- 7 weeks ago
These comebacks weren’t worth the hype.
Welcome to WatchMojo.WORLD, where we’re counting down the Top 10 worst comeback songs by artists who tried — and failed — to return to the spotlight. From dated production to cringeworthy lyrics, these songs made fans wish they had stayed retired.
Which comeback song disappointed you the most? Tell us in the comments!
Welcome to WatchMojo.WORLD, where we’re counting down the Top 10 worst comeback songs by artists who tried — and failed — to return to the spotlight. From dated production to cringeworthy lyrics, these songs made fans wish they had stayed retired.
Which comeback song disappointed you the most? Tell us in the comments!
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MusicTranscript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the worst songs artists
00:10use to hype up their grand comeback, only to leave us wishing they'd stayed away.
00:21Number 10. Can't Get Enough, Jennifer Lopez
00:25J.Lo's 2024 has been one for the books, and by that, we mean a series of post-apocalyptic novels.
00:34A decade after her previous studio album, Lopez returned to music with an album, film,
00:40and planned tour all titled This Is Me Now.
00:44I just wanna, I just feel like, every time I see it's like, oh, hey!
00:52The new era celebrated her reconciliation and marriage to ex-fiancé Ben Affleck,
00:57which she called the greatest love story never told.
01:00Unfortunately, things got off to a rocky start with the lead single, Can't Get Enough.
01:05Can't Get Enough.
01:07Show it some love!
01:08It wasn't terrible, but it sounded just like her 2000s hits from the first go-around of Benefer,
01:14without much evolution.
01:16I'm still in love
01:19With you, boy
01:24Besides the song's underperformance and derivative nature,
01:29its lyrics and wedding-themed video aged poorly.
01:33Lopez and Affleck announced their second split before the year even ended.
01:37Don't catch it, it's cursed.
01:39Number 9.
01:40Get Her Back
01:41Robin Thicke
01:42The jury on his career was looking blurry.
01:52See what we did there?
01:53But after this song, his comeback clearly wasn't happening.
01:57On Get Her Back, Robin Thicke laments his split from his estranged wife, actress Paula Patton.
02:02Not only was the song a far cry from the immediate catchiness of blurred lines,
02:07but it overestimated the amount of public interest in his personal life.
02:11Now wait for forever, for you to love me again.
02:16All I wanna do, is keep it light, keep it light.
02:20While Thicke may have been a solid B-list name,
02:23it relied on the mythology of his and Patton's relationship,
02:26and banked on people caring about their separation more than they actually did.
02:31It's make it right, make it right.
02:33It's fine, all I wanna do, is give you that thing, play you that song you and your girlfriend sing.
02:41Lightning probably wouldn't have struck twice if Thicke had recreated blurred lines,
02:45but Get Her Back didn't even come close to what made that song such a hit.
02:50I gotta treat her right, oh, I gotta cherish her for life.
02:56Number 8.
02:57Slow Clap, Gwen Stefani.
02:59You'll be angry, I'll be quiet, you'll be purple, unfunny.
03:04This song is B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
03:07B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
03:09B-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-S.
03:09Specifically, the appeals that make you spin off track in Mario Kart.
03:13Gwen Stefani's slow clap was the second of two singles meant to kick off her fifth solo album,
03:18but contrary to the title, it was mostly met with crickets and tumbleweeds.
03:23The song, which features Sweetie in the remix, would sound right at home in a DreamWorks movie
03:35or a back-to-school commercial.
03:40The music video's gymnasium setting is a clear nod to Stefani's past hit Hollaback Girl,
03:45but it feels like a juvenile hollow attempt at recreating the latter's magic without any of its
03:51edge. Seeing as its parent album never came, Slow Clap seemingly killed the era. Someone
04:02probably should have told her to put the pom-poms down. 7. Not Myself Tonight, Christina Aguilera
04:15The title of this song tells you everything you need to know.
04:23With electropop having a moment at the turn of the 2010s, Christina Aguilera chased the trend on her
04:33ill-fated bionic album, beginning with the lead single Not Myself Tonight.
04:45And she certainly wasn't. On the track, Aguilera blatantly aped then-newcomer Lady Gaga's
04:53style in a way that felt disrespectful to her own legacy. She even looks exactly like Gaga
04:58at certain points in the music video. And it's painfully clear that that was the intention.
05:12Not Myself Tonight isn't necessarily bad, it just sounds like a discount version of Pokerface,
05:18coming from an artist with over a decade of her own hits.
05:23That feels good. I needed that.
05:276. Yummy Justin Bieber
05:30With his 2015 album Purpose, Justin Bieber seemingly achieved the impossible. He successfully shed his
05:43uncool teeny bopper rep, and people who weren't tweens could openly admit to liking him without
05:49ridicule. Unfortunately, this shift had a monetary dip with his next lead single, 2020's Yummy.
06:01More of a TikTok soundbite than a full-fledged song, it was nonsensical,
06:07repetitive, and made people question his rehabilitated image.
06:11Yeah, you got that yummy, yum, the yummy, yum, the yummy, yum.
06:16He used to be flexing on me.
06:18Unlike many of the other songs here, Yummy was a major hit and didn't derail Bieber's career.
06:24However, its inescapability added to its annoyance. Even though it was universally panned,
06:30it was still absolutely everywhere. Despite the lyrics and visuals bringing to mind a stomach or
06:39toothache, it was really our ears that suffered with this one.
06:43Any night, any day, say the word on my way.
06:46Number 5. Solar Power. Lorde.
06:50I hate the winter. Can't stand the cold.
06:54From the Beach Boys to Jimmy Buffet, many an artist has sung about breezy tropical vacations.
07:01But when Lorde kicked off her hot girl summer era with Solar Power, the vibes were off.
07:07Come on, come on, tell you my secrets. I'm kinda like a prettier Jesus.
07:12The song simultaneously felt foreign and overly familiar. Sure, Lorde was bound to evolve as a musician.
07:21But this tonal shift was a far cry from what fans wanted from her, especially in the middle of the pandemic.
07:27So, I'm on, I'm on, I'm on.
07:38To top it off, the song sounded tediously similar to past classics like Freedom 90 by George Michael.
07:44All we have to do now is to take these lies and make them true.
07:53Given the state of the world, people needed more substance from an artist who brought moody melodrama to the mainstream.
08:00Instead, they got the musical equivalent of Lisa Frank Dolphin art.
08:16Number 4. Too Cold. Vanilla Ice.
08:20This comeback was a brand new invention in some ways, and a retread of old ground in others.
08:31Eight years after the success of 1990's Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice released his third album, Hard to Swallow.
08:42Rather than continuing the playful pop rap of his early career, it adopted a totally different sound.
08:48New metal.
08:49The lead single, Too Cold, was a reworked version of Ice Ice Baby in the style of Korn and Limp Biscuit.
09:00Ice Ice Baby!
09:07While the genre shift was an admirable, creative risk, it omitted the original's iconic piano rift lifted from Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure.
09:17Too Cold briefly gave Vanilla Ice's career a second life, but it didn't fully materialize into a successful long-term crossover.
09:28Number 3. Filthy. Justin Timberlake.
09:37After his squeaky clean hit, Can't Stop the Feeling, JT trolled us all with Filthy.
09:49The lead single of Justin Timberlake's Man of the Woods album. It managed to crack the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, but lacked the longevity of his previous eras. Filthy is somehow all over the place and forgettable at the same time.
10:12It doesn't measure up to his past hits, nor does it commit to the album's Americana inspirations, leaving it stuck in an awkward limbo. Timberlake's more recent output isn't faring much better, with his 2024 singles Selfish and Drown failing to get in sync with listeners.
10:37But I can't help it. I want every bit of you. I guess I'm selfish.
10:44Number 2. Milf Money. Fergie.
10:47I got that Milf Money. Heard you in the mood for a little milkshake.
10:52This song walked, so her national anthem disaster could run.
10:59Nearly a decade after her debut solo album, The Duchess, Fergie was gearing up for its follow-up, Double Duchess.
11:06It's lead single, L.A. Love, La La, had already been out since 2014, and 2016's Milf Money was set to reignite the era.
11:21However, not even the song's star-studded music video featuring Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen could offset its abrasively busy production and grating vocals.
11:36There's certainly a conversation to be had about ageism faced by female singers, but Fergie's ode to sexy motherhood was just plain obnoxious.
11:45After Milf Money, it wouldn't be shocking to see an ad for her career on the back of a milk carton.
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12:19Number 1. Woman's World. Katy Perry.
12:24Sometimes it only takes one song for an artist's career to go from American Idol to American Horror Story.
12:37Katy Perry was already struggling since her 2017 album Witness severely underperformed, but the rollout of Woman's World was an utter disaster.
12:50It's a woman's world and you're lucky to be living in it.
12:56The song was panned for its dated sound, shallow pop feminist lyrics, and production from Dr. Luke, the subject of singer Kesha's allegations.
13:05Woman's World was especially frustrating because it could have gone differently if Perry played her cards right.
13:11In the year of Chapel Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, the greater pop landscape was the closest it's been to her campy style in recent memory.
13:28And the hype was there. Unfortunately, the song missed the mark, crushing any hope of a comeback.
13:33Did any of these failed comebacks deserve justice? And what should these artists have done differently? Let us know in the comments.
13:46Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
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