A musician whose single has charted on the Billboard Top 40 without ever repeating that success is deemed a one-hit wonder. More often than not, the sudden rise and subsequent hasty fall leaves irreparable scars on the soul. The following entries focus on the tragic lives of those who fell from grace, be it due to their own vices or simply heartbreaking and unforeseen happenings in life.
10 Tommy Page
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“My whole life, I dreamed of having a No. 1 record, ever since I could remember getting into music. I wanted to be on top of the Billboard charts,” said Tommy Page. And so he did in April 1990 with his No. 1 single, “I’ll Be Your Everything.”
In doing so, Page was instrumental in setting the stage for the boy band revolution that few could have foreseen or imagined. Even more implausible was where it all began.
Page was working as a bouncer in a New York nightclub where he inadvertently ran into Seymour Stein, cofounder of Sire Records. Overnight, Page’s life drastically changed for the better, having found himself collaborating and touring with New Kids On The Block.[1]
Despite never repeating the critical acclaim he had received in 1990, Page went on to become a successful businessman. Throughout his short life, he became the vice president of the Village Voice, senior vice president at Cumulus Media, and an executive at Warner Bros. Records. There, he was instrumental in launching the careers of Alanis Morissette, Green Day, Josh Groban, and Michael Buble.
Sadly, Page battled inner demons his entire life. This ultimately led to his suicide at age 46 on March 3, 2017.
9 Ray Smith
Initially a strict country fan, Ray Smith despised the likes of Elvis Presley. As time went on, Smith became increasingly interested in rock music and, ironically enough, found himself idolizing “The King,” who had become his greatest influence.
In 1956, Smith formed his own band, Ray Smith and the Rock & Roll Boys. At first, they performed small gigs around Kentucky. But eventually, they were “discovered,” which led to a contract at Sun Records.
After releasing several singles, Smith found great success with the smash hit “Rockin’ Little Angel,” which peaked at No. 22 in 1960. Following a string of follow-up singles, it was evident that the public had forgotten about Smith and his limelight swiftly faded.
In 1967, Smith and his family moved to Canada, where he went back to his musical roots in country music. Throughout the years, Smith found work in clubs in Ontario, but he never repeated the success he experienced nearly a decade earlier.
Smith’s life came to a tragic end on November 29, 1979, when he committed suicide with a pistol at age 45.[2]
8 Joan Weber
In December 1954, Joan Weber gained national fame with her single “Let Me Go, Lover” which sold over 100,000 copies in the first week alone. Within a month, the song shot to No. 1 on every Billboard chart, eventually earning Weber a gold record and selling over 1 million copies.
Unfortunately for the overnight pop star, her success crashed and burned as quickly as it had risen. After releasing numerous follow-up singles that failed to chart, Weber’s contract with Columbia Records was terminated.
Desperate for money, she began working as a library clerk and was often spotted singing in seedy bars. By 1975, the long-forgotten singer was featured on Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 as the No. 1 Disappearing Act of all time.[3]
Life did not get any easier in Weber’s final years. Ultimately, she was institutionalized in a New Jersey mental asylum where she died in 1981 at age 45.
