They Burned Bright and Burned Out Fast

These artists statistically had the biggest careers over the shortest period of time. Could three of today’s biggest stars join the list?

They were the hottest thing for a hot minute. They’re the artists that had multiple Top 10 hits that seemingly wouldn’t stop—until they did suddenly stop.

Today, we’re counting down the artists that spent the most weeks in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 for the shortest period of time. While some of these artists’ songs are stuck in their era, a surprising number of these artists’ hits remains popular and culturally relevant today, long after their short Top 10 careers.

Who is the artist who burned the brightest and burned out fastest?

• Is it Milli Vanilli, whose Svengali subterfuge infamously crashed their career?

• What about Christopher Cross, oft cited as evidence in the Curse of the Best New Artist Grammy?

• Or Olivia Rodrigo, who turned one teenager breakup into a career?

We’ll examine all of these artists.

Since you’re undoubtedly expecting me to address how streaming completely upended the Hot100 chart here on Graphs About Songs\, here’s a shocker: Streaming has no impact on this one.

If you’re mainly here for trends in contemporary music, scroll to the end for three current artists who might find themselves on this list if the fates turn against them.

How I ranked the artists

• I examined the date of each artist’s first song reached the Top 10 and when their last hit reached the Top 10 to define that artist’s career span in weeks.

• Next, I noted the total number of weeks that artist’s hits spent in the Top 10 and compared it to the weeks of their career span. That gives us a ratio, expressed as a percentage, to judge how popular that artists’ songs were during their Top 10 run. The artists are ranked on this ratio.

• I also noted how many Top 10 hits that artist had during their chart run.

I then applied these additional six rules—then violated several at least once:

1. Each artist had to have at least four (4) Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. We’re looking for discographies, not two hit wonders.

2. The artist’s hits had to reach the Top 10 in a span of less than four years.

3. I disqualified any artist who has had hits in the 2020s since their careers are presumably still active---more on those acts at the end.

4. Solo artists who were previously in a group with Top 10 hits don’t qualify

5. Likewise, bands that spun off soloists with Top 10 hits don’t (generally) qualify—with several noted exemptions.

6. Finally, artists who have had longer careers in Country, Rock, or R&B are disqualified.

Make your guess now at who’s #1 and let’s dive in!

The 25 artists who had the biggest careers for the shortest time

#25: Bobby Sherman

• September 1969 to September 1970 (51-week span)

• 17 total weeks in Top 10 (33% of career span)

• 4 Top 10 hits

He was always pegged as a Bubblegum Pop act, compared with The Ohio Express or The Archies. If you listen to his hits, however, which I did after his death earlier this year, Bobby Sherman sounds more like a Vegas club act for adults. He’s far more Tom Jones than The 1910 Fruitgum Company.

1. “Little Woman” - #3 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

2. “La La La (If I Had You)” - #9 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

3. “Easy Come, Easy Go” - #9 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

4. “Julie, Do Ya Love Me” - #5 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

#24: Backstreet Boys

• July 1997 to November 2000 (176 week span)

• 61 total weeks in Top 10 35%

• 6 Top 10 hits

Unlike their arch rivals N’Sync, who are disqualified from this list thanks to Justin Timberlake’s extensive solo career, no member of The Backstreet Boys ever had a Top 10 hit—although Nick Carter tried.

1. “Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)” - #2 peak; 18 weeks in the top 10

2. “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” - #4 peak; 12 weeks in the top 10

3. “All I Have to Give” - #5 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

4. “I Want It That Way” - #6 peak; 11 weeks in the top 10

5. “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” - #6 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

6. “Shape of My Heart” - #9 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

#23: Air Supply

• April 1980 to September 1983 (178 week span)

• 62 weeks total in the Top 10 (35%)

• 8 Top 10 hits

Have you noticed that no Air Supply song’s lyrics actually make sense? Sure, they sound…. Uh… romantic. But really, “I realize the best part of life is the thinnest slice, but you don’t get for much.” What the f*** is even happening there?

Anyway, it started so easy for Air Supply in 1980 and they wanted to carry on, but their hits ran out in 1983 once MTV and New Wave took over.

1. “Lost in Love” - #3 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

2. “All Out of Love” - #2 peak; 10 weeks in the top 10

3. “Every Woman in the World” - #5 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

4. “The One That You Love” - #1 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

5. “Here I Am” - #5 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

6. “Sweet Dreams” - #5 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

7. “Even the Nights Are Better“ - #5 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

8. “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” - #2 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

#22: Connie Francis

• January 1959 to September 1962 (191 week span)

• 68 total weeks in the Top 10 (36%)

• 15 Top 10 hits

If you’re not old enough to remember when new Studebakers were still in showrooms, you likely have never heard any of Connie Francis’ 15 hits. That’s more top 10s than any artist on this list.

If you’re under 30, though, you may have recently encountered a Connie Francis tune that was never a hit: Her obscure album cut “Pretty Little Baby” became a Tik Tok meme earlier this year and—thanks to audio streaming---returned Francis briefly to the charts just before her death.

• “My Happiness” - #2 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

• “Lipstick on Your Collar” - #5 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

• “Frankie” - #9 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

• “Among My Souvenirs” - #7 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

• “Mama” - #8 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

• “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool“ - #1 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

• “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” - #1 peak; 10 weeks in the top 10

• “Many Tears Ago” - #7 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

• “Where the Boys Are” - #4 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

• “Breakin’ in a Brand New Broken Heart” - #7 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

• “Together” - #6 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

• “When the Boy in Your Arms” - #10; peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

• “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You“ - #1 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

• “Second Hand Love” - #7 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

• “Vacation” - #9 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

#21: Blondie

• April 1979 to March 1981 (101 week span)

• 37 total weeks in the top 10 (37%)

• 4 Top 10 hits

Their last Top 10 hit “Rapture” is famous for being the first #1 hit to feature Hip-Hop style rapping. Unlike some later white artists that would rap, Blondie’s members actually respected Hip hop’s early pioneers who performed in the streets of the Bronx. Blondie is also the only artist on this list whose Top 10 hits all reached #1.

1. “Heart of Glass” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

2. “Call Me” - #1 peak; 12 weeks in the top 10

3. “The Tide Is High” - #1 peak; 10 weeks in the top 10

4. “Rapture” - #1 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

#20: Creed

• July 2000 to September 2002 (114 week span)

• 42 total weeks in the Top 10 (37%)

• 4 Top 10 hits

Creed is to grunge what Pat Boone is to Rock ‘n’ Roll.

1. “Higher” - #7 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

2. “With Arms Wide Open” - #1 peak; 18 weeks in the top 10

3. “My Sacrifice” - #4 peak; 11 weeks in the top 10

4. “One Last Breath” - #6 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

#19: Creedence Clearwater Revival

• February 1969 to August 1971 (130 week span)

• 49 total weeks in the Top 10 (38%)

• 9 Top 10 hits (14 if you count the double-sided singles titles)

They’re Infamously the group with the most #2 hits without ever reaching #1. As I noted in 19 Oldies Young People Love, CCR is the biggest 1960s artist on Spotify.

Technically, I should have disqualified Credence since John Fogerty did have a hit in 1985 with “The Old Man Down the Road.” Since that only reached #10 for one week, we’re gonna hidey-hide it from our data.

1. “Proud Mary” - #2 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

2. “Bad Moon Rising” - #2 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

3. “Green River” – 2 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

4. “Down on the Corner” / “Fortunate Son” - #3 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

5. “Travelin’ Band” / “Who’ll Stop The Rain” - #2; 5 weeks in the top 10

6. “Up Around the Bend” / “Run Through the Jungle” - #4 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

7. “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” / “Long As I Can See the Light“ - #2 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

8. “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” / “Hey Tonight” - #8 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

9. “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” - #6 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

#18: Debbie Gibson

• August 1987 to February 1989 (79 week span)

• 30 total weeks in the Top 10 (38%)

• 5 Top 10 hits

She’s the only artist on this countdown whose Top 10 hits consistently got bigger, both in peak chart position and in weeks in the Top 10.

1. “Only in My Dreams” - #4 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

2. “Shake Your Love” - #4 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

3. “Out of the Blue” - #3 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

4. “Foolish Beat” - #1 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

5. “Lost in Your Eyes” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

#17: New Kids on the Block

• October 1988 to September 1990 (99 week span)

• 38 total weeks in the Top 10 (38%)

• 9 Top 10 hits

If you were a girl between 10- and 14-years-old during the late 80s, you probably remember all of these songs. If you were a 12- to 17-year-old boy during that time, you were probably actively avoiding them. Since Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’s two Top 10 hits were in 1991, I’m again violating my soloist spinoff rule.

1. “Please Don’t Go Girl” - #10 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

2. “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” - #3 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

3. “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” - #1 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

4. “Hangin’ Tough” - #1 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

5. “Cover Girl” - #2 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

6. “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind)” - #8 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

7. “This One’s for the Children” - #7 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

8. “Step by Step” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

9. “Tonight” - #7 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

#16: The Lovin’ Spoonful

• October 1965 to January 1967 (67 week span)

• 26 total weeks in the Top 10 (39%)

• 7 Top 10 hits

You wouldn’t know it from the sound of their biggest hits, but The Lovin’ Spoonful were a credible part of the Greenwich Village scene during their career. This song exemplifies that side of the group—the side you’d hear on FM, not AM:

1. “Do You Believe in Magic” - #9 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

2. “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice” - #10 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

3. “Daydream” - #2 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

4. “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” - #2 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

5. “Summer in the City” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

6. “Rain on the Roof” - #10 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

7. “Nashville Cats” - #8 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

#15: Amy Grant

• April 1991 to March 1992 (48 week span)

• 20 total weeks in the Top 10 (42%)

• 4 Top 10 hits

Amy got an unfair rap. Christians cancelled her when she made a mainstream Pop album and divorced fellow Christian artist Gary Chapman. Pop fans mocked her pandering to Christian fans for claiming “Baby Baby” was about her newborn daughter, not the dude in the leather jacket in the video. Plus, her four mainstream Pop hits, all from the album Heart In Motion, aren’t exactly Bob Dylan.

However, unlike most Christian songs these days which seem more interested in reassuring you of your goodness than confronting you with your ungodliness, Amy Grant actually crafted some meaningful shit. The title track from her 1988 album Lead Me On addressed chattel slavery and the Holocaust. Try getting that from Hillsong.

Also from the album…

Yes, she also was featured on “The Next Time I Fall” by sap-laden Chicago frontman Peter Cetera. And yes, she also had a #2 Adult Contemporary hit in 1994 with “The Lucky One” And yes, her CCM career lasted for decades. But her moment in the Mainstream Pop spotlight only lasted for one album.

1. “Baby Baby” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

2. “Every Heartbeat” - #2 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

3. “That’s What Love Is For” - #7 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

4. “Good for Me” - #8 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

#14: Ke$ha

• November 2009 to October 2012 (152 week span)

• 64 total weeks in the Top 10 (42%)

• 6 Top 10 hits

She has 10 Top 10 hits if you count “Blah Blah Blah” and “My First Kiss” with 3OH!3 (both of which spent only 1 week in the Top 10) and “Timber”, which technically is Pitbull featuring Kesha. With that last one, her career still only spans to November 2013.

Let’s relive those days when her biggest hit wasn’t about an app. Hell, she even plays her favorite CDs…

1. “Tik Tok” - #1 peak; 20 weeks in the top 10

2. “Your Love Is My Drug” - #4 peak; 11 weeks in the top 10

3. “Take It Off” - #8 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

4. “We R Who We R” - #1 peak; 14 weeks in the top 10

5. “Blow” - #7 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

6. “Die Young” - #2 peak; 12 weeks in the top 10

#13: Ashanti

• March 2002 to October 2003 (82-week span)

• 36 total weeks in the Top 10 (44%)

• 4 Top 10 hits

Ashanti actually had nine Top 10 hits and spent 100 weeks there if you count her songs with Ja Rule (and Fat Joe and R. Kelly) Even with her collaboration hits, her career only spans to November 2004.

1. “Foolish” - #1 peak; 17 weeks in the top 10

2. “Happy” - #8 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

3. “Rock wit U (Awww Baby)” - #2 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

4. “Rain on Me” - #7 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

#12: Chic

• February 1978 to July 1979 (75 week span)

• 34 total weeks in the Top 10 (45%)

• 4 Top 10 hits

Chic was really just a warm-up for Nile Rogers’ career turning great songs into legendary classics. Chic’s short career went down with the Disco backlash, but you can still hear the sound on countless songs, such as this Daft Punk classic:

1. “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” - #6 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

2. “Le Freak” - #1 peak; 15 weeks in the top 10

3. “I Want Your Love” - #7 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

4. “Good Times” - #1 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

#11: Herman’s Hermits

• March 1965 to March 1967 (105 week span)

• 48 total weeks in the Top 10 (46%)

• 11 Top 10 hits

Their most remembered hits are nostalgic throwbacks to British dancehall songs and venture into downright novelty. But that’s a heck of a lot of hits in just two years.

1. “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” - #2 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

2. “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

3. “Silhouettes” - #5 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

4. “Wonderful World” - #4 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

5. “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” - #1 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

6. “Just a Little Bit Better” - #7 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

7. “A Must to Avoid” - #8 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

8. “Listen People” - #3 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

9. “Leaning on the Lamp Post” - #9 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

10. “Dandy” - #5 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

11. “There’s a Kind of Hush” - #4 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

Before we count down the Top 10… A word from our sponsor…. Me:

#10: Gary Lewis & the Playboys

• January 1965 to June 1966 (70 week span)

• 33 total weeks in the Top 10 (47%)

• 7 Top 10 hits

Yes, Gary Lewis is a nepo baby, but Jerry Lewis did more to hamper his son’s career than help it. He thought Rock ‘n’ Roll was silly. It’s rich that Jerry Lewis thought anything was silly.

1. “This Diamond Ring” - #1 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

2. “Count Me In” - #2 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

3. “Save Your Heart for Me” - #2 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

4. “Everybody Loves a Clown” - #4 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

5. “She’s Just My Style” - #3 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

6. “Sure Gonna Miss Her” - #9 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

7. “Green Grass” - #8 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

#9: The Mamas and the Papas

• February 1966 to May 1967 (65 weeks)

• 33 total weeks in Top 10 (51%)

• 6 Top 10 hits

You’d think “California Dreamin’” was a #1 given how enduring it is. Nope. Countless artists have recorded it, from The Beach Boys, Jose Feliciano, Bobby Womack, America, and even Sia. However, the only version to hit #1 on any Billboard chart is the 2015 dance remake by the German group Freischwimmer. Their version reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart exactly 50 years after the original.

1. “California Dreamin’” - #4 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

2. “Monday, Monday” - #1 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

3. “I Saw Her Again” - #5 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

4. “Words of Love” - #5 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

5. “Dedicated to the One I Love” - #2 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

6. “Creeque Alley” - #5 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

#8: Chubby Checker

• August 1960 to November 1962 (117 week span)

• 63 total weeks in Top 10 (54%)

• 8 Top 10 hits

He charted with the same song twice. Not the remake, but the exact same recording. The first time “The Twist” was a hit among teens. A year later, posh adults suddenly discovered “The Twist,” as excmplified in this scene from Mad Men.

1. “The Twist” - #1 peak; 12 weeks in the top 10

2. “Pony Time” - #1 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

3. “Let’s Twist Again” - #8 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

4. “The Fly” - #7 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

5. “The Twist” (recharted) - #1 peak; 13 weeks in the top 10

6. “Slow Twistin’” - #3 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

7. “Limbo Rock” - #2 peak; 12 weeks in the top 10

8. “Popeye the Hitchhiker” - #10 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

#7: Lesley Gore

• May 1963 to February 1964 (36 week span)

• 21 weeks total in Top 10 (58%)

• 4 Top 10 hits

I’ve always enjoyed how the singles discography of Lesley Gore chronicles the psychological journey from codependence to emotional independence.

Many years later, Lelsey Gore would publicly acknowledge that she was gay, perhaps the truest manifestation of her last top 10 hit.,

1. “It’s My Party” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

2. “Judy’s Turn to Cry” - #5 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

3. “She’s a Fool” - #5 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

4. “You Don’t Own Me” - #2 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

#6: Milli Vanilli

• March 1989 to February 1990 (48 week span)

• 29 weeks total in Top 10 (60%)

• 5 Top 10 hits

Five Top 10 hits from one album, all of them Top 5, three of them number one hits. We all know how it ended…

1. “Girl You Know It’s True” - #2 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

2. “Baby Don’t Forget My Number” - #1 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

3. “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” - #1 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

4. “Blame It on the Rain” - #1 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

5. “All or Nothing” - #4 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

#5: Spice Girls

• February 1997 to February 1998 (55 week span)

• 34 weeks total in Top 10 (62%)

• 4 Top 10 hits

In the U.K., they had 10 top 10 hits, all but one of which reached #1. That other one reached #2.

In the U.S., they’re the only artist on this list whose hits progressively performed worse. I can’t argue that their first is the best.

1. · “Wannabe” - #1 peak; 15 weeks in the top 10

2. · “Say You’ll Be There” - #3 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

3. · “2 Become 1” - #4 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

4. · “Too Much” - #9 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

#4: The Monkees

• ·October 1966 to March 1968 (75 Week Span)

• ·47 weeks total in Top 10 (63%)

• ·6 Top 10 hits

Like the Beach Boys, Hippies killed the Monkees’ hit streak. As psychedelic sounds and songs we perceived as having musical and lyrical depth (even when that depth was just drugs) became the rage in 1968. Like the Beach Boys, the Monkees sudden irrelevance wasn’t from failing to read the room. They tried—as you can hear below—-but the public couldn’t get past their image.

1. “Last Train to Clarksville” - #1 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

2. “I’m a Believer” - #1 peak; 12 weeks in the top 10

3. “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You” - #2 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

4. “Pleasant Valley Sunday” - #3 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

5. “Daydream Believer” - #1 peak; 10 weeks in the top 10

6. “Valleri” - #3 peak; 5 weeks in the top 10

#3: Wilson Phillips

• ·May 1990 to March 1991 (45 week span)

• ·30 weeks total in Top 10 (67%)

• ·4 Top 10 hits

I find it ironic that their most forgotten top 10 hit, “Impulsive,” is anything but.

1. · “Hold On” - #1 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

2. · “Release Me” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

3. · “Impulsive” - #4 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

4. · “You’re in Love” - #1 peak; 7 weeks in the top 10

#2: Men at Work

• September 1982 to August 1983 (46 week span)

• 31 weeks total in Top 10 (67%)

• ·4 Top 10 hits

Somewhere right now, an American Classic Hits station is playing “Down Under.” The song that makes Americans Google “Vegemite” to this day is an earworm for us, but has become a national cultural heritage piece for Australians. It’s their unofficial national anthem.

Ironically, their top 10 hits ended sooner in Australia than it did in America, as “It’s A Mistake” only reached #34 on the chart down under. The anti-war song, contemporaneous with the similarly themed “99 Luftballons,” deserves a fresh listen in our time.

1. “Who Can It Be Now?” - #1 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

2. “Down Under” - #1 peak; 10 weeks in the top 10

3. “Overkill” - #3 peak; 8 weeks in the top 10

4. “It’s a Mistake” - #6 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

#1: Culture Club

• February 1983 to March 1984 (58 week span)

• 40 weeks total in Top 10 (69%)

• 6 Top 10 hits

On the one hand, the public of 1983 seemed more amused than alarmed at Boy George’s disregard of gender rules. Grownups mocked his makeup and his clothing, but not an excuse to ban drag shows. On the other hand, some seemed very concerned about his sexual orientation. Like so many people, he felt justifiably compelled to cleverly avoid the topic. When pressed on the topic, he once said he preferred, “”a nice cup of tea” to sex.”

Amid all that fuss, Culture Club dominated the radio with six top 10s in barely longer than a year. Half are from Kissing to Be Clever, the other half from Colour by Numbers. Despite only one #!, no artist’s ratio of weeks in the Top 10 to weeks span of their Top 10 careers is higher than Culture Club.

Even their weakest top 10 hit is a banger:

1. “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” - #2 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

2. “Time (Clock of the Heart)” - #2 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

3. “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” - #9 peak; 4 weeks in the top 10

4. “Church of the Poison Mind” - #10 peak; 3 weeks in the top 10

5. “Karma Chameleon” - #1 peak; 9 weeks in the top 10

6. “Miss Me Blind” - #5 peak; 6 weeks in the top 10

Is there a pattern to when artists burn bright and burn out fast?

Below, I’ve charted each of the 25 artists, with the year of their first top 10 hit from left to right and their “burned bright vs. burned out fast” ratio from bottom to top. Notice these two extremes:

• In 1965 & 1966, five artists had their first of many hits in a short career.

• In contrast, only one artist appears after 2003 all the way through 2020.

At times when popular music and our culture in general are changing rapidly, it’s more likely an artist will briefly capture the zeitgeist, then suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of changing history.

• Herman’s Hermits, The Lovin’ Spoonful and The Monkees were right on time for the sound of Pop music once the Beatles became a force in the mid 1960s. As harder rock styles and more socially meaningful lyrical content took over in the late 1960s, however, those acts suddenly seemed trivial.

• In contrast, there was only one artist on this list from the 2010s Power Pop and EDM era, namely Ke$ha.

Why weren’t there more artists with stellar, but short lived careers during this long period?

My theory is that—in contrast to the mid-to-late 1960s—our broader cultural fabric simply wasn’t changing very fast during the 2000s and 2010s.

Sure, we replaced land lines with iPhones and CDs with Spotify. However, our cultural values have evolved lethargically compared to the 1960s. Consider that a high school graduate in 1962 was supposed to be a virgin. By 1969, she was supposed to be sexually liberated before college.

There are other reasons some artists have short chart runs.

• An artist who is emblematic of an entire genre that burned bright and burned out fast: Bobby Sherman, Chic, Culture Club and The Backstreet Boys, mirror the lifespan of 60s Bubblegum, Disco, New Wave, and 90s Boy Bands, respectively.

• A few artists, like New Kids On The Block and Debbie Gibson, simply struggled to survive their fans completing puberty.

What About today’s artists?

There are three contemporary artists from this decade that will make this list if they never have another Top 10 Hit.

These two artists would both land between Chubby Checker (#8) and The Mama’s and The Papas (#9):

Olivia Rodrigo

• January 2021 to August 2023 (135 week span)

• 71 weeks total in Top 10 (53%)

• 6 Top 10 hits

So far her first hit is still her biggest hit.

1. “Drivers License” - #1 peak; 16 weeks in the top 10

2. “Deja Vu” - #3 peak; 15 weeks in the top 10

3. “Good 4 U” - #1 peak; 24 weeks in the top 10

4. “Traitor”- #9 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

5. “Vampire” - #1 peak; 13 weeks in the top 10

6. “Bad Idea Right?” - #7 peak; 2 weeks in the top 10

Chappell Roan

• July 2024 to August 2025 (57 week span)

• 30 weeks total in the Top 10 (53%)

• 4 Top 10 hits

Her most recent two hits arguably aren’t hits. Hot To Go! didn’t reach the Top 10.

1. “Good Luck, Babe!” - #4 peak; 14 weeks in the top 10

2. “Pink Pony Club”- #4 peak; 14 weeks in the top 10

3. “The Giver” - #5 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

4. “The Subway” - #3 peak; 1 weeks in the top 10

Sabrina Carpenter

• April 2024 to September 2025 (72 week span)

• 75 weeks total in the Top 10 (104%)

• 5 Top 10 hits

If tomorrow Sabrina Carpenter suddenly joins a convent, she would be the #1 “burned bright and burned fast” artist on this list. Her five Top 10 hits will actually spend more weeks in the Top 10 (75 weeks in aggregate) than the weeks between her first hit entering the Top 10 and her last. (Despite significant radio exposure, neither “Nonsense” nor “Feather” reached the Hot 100’s Top 10).

1. “Espresso” - #3 peak; 33 weeks in the top 10

2. “Please Please Please” - #1 peak; 19 weeks in the top 10

3. “Taste” - #2 peak; 14 weeks in the top 10

4. “Manchild” - #1 peak; 7* weeks in the top 10

5. “Tears“ - #3 peak; 2* weeks in the top 10

Artists who didn’t make the list…

• Christopher Cross is oft sited as an artist who burned bright and burned out fast. MTV becoming a thing arguably killed his career. over less than four years, however, he only had four Top 10s spending cumulatively 30 weeks there.

• Katy Perry was disqualified because her Top 10 career spanned over five years. Had she qualified, however, her 130 total weeks in the Top 10 with 10 songs would have landed her #10 on the list.

• Def Leppard had Mainstream Rock hits from 1983 to 1999. Had I not knocked them out for that reason, they would have been #11.

• Andy Gibb should be #14. No, he wasn’t in the Bee Gees. Yes, he was among the Brothers Gibb. I’m counting him as a Bee Gee. Don’t @ me.

• Why didn’t Paula Abdul make the list? Because she would have been #26.

• Finally, who would be last on this list? Mathematically, it’s The Kinks. Their five hits that spent cumulatively only 10 weeks in the Hot 100’s top 10 spanned almost 20 years--- 972 weeks to be exact.

Data sources for this post:

• The Billboard Hot 100: https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100

• Wikipedia’s Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_top-ten_singles