Top 10 Musicians You Forgot Existed

  Duffy was all the rage in 2008. Her song “Mercy” was nominated for BRIT, Grammy, and peaked at number one throughout most of Europe. Her debut album, Rockferry, won a Grammy and three BRIT awards and was the fourth-best selling album of 2008.  Her future was bright, but her second album, Endlessly, was a huge bomb, which prompted Duffy to take a break from the music industry to focus on acting.  You might have seen her in “Legend,” and…that’s about it.  And while she performed three songs for that movie’s soundtrack, her music career has been a relative blank slate since 2010.    

#9: Ja Rule

Also in:

Top 30 90s Songs You Forgot Were Awesome


Ja Rule ruled the early 2000s. In that time, he appeared on numerous number one hits, including “I’m Real” and “Always On Time”, and scored Grammy nominations all over. However, he took a hiatus in 2005, and his career never quite recovered. Pain Is Love 2, his first album since 2004, was released in 2012 while he was in prison for tax evasion and gun charges. Since his release, Ja Rule has penned an autobiography, appeared in a reality show  called “Follow the Rules”, endorsed a credit card, founded a talent agency, and was set to release his final album in 2018.    

  Alien Ant Farm had one great year – 2001. In the summer of 2001, they released a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” and scored a top five hit in numerous countries, and found a number one in Australia . While it only reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The band has released three albums since,  most recently in 2015, but to limited fanfare. While “Smooth Criminal” was many a middle-schoolers’ jam in 2001, they failed to capitalize on their initial success, eventually fading into relative one-hit wonder obscurity.    


Akon was one of the hottest artists of the 2000s. His album Konvicted received three Grammy nominations, and he holds the distinction of being the first solo artist to hold the top two spots on the Billboard Hot 100 on two separate occasions. However, his career hit two significant bumps in 2007 when he mimed having sex with a minor, and threw another one off the stage. His next album, 2008's Freedom, would be his last as of 2018, although he plans to release a new album called Stadiumthrough an exclusive app... eventually.      

#6: Good Charlotte

Also in:

Top 10 Albums So Good They Revived Singers Careers

   Anyone from the early 2000s will have no trouble telling you who Good Charlotte is. They hit mainstream popularity in 2002 with their second album The Young and the Hopeless, with the help of successful singles like “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and “The Anthem”. They arguably hit their worldwide peak in 2007 with the multi-platinum selling Good Morning Revival. Their next album, Cardiology, wasn’t nearly as successful, tapping out at at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. They soon entered a major hiatus, which was finally broken in 2016 with the release of Youth Authority, which brought excitement to a limited few.      


Like Vanessa Carlton, Michelle Branch dominated the airwaves of the early 2000s with a few smash songs, and then dropped off the face of the Earth. Branch’s debut album, The Spirit Room, has been certified double platinum in the US,  and the lead single, “Everywhere”, reached #5 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. Her second album, Hotel Paper, was certified platinum, and the song “Are You Happy Now?” secured Branch her third Grammy nomination. Since that time, she has formed a country duo which has since disbanded. On the plus side, Branch and Vanessa Carlton were able to create such earworm tracks in the 2000s that they definitely will not be forgotten anytime soon. 

 


Dido’s first two albums, No Angel and Life for Rent, were extremely successful in the UK. In fact, No Angel has been certified 10x platinum and was the second-best selling album of the decade in the there. Life for Rent was certified 9x platinum and was the seventh-best selling album, which made Dido the only artist to have two albums within the top ten. However, her third album, Safe Trip Home, only reaching platinum status in Switzerland. Since that time, she has released various singles and a fourth album, although these efforts failed to reach the heights of her previous work.   
 



Like most of the artists on this list, Macy Gray’s early career was spectacular. Her albums On How Life Is and The Id were successful, with the former having been certified 3x platinum, and the latter reaching gold. This success was aided by the massive single “I Try”, which reached #1 on four different international charts. Gray has actually released new material on a fairly consistent basis,  but as fair as mainstream, general audiences are concerned, she's well off the radar and has been radio silent since 2001 . 


  

  Ashanti began her career on collaborations with Fat Joe and Ja Rule, collabs which earned Ashanti the distinction of being the first woman to simultaneously hold the top two spots on the Billboard Hot 100. She also became the second artist in history after The Beatles to have their first three singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. She followed these singles with two highly successful albums and a Grammy award in 2003. However, her subsequent albums saw lesser success, and her last top ten chart appearance was a featured artist on Ja Rule’s “Wonderful” in 2004.  
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. 

LMFAO 
 
Gotye       Natasha Bedingfield       

  There was a time when Lauryn Hill was literally all over the radio and headlines. That time came to a close mid 2000. Hill began her career with the Fugees, and their album The Score was certified 6x platinum. She then ventured on her own, releasing The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, a massive success which has sold nearly 20 million copies worldwide and which won five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year . However, she soon grew to resent her fame, which over time resulted in her intentionally stepping away from the spotlight. Regardless, Hill accomplished more with one album than most artists will in their entire careers.