Top 10 Singers Who Experienced a Big Resurgence Years Later

MsMojo

They say lightning never strikes twice, but these musicians prove otherwise! Join us as we count down our picks for the singers who made incredible comebacks years after their prime. Our list includes artists who found new audiences through movies, collaborations, and pop culture moments that thrust them back into the spotlight.

Transcript

00:00I've been waiting for this opportunity for such a long time.

00:05Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the musicians who staged

00:09impressive comebacks after their biggest hits seemed to be behind them.

00:13It's harder to come back than to become.

00:16Yes.

00:17When did you figure that out?

00:19Many times.

00:2110. Natasha Bedingfield

00:23Most singers don't break into the mainstream with just one song.

00:27Natasha Bedingfield has at least two that we'll never forget.

00:35The British singer-songwriter behind Unwritten and Pocketful of Sunshine has begun to enjoy

00:41some of the fame and adoration she received when she debuted in the mid-2000s.

00:45Part of that revival has to do with Unwritten being included in the hit 2023 rom-com Anyone

00:51But You.

00:57As a result, Bedingfield has seen a return to the Billboard charts for the first time

01:05since 2007.

01:07Guess she was right.

01:08The rest really was still unwritten.

01:10Live your life with arms wide open Today is where your book begins The rest is still

01:16unwritten.

01:189.

01:19Sophie Ellis-Bexter

01:21Oh, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,

01:24I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, about your kind.

01:27In 2001, all of the UK seemed to be dancing to Murder on the Dance Floor.

01:32The peppy disco pop song is still an earworm after all these years, and it seems the creators

01:38of Salt Byrne agree.

01:45The track and singer Sophie Ellis-Bexter experienced a viral moment in 2023 after it was featured

01:51in a pivotal, not-quite-safe-for-work scene.

01:54Suddenly, Ellis-Bexter was performing it live on TV again two decades after its release.

01:59Fame can be so bizarre, all it takes is the right song and the right movie to put a singer

02:04back on top.

02:138.

02:14Tony Bennett

02:15This late crooner has the distinction of spending almost 85 years in the music business, but not

02:26all those years were sunshine and roses.

02:28Tony Bennett experienced major personal and professional setbacks in the 1960s and 70s.

02:35He spent years trying to turn his career around.

02:38In the 1990s, he embarked on a resurgence that lasted almost the rest of his career.

02:43You're being played on alternative radio stations, you've been on MTV, what's going on?

02:50I'd like to know, it's a new vein, but I'm not knocking it, it's fantastic, you know,

02:53all the young adults in America have, they consider me cool.

02:59Releasing two duet albums with other more modern singers, he reintroduced himself to

03:04younger audiences.

03:05This culminated with a years-long collaboration with pop star Lady Gaga that lasted until the

03:10very end of his career in 2021.

03:13A myth and a legend, it's still hard to imagine that the famous man in black wasn't always at

03:37the forefront of his industry.

03:39Still, when he was sidelined by lifestyle-related health issues, low record sales, and a breakup

03:45with his longtime label Columbia Records, he became less prolific.

03:49In 1994, he began a collaboration with producer Rick Rubin to release an album consisting of Americana

03:55songs.

04:05Upon its success, the American album became a series that saw Cash fully embracing his status

04:11as a folk icon.

04:12This new phase of artistry climaxed with one of his last singles, a devastating cover of

04:18Nine Inch Nails' Hurt.

04:19You are someone else, I am still right here.

04:29Number 6, ABBA.

04:31Given the long reach of their music through the years, this Swedish group actually had a

04:36shockingly brief time together.

04:37Lose is the day we parted, why, why, did I ever let you go?

04:44The amount of great, catchy pop songs they produced between 1972 and 1982 can't be overstated.

04:51After all, they had enough great songs to fill an entire Broadway musical and two movie adaptations.

04:57But they didn't actually reunite to make music together until 2016.

05:01This, a hyper-futuristic digital avatar concert residency, and the release of Mamma Mia Here

05:14We Go Again, had ABBA back on the radar.

05:17At least for those of us who weren't still cranking Dancing Queen at every opportunity.

05:22You can dance, you can die, having the time of your life.

05:30Number 5, Cher.

05:32Do you believe in life that's why?

05:38Having a resurgence once is a tall enough order, but Cher's made a comeback several times

05:44at this point.

05:45Her career with then-husband and manager Sonny Bono started in 1964, and was almost over

05:51by the late 60s due to record sale drop-offs and unpaid taxes.

05:55With each reinvention, she seems to get more famous.

05:58I don't know of another story in the history of this business like your story.

06:02I know, someday it's going to make a great movie.

06:05I'll be told to play it.

06:07It'll be like, I don't know, that he sings the blues.

06:09She made a comeback through television in the 70s, movies in the 80s, and then, just

06:15when her music career seemed doomed, she released the game-changing single Believe in 1998.

06:21She embarked on a so-called farewell tour in 2002, only to release a hit album 10 years

06:27later, sending her on tour again.

06:34Number 4, Dolly Parton.

06:39She's always had her fans, and so many people love her that it's hard to think of a time

06:49when she wasn't as successful or famous.

06:52Dolly Parton cut her first record in 1967, and as of 2025, her music is still charting,

06:59and was even an inspiration for Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album.

07:02But the Queen of Dollywood has had her leaner periods, too.

07:06Teach me how to speak, teach me how to share, teach me where to go and tell me, will love

07:11be there?

07:13Although she's always been recording and releasing, her new music didn't gain as much traction

07:18during the 2000s.

07:20In the late 2010s, she was suddenly in the mainstream again.

07:23With projects at Netflix, a few prestigious Life Achievement Awards, and a renewed engagement

07:28with newer pop stars, Parton's never been more beloved.

07:37Number 3, Tina Turner.

07:40As one half of the Ike and Tina Turner review, she was a megastar of the 60s and 70s.

07:46Then it all went away.

07:47Rolling, yeah.

07:49Rolling, yeah.

07:50We're rolling on a regular.

07:52Even if you haven't seen the biopic based on her life, you've probably heard about Tina

07:58Turner's story of triumph and survival.

08:00Following her contentious divorce in the late 70s, Turner's popularity and fame faded.

08:06In 1984, she staged what's been called one of the most unlikely and miraculous comebacks

08:11in music history.

08:12What's Love Got To Do With It earned her back her public favor, secured some Grammy

08:22awards, and ultimately won her career back.

08:26She rode that wave until the end of her career, largely retiring in 2009 after a worldwide farewell

08:32tour to mark her 50th year in the business.

08:35You're the best, yeah.

08:39Better than all the rest.

08:41Number 2.

08:43Tracy Chapman

08:44Several publications cited this 2024 Grammy performance as the best moment of the night.

08:51Tracy Chapman's appearance with Luke Combs was about as surprising as her song Fast Car

08:55returning to the charts after more than 30 years.

08:58I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone.

09:06Combs' cover hit number one on the country charts.

09:09It led to renewed interest and love for Chapman's heartbreaking song, and reintroduced her to

09:14another generation of music lovers.

09:16Starting from zero, got nothing to lose.

09:19Baby, we'll make something.

09:21Me, myself, I got nothing to prove.

09:24Chapman expressed gratitude and surprise to find her song on the country charts.

09:29The success of Combs' cover also made her the first black artist to win the Country Music

09:34Association Award for Song of the Year.

09:36I think she was a trend-setting, barrier-breaking artist when she came out, and she continues

09:42to be that to this day.

09:43I think tonight is point proven in that, so I'm super, super humbled to just be a super

09:49small part of that.

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10:06Number 1.

10:07Kate Bush

10:08In 2022, the song Running Up That Hill was featured on an episode of Netflix's Stranger

10:20Things.

10:20The show sent it skyrocketing to number 1 in several countries, 37 years after it was released.

10:27Kate Bush's fanbase can be described as relatively small but deeply devoted, so this was actually

10:41the first time she had a top 10 hit in the U.S.

10:44Her eccentric persona and high-pitched singing voice have dazzled her cult following for years

10:50since her initial hits in the 1970s and 80s, but the renewed attention to that song also

10:55brought new eyes on her catalogue of other distinctive and unforgettable songs.

11:07What artist do you think deserves a career revival?

11:10Tell us in the comments!

11:25kurik

11:41you

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