Top 10 One Hit Wonders Who Now Work Regular Jobs

“She’s So High” was released in 1999, and became an instant hit. Tal Bachman’s debut album hit No. 1 on the Adult Top 40 Chart. The following year, it impressively won a BMI award. Since then, however, Bachman has had little commercial success. In 2004, he released a second album, and has been playing in his father's band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, since 2023. Alongside this, he works as a writer for American Greatness and SteynOnline. He primarily discusses rugby, politics, and religion. Bachman also occasionally plays rugby himself, for the Canadian team The Castaway Wanderers FC, based in British Columbia.

Hailing from Sheffield, this group cemented themselves in music history with the single “Hold Me Now.” Despite their name’s implications, they often had more than two members, sometimes as many as seven. Among them was Alannah[b] Currie, a journalist who achieved success writing and singing for The Thompson Twins. In 2004, she studied furniture production at London Metropolitan University. She began calling herself Miss Pokeno, and launched a career as an artistic furniture upholsterer. Her first sale was a chair she rebuilt after hurling it off a cliff. She also got £18,000 for selling furniture with swear words sewn in.

Ford’s first and only album was called “Willa Was Here,” released in 2001. Its lead single “I Wanna Be Bad” peaked at No. 22 on the US Hot 100. It was her only hit, and she stopped releasing music three years later. She then pursued a career in acting, but eventually settled on a career in interior design. Her company WFord Interiors is quite successful, and still going strong in the 2020s. They’re based in California, but work all across the country. Ford seems super happy with the career change. As she has worked for various celebrities, it’s easy to see why.

“She Blinded Me With Science” was a quirky early ‘80s classic that reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Thomas Dolby’s subsequent musical ventures were moderately popular, but his ‘90s business venture became his real success. In 1993, he founded Beatnik Inc., an audio technology company. They’d be responsible for Nokia’s polyphonic-ringtone playing technology, which bypassed the need for sound chips. Unfortunately, they went bust in 2011. Now, Dolby is a Homewood Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University, where he has been leading their “Music for New Media” degree program since 2018.

“Rico Suave” hit the scene in December 1990, and had a brief stint of widespread popularity. Gerardo Mejía [d]released quite a few albums after, with his final one dropping in 2007. He’d move on to becoming a music executive, working for various companies in his career. Currently, he works for UnitedMasters as their Senior Latin Lead. Here, he was partly responsible for FloyyMenor and Cris MJ’s hit reggaeton track “Gata Only.” Gerardo also became a Christian pastor in Kentucky, where he was given the nickname “Pastor G.” Later, he launched an Ecuadorian coffee brand, an idea he came up with after bonding with another Ecuadorian over their country’s phenomenal coffee at the Qatar World Cup.

“Tubthumping” was released in 1997 and has since been an absolute classic, topping numerous charts worldwide. Alice Nutter joined the anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba in 1982, but left in 2006 to pursue a wildly different career. Based in Leeds, she’s written multiple plays shown at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, as well as a couple of plays for radio. She's also dabbled in television. The most acclaimed series she worked on was the BBC anthology “Accused,” which she wrote one episode for. A fun fact is that Nutter took her name from an accused witch who was hanged in Lancaster in 1612. Growing up in the shadow of Pendle Hill, she felt an affinity for the real-life Alice Nutter.

“I Think We’re Alone Now” was originally written by Ritchie Cordell in the ‘60s, but the most famous version was Tiffany’s, released in 1987. The track was immediately loved, reaching No. 1 in a range of countries. But music changed, and her career declined in the ‘90s. She still performs and releases music despite this. On the side, she works a few regular jobs, like owning a cooking club called “Let’s Food With Tiffany.” She also runs a boutique in Nashville. Tiffany is on Cameo too, selling personalised videos to fans.

“Steal My Sunshine” by Canadian band Len was 1999’s summer anthem. Most members have since left the band, barring siblings Marc and Sharon Costanzo[e]. They’re not officially broken up, but haven’t released anything since 2012. Marc became a music publishing executive, currently working for Inside Music Publishing. He signed quite a few multi-platinum acts, like singer Deryck Whibley of Sum 41. Sharon, on the other hand, works as a relationship coach, under the business name Respected & Connected. She even has a relationship advice podcast. It’s a massive shift in career trajectory, especially given her master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

More than 30 years after its release, “Baby Got Back” is still enjoyed by millions globally. It spent five weeks at No. 1 in America and even won a Grammy. He released his final album in 2003, and then stopped making his own tunes. Between 2017 and 2019, he worked as a radio host in his home state of Washington. Alongside this, he makes a pretty penny dipping his toes into retail. In 2018, he collaborated with the DIY Network to make a one-off show, “Sir Mix-A-Lot’s House Remix.” It showed him flipping a house, revealing to everyone his skills in real estate.

Propelled into stardom for his wildly infectious anthem “U Can’t Touch This,” MC Hammer, also known as Stanley Burrell[f], has made numerous business endeavors in his life. In 1991, he created Oaktown Stables, a semi-successful horse racing business. Hammer also became a preacher in the late ‘90s. He was big on the early Internet too. One website of his was DanceJam.com, where he’d personally rate dance videos. It was based in Silicon Valley, and worth $4.5 million at its peak. In 2010, he opened a mixed martial artists management company. A year later he tried making a search engine, which he thought could compete with Google.


Are there any one hit wonders you’ve spotted working 9 till 5? Let us know in the comments!

[b]uh-LAN-uh.
[c]heh-RAR-doh
[d]meh-HEE-uh.
[e]koss-TAN-zoh.
[f]buh-REL