17 of the Best Country Music One-Hit Wonders of All Time
September 25th is National One-Hit Wonder Day and I have decided to celebrate by adding some more country artists and songs to a list I created last year.
In 2024, I shared a list of a dozen country songs that were huge hits. Unfortunately for the artists that sang them, they were their only hits. The list included songs like "I Loved Her First" by Heartland, "Nobody Knows" by Kevin Sharp, "Who Am I" by Jessica Andrews, "Break Down Here" by Julie Roberts, and more.
READ MORE: 12 of the Best Country Music One Hit Wonders of All Time
Now, in 2025, I am expanding that original list of twelve one-hit wonders to seventeen with the addition of five more songs for your consideration.
Here they are!
JUST GOT STARTED LOVING YOU- JAMES OTTO
It was 2007 that James Otto hit #1 on the Billboard Country Chart with this massive and catchy hit single. While he continued to churn out songs, none of them were hits. In fact, the only other time that James cracked the Top 30 was three years later with his release "Groovy Little Summer."
WAVE ON WAVE- PAT GREEN
This is still one of my favorite country songs from the early 2000s. In 2003, Pat Green released "Wave on Wave", which peaked at #3 on the U.S. Country Chart. He flirted with the Top 10 twice more- in 2006 with "Feels Like It Should" and in 2008 with "Let Me". While nothing else in his library hit, "Wave on Wave" endures and still gets radio play some twenty years later.
SINGLE WHITE FEMALE- CHELY WRIGHT
Though she was on the cusp of the Top 10 with 1997's brilliant "Shut Up and Drive", Chely Wright finally scored chart success two years later with "Single White Female." It didn't just crack the Top 10. It soared to and peaked at #1. To date, it's her only Top 10 song.
FORGIVE- REBECCA LYNN HOWARD
Though the song didn't officially enter the Top 10, "Forgive" earns 'hit' status because it was THE defining song for this incredibly talented singer-songwriter from Salyersville, Kentucky. The song peaked at #12 back in 2002. Trust me. If you were anywhere near a talent show or karaoke bar in the early 2000s, aspiring female vocalists showed off their ranges and vocal cords with one of two songs- "Broken Wing" by Martina McBride or Rebecca Lynn Howard's "Forgive."
MY BOY- ELVIE SHANE
Lo and behold, we have another Kentuckian on this year's list. Caneyville's Elvie Shane lands on my list of one-hit wonders because of his monster 2020 ballad, "My Boy." The song hit #1 on the Country Airplay Chart. And, look! Let me go ahead and say this. I know Elvie and think he's tremendously talented. I am personally holding out hope he scores another big hit single and charts his way off this list. Until then, he wraps up my 2025 tribute to National One-Hit Wonder Day.
What's YOUR favorite country one-hit wonder of all time?
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Gallery Credit: Abby Monteil