Most musicians aren't lucky enough to ever have a hit single on any Billboard chart. However, there are some world famous, highly influential artists who somehow managed to never release hit a single in the United States. Here are eight famous artists who never had a U.S. hit.
(Note: This article is based on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.)
1. Bob Marley
Who would you include on a list of most influential solo artists in history? Certainly Elvis, and Bob Dylan, and Prince, but no list would be complete without Bob Marley, the only reggae artists most people know. Everyone knows at least a few Marley songs, and he even gets some spins on classic rock radio, but he somehow never had a hit song in the United States. He had some top ten hits in the UK, even after he passed away in 1981, but the closest he came in the US was the song "Roots, Rock, Reggae," in 1979, which reached number 51.
2. Blur
The biggest commercial success Damon Albarn ever achieved in the US was with the brilliant Gorillaz single "Feel Good Inc.," which reached number 14. However, Albarn's greatest band, Blur, wasn't nearly as popular in this country, with its biggest hit "Song 2" reaching only number 55 in 1997. Though rivals Oasis had some top 40 successes in this country, proving that Britpop wasn't completely unmarketable, Blur's unabashedly (and occasionally incomprehensibly) British persona and relatively experimental sound made it less popular with American audiences, in comparison to Oasis's simplistic arena rock.
3. The Smiths/Morrissey
Though they've been called the most important band of the '80s, and virtually every teenager and young adult with even an inkling of alt-rock awareness is a Smiths fan (for at least a little while), the band never had a song chart on the Billboard Hot 100. As a solo artist, Morrissey only had slightly more luck, with his single 1994 single "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" reaching number 46.
4. The Ramones
How could a major label band, often credited with kick-starting an entire genre of music, never have a top 40 song in its home country? The Ramones somehow managed this, having only three charting singles on the Hot 100, with the highest being 1977's "Rockaway Beach," which topped out at number 66.
5. Tom Waits
This one shouldn't be so surprising, as Tom Waits is one of the most fiercely original and uncompromising artists that America has ever produced, but the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee hasn't produced a top 40 hit in any country, let alone the United States (no Waits single has even charted here). The biggest commercial success of Waits' career was his 2011 album Bad As Me, which became his first top 10 album, reaching number 6.
6. The Strokes
Arguably the first band of the modern indie rock era, the Strokes were often hailed as the return of rock & roll, along with the White Stripes, back in 2001/2002. While the White Stripes eventually earned a top 40 hit with "Icky Thump" in 2007 (number 26), the only Strokes single to chart on the Hot 100 is "Juicebox" from 2005, which hit number 98.
7. Björk
When a cast member of Saturday Night Live does an impression of a musician, that usually means most people in America know who they are. However, when you ask the average American about Björk, the only thing they mention is her infamous swan dress. Despite her great success in the UK, the highest any Björk song has charted in the US is number 84, which she hit in 2007 with the song "Earth Intruders."
8. The Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is one of those rare artists, such as the Misfits, where the average person is more familiar with its logo and overall influence than with its actual music. As popular as Wu-Tang might be (they've had #1 albums), the highest charting song the group ever had was "C.R.E.A.M.," which hit number 60.
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