The greatest one-hit wonders of the 2000s
Including The Bravery and Peter, Bjorn and John
Last updated 11th Apr 2022
As part of our celebrations for Absolute Radio’s The Best Decade, we proudly present some of the UK's greatest one-hit wonders of the 2000s!
Featuring The Bravery, Peter Bjorn and John, Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, Nizlopi and many more, you can check out the full list below.
Voting for The Best Decade is now closed!
The greatest one-hit wonders of the 2000s:
The Bravery – ‘An Honest Mistake’ (2005):
Briefly bitter adversaries of their 80s loving kindred spirits The Killers in the mid-noughties, sadly for The Bravery they didn’t quite have the staying power of Brandon Flowers and co. The New York indie rockers reached Number 7 with their absolute banger of a debut single ‘An Honest Mistake’ in 2005 but they never dented the UK Top 40 again. The Bravery split up in 2011 but reformed last year.
Peter Bjorn And John – ‘Young Folks’ (2006):
Centring on an instantly catchy whistle and guest co-vocals from The Concretes’ Victoria Bergsman, Peter Bjorn And John’s sublime song ‘Young Folks’ hit Number 13 in the UK in the summer of 2006 and it remains their only chart hit. ‘Young Folks’ has gone on to appear in countless commercials and TV shows ensuring that Peter Morén, Björn Yttling and John Eriksson get a regular royalties cheque. Nice.
Michael Andrews and Gary Jules – ‘Mad World’ (2003):
American musicians Michael Andrews and Gary Jules scored a blockbuster hit with their haunting and highly affecting cover of Tears For Fears’ ‘Mad World’ in 2003 thanks to its appearance in cult movie Donnie Darko. It stayed at Number 1 for three weeks and even kept The Darkness’ ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’ off the festive top spot.
Nizlopi – ‘JCB’ (2005):
Folk music duo Nizlopi – aka Luke Concannon and John Parker – scored a surprise hit with their nostalgic musical gem ‘JCB’. Lyrically about a moment in Concannon's childhood when his dad picked him up from school in a JCB digger when he was being bullied, the cute tune reached Number 1 in December 2005. Extra kudos should be given to Nizlopi for keeping Westlife’s ‘When You Tell Me That You Love Me’ off the top spot. Respect!
Rui Da Silva – ‘Touch Me’ (2001):
Portuguese house music producer Rui da Silva joined forces with British singer-songwriter Cassandra Fox in the early noughties for their banging club anthem ‘Touch Me.’ It shot straight to Number 1 and da Silva became the first Portuguese musician ever to reach the chart summit in the UK. Although da Silva didn’t score another hit, he remains a successful DJ and he has remixed a variety of artists including Jennifer Lopez and The Lighthouse Family.
DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies – ‘Do You Really Like It?’ (2001):
Released in in the heady summer of 2001 when garage music was dominating airwaves and the charts, DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies reached Number 1 with their earworm ‘Do You Really Like It?’ and it sold a whopping 600,000 copies in the UK alone. Follow-up ‘We R Here’ was a flop and DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies split in 2002.
Liam Lynch – ‘United States of Whatever’ (2002):
American musician Liam Lynch dented the Top 10 in December 2002 with his goofy comedy rock song ‘United States of Whatever’. Lynch is also a hugely successful film and music video director who has worked with the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Royal Blood, No Doubt and Eagles of Death Metal. He even directed the legendary 2006 film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny after working with Tenacious D a few years earlier.
Crazy Town – ‘Butterfly’ (2000):
Sampling the guitar riff from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 1989 song ‘Pretty Little Ditty’, Los Angeles rap rock group Crazy Town reached the dizzy heights of Number 3 in autumn 2000 with ‘Butterfly.’ Follow-up single ‘Revolving Door’ narrowly missed the Top 20 before Crazy Town disappeared into obscurity. Although ‘Butterfly’ was a huge hit, Crazy Town had to share the royalties with RHCP’s Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith, and John Frusciante. Ouch.
Baha Men – ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’ (2000):
22 years after the once ubiquitous single’s initial release, we're still none the wiser about who let the dogs out. Bahamian junkanoo band Baha Men reached Number 2 in the UK with ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’ in July 2000 and the track was even named Best Dance Recording at the 2001 Grammy Awards.
Aqualung – ‘Strange And Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)’ (2002):
English singer-songwriter Aqualung – aka Matthew Nicholas Hales – hit Number 7 with his plaintive piano-led anthem ‘Strange And Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)’ in 2002 largely thanks to its usage in a Volkswagen Beetle TV commercial. Although he didn’t score another chart hit, Hales is an immensely successful Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer who has worked with Lianne La Havas, Keane’s Tom Chaplin, Bat for Lashes, Mika, Paloma Faith and Jason Mraz to name but a few.
Caesars – ‘Jerk It Out’ (2005):
Swedish indie-rockers Caesars scored their only UK hit in 2005 when they reached Number 8 with their infectious, instantly feel-good anthem ‘Jerk It Out.’ It has sold over 400,000 copies on these shores alone.
Tomcraft – ‘Loneliness’ (2003):
Munich based DJ Tomcraft (real name Thomas Brückner) sampled the vocals from Andrea Martin’s 1998 single ‘Share the Love’ and turned it into the tech-trance tour-de-force that is ‘Loneliness.’ A colossal Number 1 hit in the UK in 2003, it also topped the charts in Tomcraft’s native Germany.
Read more:
The greatest one-hit wonders of the 1960s
The greatest one-hit wonders of the 1970s
The greatest one-hit wonders of the 1980s
The greatest one-hit wonders of the 1990s