# Singers Wrongly Predicted To Become Huge Stars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539 "2014-08-01T00:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/1 "2014-08-01T00:34:23Z")
I was looking through a list of number 1 songs in the U.S by year, and in 2008 one of the singles were “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis. I remembered how she was predicted to become this huge star, a second coming of Whitney Houston or such nonsense. Gladly that never happened, I hated that song with a passion, in fact I hated all songs from 2008. So which other singers were once predicted to become huge but vanished after a while? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/2 "2014-08-01T08:09:09Z")
Leona Lewis _is_ quite big in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/3 "2014-08-01T13:18:14Z")
Elvis ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/4 "2014-08-01T13:54:46Z")
I remember when Oasis came out in the US, they compared themselves to the Beatles and it seemed like the radio stations ran with it for their hype. While they enjoyed some popularity they definitely lacked any Beatles-esque impact on music. I suppose you could say “95% of the winners on American Idol” although I doubt anyone expects them to actually be huge stars any longer. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/5 "2014-08-01T14:01:26Z")
Yahoo Serious. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/6 "2014-08-01T14:04:11Z")
Lara Fabian was touted for a while as the next Celine Dion (popular French-language singer ready to make a breakthrough into the English-music world), but despite a pair of initial hits (and I personally LOVE her entire English debut album), very little in way of career (in English). ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/7 "2014-08-01T14:05:00Z")
The Knack was supposed to be “The next Beatles.” ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/8 "2014-08-01T14:51:34Z")
Oh, you just want singers. . . Maybe Clay Aiken, but his lack of ambition seems like a personal choice. Might still count. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/9 "2014-08-01T14:53:25Z")
Predicted by whom? I can think of many artists who had big hits, who looked/sounded to me as if they had bright futures ahead of them, but who fell off the face of the Earth. I can also think of many acts that struck me as one-hit wonders who had long, extremely successful careers. Who can honestly say they KNEW in 1984 that Madonna would still be a star 30 years later and Cyndi Lauper would not? Who really KNEW in 1982 that U2 would still be filling huge arenas 30 years later and the Go-Gos would not? ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/10 "2014-08-01T14:57:01Z")
Terence Trent D’arby ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/11 "2014-08-01T15:00:06Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Predicted by whom? > > I can think of many artists who had big hits, who looked/sounded to me as if they had bright futures ahead of them, but who fell off the face of the Earth. I can also think of many acts that struck me as one-hit wonders who had long, extremely successful careers. > > Who can honestly say they KNEW in 1984 that Madonna would still be a star 30 years later and Cyndi Lauper would not? > > Who really KNEW in 1982 that U2 would still be filling huge arenas 30 years later and the Go-Gos would not? Yeah I think you need to modify the question and make it personal. . . Singers that I wrongly predicted (or I assumed that other predicted) to become big stars. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/12 "2014-08-01T15:01:08Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Terence Trent D’arby Good one. And I think he contributed by famously saying that he was better than Michael Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/13 "2014-08-01T15:02:32Z")
I remember after the first American Idol, hearing several people say it didn’t really matter that Kelly Clarkson won because both she and Justin Guarini (sp?) were gonna be huge. I thought Paulina Rubio would be at least comparable to a Shakira in the US, but never really seems to have gotten over here. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/14 "2014-08-01T15:18:21Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Terence Trent D’arby Yup, he’s always my first answer to questions like this one. The hype surround him was HUGE, and his first album was really good. Then he disappeared forever. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/15 "2014-08-01T15:18:43Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Terence Trent D’arby > [@tullsterx](#): > > Good one. And I think he contributed by famously saying that he was better than Michael Jackson. Does Sade deserve to be added here? Im also guessing singers who didnt quite make it, or didn’t have much staying power - Sheena Easton, or Paul Weller’s ex, the one who pranced about in roller kates on her one big hit. Both of these seem to have been pet projects by male singers promoting their girlfriends. Sheena Easton was particularly cringeworthy. An excellent girl next door type “star” who descended into a 3rd rate sex symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/16 "2014-08-01T15:27:30Z")
This list offers up a few candidates: > **[Grammy Award for Best New Artist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_New_Artist)** > > The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as follows: "For a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist." Note that this is not necessarily the first album released by an artist; for ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/17 "2014-08-01T15:31:03Z")
How does Sheena Easton count as not making it? [QUOTE=Wikipaedia] Easton is a two-time Grammy Award winner with three additional Grammy nominations, five U.S. Gold albums, and one U.S. Platinum album. She has recorded 16 studio albums, released 45 singles, and has 15 Top 40 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 and 25 top 40 hits in international territories around the world. In Canada, Easton scored three gold and two platinum albums. She has sold over 20 million albums, and singles worldwide… [/QUOTE] I could use such lack of success. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/18 "2014-08-01T15:52:04Z")
Frank Sinatra… Jr. Other than Kelly and Carrie, every “winner” of American Idol. Every winner of The Voice or whatever that other show is. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/19 "2014-08-01T16:25:33Z")
In their book _Hound Dog: The Lieber and Stoller Autobiography_, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller report that they expected Stealers Wheel to be a monster pop group to rival the Beatles. The 1972 album they produced, “Stealers Wheel,” produced one hit, “Stuck in the Middle with You,” but then the group fizzled. Lieber and Stoller produced a couple more boutique albums and called it quits. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539/20 "2014-08-01T16:30:38Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Terence Trent D’arby I saw him on his first US set of club dates - faked my way in by claiming I was with Clarence Clemons on his entourage list (I saw him get out of a limo to go in as we were scouting the club), then ended up standing next to Clarence at the end of the show. The guy who let me in saw me and smiled. So did I ;). TTD did an amazing a capella version of First Cut is the Deepest at the show. The man has talent, but yeah, never even approached the hype. One person that comes to mind is **Maria McKee** , the singer of an 80’s cowpunk band called Lone Justice. Amazing voice and held up as a huge talent at the time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-wrongly-predicted-to-become-huge-stars/694539.md?page=2)