Biggest One-Hit Wonders of All Time

Toni Basil is a multiple Emmy and Grammy nominee, choreographer, actor, director, and dancer, and was named a Living Legend of Hip Hop by Hip Hop International in 2008. Though “Mickey” was hailed by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as one of the groundbreaking singles of the ’80s, it was Basil’s only smash hit recording.

Mims (full name Shawn Mims) had a huge hit with this “memorably minimalist chest-bump anthem” (in the words of Stereogum). The follow-ups, however, were tepidly received, and Mims subsequently turned to Silicon Valley, creating an app, RecordGram, with two partners.

Written by Crazy Town lead singer Shifty Shellshock (otherwise known as Seth Binzer), “Butterfly” samples “Pretty Little Ditty” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band Crazy Town toured with. The song — identified by the Federal Trade Commission as inappropriate for underage listeners — didn’t top the charts until a year-and-a-half after it was released.

Darrin Kenneth O’Brien, the Canadian reggae-rapper who performs as Snow, got into the Guinness Book of World Records for this song, named the biggest selling reggae single of all time. Subsequent recordings failed to duplicate the success of “Informer,” and since 2009, when his longtime partner died of cancer, he has devoted himself to charities funding cancer research and to helping residents of nonprofit housing.

Atlanta rappers D4L (which stands for “Down for Life”) initially created this song as a smartphone ringtone before it came out as a single. The song appeared on the group’s sole studio album, “Down for Life.”