Singers or Groups that are popular without hit songs

DuranDuran

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What performers do you know that are really popular with few or no radio/single hits? Here's some I can think of:

Metallica
Black Sabbath
Led Zepplin
Grateful Dead
Morrissey
Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix
Ozzy Osbourne
Pink Floyd
Los Lobos
Stevie Ray Vaughn
 
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The Mars Volta are incredibly popular, and as far as I know, they've never had a hit single.
 
where I live...

Jay Z
Metallica
Lenny Kravitz
Janet Jackson
Diddy


many more,can't remember now...
 
John Legend's songs never really chart very well, but he does pretty good for himself.

Many neo-soul artists like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Maxwell and others don't do very well on charting singles but still manage to push quite a few albums and gather a good following.
 
Kenny G. might apply. His albums are big, but never had any "hits" other than Songbird.
 
Maze and Frankie Beverly
Henry Rollins
The Gap Band (they weren't as popular on the pop charts, lol)
Erykah Badu
Angie Stone
Jill Scott
 
John Legend's songs never really chart very well, but he does pretty good for himself.

Many neo-soul artists like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Maxwell and others don't do very well on charting singles but still manage to push quite a few albums and gather a good following.
true. i'd put in Lauryn Hill because she's hailed by so many and, even though she had just one album, the only "hit" she had was Doo Wop and it's not even her best song. even with the Fugees their only hit was Killing Me Softly.
 
Metallica didn't have a hit? :unsure:
They had a couple hits maybe from the 1991 album, but their stuff was a bit too "hardcore" for Top 40 and got little airplay. They might have gotten airplay on the "hard rock" stations they used to have in the 80s. But they didn't play "singles" per se, they played "album tracks". They're more an "album" group, which means their albums sell big, but don't do anything as far as singles are concerned. Some acts appeal to people that aren't into the mainstream. It's like goths with Bauhaus, or Jimmy Buffet fans. Both are popular to certain groups, but might be unknown or little known to the masses.
 
The Roots.

I know they had a (hit???) song called You Got Me feat. Erykah Badu, but they're a great group.
 
morrissey is one of the best artis the world has seen. clever and a grate poet!
 
as mentioned before, The Roots

Bilal

Both The Roots and Bilal have done so many shows all over the world and the crowd is wonderful.
 
The Beastie Boys never really had any big chart hits except Fight For Your Right, which is a song the group doesn't like, and maybe Intergalactic. But their albums sell a lot.
 
Kenny G. might apply. His albums are big, but never had any "hits" other than Songbird.

Kenny G. is a staple on smooth jazz radio, so i think he doesn't qualify. lol. well maybe he does if you say straight up pop charts..but he's so prevalent on smooth jazz radio, i wonder if he's popular by default..

you know..this kind of thread really embarrases the media, because they wanted to say MJ's popularity was dwindlng cus they stopped playing his music on the radio in later years..

anyway...it becomes hard after the ones you mentioned. i guess Jack Black may qualify, if somebody didn't already list him. i'm too lazy to peruse this thread..
 
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Metallica had Enter Sandman which was a huge hit , right? And Bobby Mcferrin had Don't Worry be Happy. I think they are both one hit wonders, but one nonetheless. That album of McFerrin that had DWBH on it was really good. I used to listen to it all the time when I was a child.
 
The Roots & Metallica

The Roots.

I know they had a (hit???) song called You Got Me feat. Erykah Badu, but they're a great group.
They're on the Jimmy Fallon show now, so they're seen by many people today.
 
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