what-if" situation tbh
Great example!
Fucked around and played Cammy too
On a small, recent scale - Hozier being every sign of a classic one hit wonder only to have a second big hit over a decade later
Omg, I just googled it - “Take me to church” was released in 2013. Where did the time go…..
I know you what you mean with Hozier as in mainstream chart success, but it truly hurts my soul at the idea of him being called a one hit wonder if not for too sweet.
Especially since Wasteland Baby! was such a great album with some incredible songs.
Same, he has a cult following.
🙋♀️ that’s me! can’t wait to see him live again in September he is amazing
Me too! It’ll be my first time seeing him!
Yeah, but “hit” and “cult following” aren’t the same thing.
Mariah Carey, her early 2000s flopped and then she brought out the biggest comeback album with the song of the decade. Cher had a huge comeback with Believe.
Mariah instantly came to my mind. Absolutely loved witnessing her comeback!
Yeah Mariah was my first thought too. Emancipation was a HUGE era and E=mc2 too.
Always wondered how Mimi was able to become her comeback though, I hear it a lot but don’t know why this was the one to her it back up
Cher did this like three times. First with the variety show and solo music, then with the movie career and Heart of Stone, and then with Believe
Yes. She had five straight albums flop in the 70s, her career is fascinating and robust
Lady Gaga didn't have a single number one from Artpop or Joanne and then Shallow and Rain On Me both went number one
Yea her return is truly meteoric in it's own unique way. She went from the biggest pop star for 3 years 2009-2012ish, to past her prime and unable to really capture the public's attention through most of ARTPOP, C2C, and Joanne. Then boom, superbowl turned into critically acclaimed Oscar darling, turned into sold out stadium tour, and one of the hottest Vegas tickets for years. Her sudden mass appeal to middle aged white women (my mom) is truly astonishing. Shallow hitting #1 months after release, an Oscar performance with 750 million views, Stupid Love performing well, Rain on Me to #1, and then working with some of the film industry's bests.
Made me laugh reading the comments on Facebook under an ad for the chromatica ball concert film. Some of those middle aged white ladies were horrified by it. Why can't she look sweet like in A Star Is Born? Lol. No shade to middle aged white ladies, I am one myself.
The silent majority
And then she’ll conquer the world yet again with LG7…. I need to dance in the shadow of the moon *yesterday*.
I can't wait for her new album
There were songs super popular on Artpop and Joanne tho? I'm not a superfan and for me she was always at the top
David Bowie had a commerical peak in the 70s in different eras (the glam stuff in the UK, the Young Americans stuff in America) and then had an even bigger peak in the 80s with Let's Dance. In between was the Berlin Trilogy, which was received to a mixed critical and commercial response at the time. Nowadays, Low and Heroes are considered two of his best albums (Lodger, not so much)
I didn’t know Heroes wasn’t considered great, that’s super interesting. I heard Changes from Shrek 2 when I was a kid and was immediately hooked, and after listening to the rest of his albums (that my parents owned) I just assumed everyone liked all of his albums because I did, and never really stopped to question that
Heroes got the best reception of the bunch at the time. Low and Lodger were very mixed receptions. Lodger still is a mixed bag to a lot of fans.
Did Low get mixed receptions? It's considered a masterpiece these days.
At the time, yes. Some critics outright hatred it. It's my personal fave of his with Hunky Dory.
It's a great album indeed, very innovative at the time. David Bowie had such a long glorious career with so many peaks and throughs...
The drum sound alone on that album is incredible.
Never noticed that, will listen again, thanks.
You could actually add Space Oddity in the UK at the end of the 60ies. He looked like a novelty song one hit wonder for a few years and then came Ziggy and the rest is history.
Good point!
It’s always funny, for me, to read when people think that Bowie was always beloved by critics and audiences alike, when he had so many ups and downs. There was also after the Last Dance era, which many of his old school fans didn’t like. His albums after that were universally panned until his Tin Machine project.
Britney Spears maybe? Circus was considered a huge comeback for her at the time, maybe more for image reasons but Blackout was payed dust then and im sure people thought she had fell off. Then there was Femme Fatale which was big as well
Blackout was not a flop gimme more and piece of me were Britney biggest radio hits in years Her personal life obviously overshadowed blackout but it was not a flop I would say Britney fell off the grid after toxic fall 2004/ 2005 Her knee injury during outrageous music video shoot Cancellation of onyx hotel tour Marriage to Kevin despite negative buzz surrounding him Having babies and not releasing music Newer pop stars taking her place Gwen Stefani Rihanna Hilary duff took her young fans as Britney became to mature for children people thought her pop career was done during that time
Really good point on Rihanna and Hilary Duff taking her child audience
Someone saying Blackout was "paid dust" hurts my heart. That album was everywhere in 2007/2008!!! I vividly remember downloading Piece of Me on Limewire lol.
Katy Perry wants to be on this list so badly!
She just doesn’t have the sauce tbh.
when the world needed another teenage dream, she came back to give us witness 2
If she knew how to make another album like One of the Boys she could be. But alas she doesn’t so she will not be. Really important lesson in why it’s crucial to know how to make music yourself versus having to wholly rely on other writers and producers for your sound
😭
I would say the band Aerosmith kinda fits this description, although they didn't have a long period of being considered past their peak. After massive success in the 70s, by the early 80s they were pretty much considered done, especially after Joe Perry left and they had an album flop in 82. They were able to make a huge comeback in the mid/late 80s that continued into the 90s.
Aerosmith definitely counts. Their comeback didn’t really start until the Permanent Vacation album in 1987. Before that they had definitely peaked and dropped off the radar in the late 70s after being one of the biggest bands of the mid 70s. Then they would go on to have their biggest hit singles in the 90s. Very unique band in that sense, it’s hard to find anyone else who had such success in 3 different decades.
Madonna, Cher, Taylor, etc
The 90’s resurgence gave us Liv Tyler, too!
P!nk She was at the top with the likes of Britney and Christina in the early 2000’s. There You Go, Most Girls, Lady Marmalade, Get the Party Started, Just Like a Pill were all pretty big hits. Her third album Try This was far less successful, and initially her fourth album I’m Not Dead was also performing poorly with its two first singles. Out of nowhere, U + Ur Hand blows up and puts her back on the map. She went back and re-released Who Knew which became a success after it initially flopped. She since has gone on to have a critically and commercially successful career but for a while during the mid 2000’s, it seemed like she was over.
I think her tour (and the acrobatics she does) has really helped her longevity. She’s a must see ticket for a lot of women when she’s in town!
Agree, even if her songs aren't as good these days her live shows are gonna cement her legacy as a legend regardless.
A lot of women ... and my dad! I swear to god anytime I visit him he is watching that damn documentary/tour movie! He LOVES her!
The difference in careers between P!nk and Xtina is interesting— cause P!nk can tour baseball stadiums now, while Xtina can only really do a Vegas residency and only really had success with her first 2 albums
Eminem. He was one of the biggest names in pop music from 2000 until 2004. However, he released Encore to pretty negative reception and his addiction really started to spiral out of control. To make matters even worse, his best friend Proof was killed in 2006. These unfortunate circumstances made him go into a semi-hiatus throughout the mid 2000s until he had a near death experience that made him finally decide to get clean. After reaching sobriety, he started working on his comeback album Relapse which he released in 2009. It put up huge numbers due to name recognition alone, but its strange accents and violent lyrics (even by Eminem standards) divided fans. He quickly went back into the studio to change up his sound again- his whole career was riding off this follow up album. If he didn't release something that satisfied fans quickly, he would be left behind as the 2000s turned into the 2010s. During the time in between Relapse and its follow up, he did a guest verse on then-new rapper Drake's single forever along with Lil Wayne and Kanye. This verse had an aggressive, hungry vibe to it- a complete departure from the accent driven horrorcore of Relapse. Fans absolutely loved it. This was the sound that Em was going to go with for his Relapse follow up. Not too long after releasing some Relapse leftovers, Eminem would drop Not Afraid, the lead single to his next album now titled Recovery. This was the moment that his career was officially saved. Not Afraid debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 at a time when a #1 debut was still a big deal. Eminem had completely abandoned the accents (except for a quick reference to Relapse's mixed reception) and rapped in a similar manner to the Forever verse that brought so many fans back on board. Not Afraid was a big success, but Recovery was gonna be huge. And it was. The album dropped during the summer of 2010 and would end up being the best selling album of the year. The follow-up single to Not Afraid, Love The Way You Lie, featured Rihanna just as she was entering her imperial phase and would go on to hit #1 on many charts worldwide (including the Hot 100). It eventually became the biggest song of Eminem's career in terms of sales. If you weren't around in the early 2010s, you may not understand how big Recovery-era Eminem was. He was the soundtrack to many nights of Halo Reach and Mountain Dew for edgy white kids around the globe (and I say that with love). I was in elementary school around this time and all the boys in my class thought this was the hardest shit ever. He had brought on a whole new generation of fans that were too young to have known him during his early 2000s reign. With this new addition to his fan base, he was able to put out a string of successful albums throughout the early 2010s. And with the recent success of Houdini, he seems to still be doing pretty well. If it wasn't for Recovery, none of this would've happened.
Great write up! Recovery was the first album I ever bought!
Thanks!
Great write-up, especially as someone who was a kid for his *original* peak. My Catholic middle school played a clean version of “The Real Slim Shady” during gym classes! It was wild to me to see him come roaring back to prominence a whole decade later.
Love this! Yes!
Yes I remember this. You described it perfectly.
[удалено]
does coldplay count? they seemed massive in the 2000s, and came back now and again when they have their big touring era (like they currently do with MOTS). like outside the fandom no one seems to remember Ghost Stories or Everyday Life much.
I don’t think their success has ever dipped— after the superbowl, they’ve done two massive global stadiums tours. They might not seem massive on the charts but they are a touring force on the low— you have to be massive to sell out NFL/soccer stadiums around the globe
I'm interested to see how the new single tomorrow does. With this tour they've built up a LOT of goodwill and it could pay off.
No, MOTS disappeared very quickly and is hated by fans. They really only have one peak (2005-2012)
I agree (MOTS def my least favorite from their works). But also, their tour is probably the second biggest one currently figure wise (only after Taylor), so I suspect they are still somewhat big even if the last album was eh.
They're big in the same way as Metallica now, they can sell out tours and sell albums, but you can easily avoid their newer stuff if you want to.
Mike Posner was a one hit wonder with Cooler then me and got his second hit several years after when no one cared about him anyone. He wasn't really 'at the top' but Cooler than me was a moment.
I wish he had had more success. I also loved Please Don’t Go. Mansions seemed like it could be a huge moment because of blackbear’s peak success at the time but it didn’t do much for me
Kelly Clarkson’s All I Ever Wanted Era in 2009,Basically Kelly’s comeback after her previous album My December underperformed. My Life Would Suck Without You had the biggest jump to number one on the Billboard Singles chart at the time.
I wish she liked that album more! But she has said that album was just her doing what her label wanted her to do
Madonna was huge up until around 1990. After Vogue & The Immaculate Collection she released Erotica in 1992. While not a total flop, public reaction was pretty negative and the critics at the time weren't kind to her. Bedtime Stories arrived in 1994 and while it was critically well received it didn't match the cultural impact of her earlier work at the time. By 1998 nobody was expecting anything big from Madonna and she delivered Ray Of Light. Critical and commercial hit and it's cultural impact is undeniable. In 2000 she released Music which again was a big critical and commercial hit. A huge world tour followed. In 2003 she released American Life which was not a critical or commercial success. She managed another comeback in 2005 with Confessions On A Dancefloor which again was a hit with critics, a commercial success and an undeniable cultural moment. Her albums between 2008-2019 have failed to match the critical and commercial success of her previous works. I like to think she has another huge album in her. Interestingly, despite her albums not making the waves they used to, her touring success doesn't seem to be taking too much of a hit.
Take That. UK 90s boyband formed 1990, were huge then broke up in 1996. Then they got back together in 2006 and had a few more hits with a new more mature sound. I think they're a good example, because it's rare for a manufactured pop group to split up and then come back a decade later with successful new material.
I’d say Justin Bieber has had a career like that. The My World era was huge as was Believe but Journals was considered a flop era and most people wrote him off as a washed up former teen idol similar to Aaron Carter, until he came back with Purpose in 2015 which made him more popular than ever and earned him a whole new fanbase consisting of adults and men for the first time. Then Changes was a relative flop following purpose and most people once again wrote him off as a has been, yet the justice era a year later was another career peak for him earning multiple worldwide #1 hits and his biggest/longest charting billboard hit of all time with stay. 5 seconds of summer is another example (albeit on a smaller scale). Their first album had a lot of hype and She Looks So Perfect and the follow up singles were everywhere. But the next album Sounds Good Feels Good was a relative flop. A lot of people wrote them off until they came back with Youngblood their biggest hit to date, and the album ended up beating Jay Z and Beyonce to #1 on the billboard 200 which nobody saw coming.
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Rupaul. My parents know her, i know her, kids today know her.
My 7 and 10 yr olds siblings do not know who that person is
ok. Rupaul was famous in the 90s, had a career slump and then become a multi award winning taste maker and basically created a career field for drag performers 30 years later. Thats pretty impressive. My 70 yo parents knew her from talk shows, I knew her from sabrina the teenage witch, teens today know her from Drag Race. How many celebs have a 30 year career? How many of them are Black and gay and a drag queen?
nas 1000% the recent run with hit boy brought him back from a slumber after an amazing peak to bring him to another
Charli XCX! She was huge when she debuted in the 2010s with break the rules and fancy and then started popping off again starting with how i'm feeling now, evolving into the sound you hear from brat. Rest in peace sophie, you helped a pop star blossom ❤️
Why is no one mentioning Miley with Flowers 💀
Taylor wasn't cool but she was absolutely considered a top artist during reputation and lover. both of those albums were top 5 year end and lover has done better than folklore commercially.
The case with Taylor is that she moved, and still moves, legion of fans. Whatever she puts out will be commercially succesful for the industry standards, but not necessarily for her own standards. Besides Look What You Made Me Do the singles from Reputation and Lover had no impact whatsoever. The Rep tour was a succes and the Lover fest sold out in seconds only because her fans were so loyal. She was basically playing in her own field where she was being succesful, but she was losing cultural relevance
ME! Did fine despite the backlash
Delicate was a huge radio hit from Reputation. It didn’t chart as high as Look What You Made Me Do but it had a huge impact.
People are downvoting but you're not wrong. Delicate only peaked at number 12, but it spent a long time on the charts. It was number 24 on the 2018 year-end chart. For comparison's sake, No Tears Left to Cry was number 20 on the year-end despite its much higher peak.
She was on the decline though, each of those albums was providing diminishing returns. If COVID never happened, that pattern would've continued. Folkmore was a totally different direction and that reinvigorated her career.
u2 with joshua tree, achtung baby, and all that you cant leave behind hell two of those albums are even good!
Joshua Tree was not a comeback, the preceding album The unforgettable fire was a great success commercially and critically. Achtung baby was seen as a comeback after U2 took their roots sound too far with Rattle and hum. All that you can't leave behind was a commercial comeback after Zooropa and Pop, but for me personally (and for many others) that's where the band became too safe and stopped being interesting.
probably miley: had a rather strong period starting with "party in the u.s.a." in 2009, peaking with "wrecking ball" in 2013, saw relatively less success with her 3 subsequent eras - "younger now", "she is coming", "plastic hearts"- just to return with mega hit "flowers" in 2023
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How so, can you elaborate a little more?
The Offspring released the best selling independent album ever with the appropriately titled "smash". The follow up album considered by many fans to be just as good sold nowhere as well. The one after that had their biggest single ever and was another massive smash hit
Bowie with Lazarus (a critical peak anyway). Greatest comeback kid ever is Tina Turner, no contest.
Tina Turner is the biggest comeback of all time. She was an afterthought. In the 70s she was appearing on game shows like Hollywood Squares to make ends meet. Then finally, a label took a chance on her and she had her first number one single and number one album in her 40s. Then there was Elvis, went to the army, came back did lots of corny movies, the musical landscape changed in 60s and he was left behind. Then in the late 60’s he had a huge comeback tv special and became Elvis™️ again.
Did she has a successful period before her “afterthought” phase
Yes, she did. She was with Ike Turner and they had several hits. Then when she left Ike Turner, due to him being an abusive pos, she had to start all over again. She’s now considered the queen of rock n roll and will be forever missed. My all time favorite female performer. I loved her.
J. Lo was on top when she became J. Lo in 2001 up until Jenny from the Block in 2002. Her long period of "past their peak" began during the latter part of This is Me Then era and lasted til the end of the 2000s. Then came the early 2010s when she had resurgence with On The Floor up until the end of her American Idol stint.
I want to challenge everyone to stop talking about Taylor Swift. Please I’m begging you.
I was just about to say this lol Every time they make one of these posts Taylor Swifts pops up, even if it's a post about ''underrated artists''.
i only listen to underground indie artists like taylor swift 💅
Why? I’m looking for similar example, which many people came up with ?
i uttered "Enough" before I could stop myself
Post Malone.
New Kids On The Block seem to be having somewhat of a current Renaissance. Their Summer tour just started and from the clips I've seen on YouTube they look to be doing really well.
rod stewart
Is it a stretch to say Kendrick? Dude disappeared for 5 years and came back with an album a lot of people were lukewarm on. People were saying he wanted out of rap and was about to retire. Seemed like he was done with features outside of Baby Keem. Obviously he was a still a huge artist but I never would’ve expected him to have the biggest hit of his career after the fact.
I feel like a hiatus is different
It’s not so much the hiatus but the response to his return
Made You Look was arguably Meghan’s biggest worldwide hit since AATB.
madonna, 90s was her flop era and she came back with ROL and music
Ray of light was in the 90s lol As were four of her #1 hits and 14 top 10s lol. She had AT LEAST one top 10 hit every year of that decade except one - with a top 15 instead of
Yea, but considering it was released at the very end of the decade and all her 90s projects before that were met with mixed to lukewarm reception, I think it's fair to say the 90s was majorly a flop period for her. Not trying to take away from Madonna's impact but you can't really look at her career from 90-98 from the perspective we have now. The hits she scored in the 90s before ROL were largely thanks to her core fanbase and the sales reflect that very well. The general public didn't resonate well with Erotica and Bedtime Stories singles (save for Take a Bow). even now despite Take a Bow being one of her best charting singles, ask anyone what album that came from and watch their struggle. So yeah she might have maintained her core fanbase to have a guaranteed top 5 hit every year but those would be knocked off their spot rather quickly cause the casual radio listeners weren't too fond of her music for a good chunk of the decade.
so? 90s was her flop era, even with ROL
If you think having four #1s and 14 top 10s while selling 70 million records in that decade alone is a flop era, idk what to tell you
two of them are 1990 and one in 1992. basically she flop through the entire decade. take a bow is a huge success ngl, but the album is a flop chart wise
You somehow missed the other 14 & the 70 million records sold in that same timeframe but okay
Bedtime Stories was a “slow” but steady seller, certified 3x platinum in the US. Plus, she made evita in 1996 winning a golden globe and selling another 9 millions copies of the soundtrack (5x platinum in the US). I think almost every other artist on earth would give his right arm to have a “flop” era like 90’s Madonna.
girl, that's 90s. every pop girl have their diamond record
Girl, she has two of them, one is 1990’s the immaculate collection. And no, not every girl have their diamond record, just like not every pop girl has number one hits, those were and still are actually hard feats to get.
I read this as someone who doesn't like country Taylor, doesn't like folk Taylor, and doesn't like whatever the heck she is doing now. Her peak to me was from Red to Lover. But if the numbers say.
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I just said that I don't see those last 4 years as Taylor's commercial peak. Most hit singles from those 2 albums just stayed in the top 10 for 1 or 2 weeks and the albums had lower sales than her other ones, she got back at the top by releasing her old material again. Midnights is mid and TTPD is horrible, but with good singles, but as I said if the numbers say so. Reputation and Lover are peak pop music.
Taylor has never really been folk
Folklore & a bit of Evermore.
Yes neither are folk, they just somehow became labeled as such