Artists who were big, disappeared, and came back BIGGER!

[DJ Particle]

After looking over the thread about artists who were big and vanished off the face of the chart, I started thinking about what is a smaller list:  those who were big, fell out of popularity, then staged a comeback that overshadowed their previous fame.

Probably the biggest example I can think of is Aerosmith, who had a lot of hits in the mid-1970s, then disappeared from the charts, only to return in 1986 collaborating with Run-DMC on a cover of "Walk This Way".  When their next album came out in 1988, it blew their past success out of the water, and they remained a chart force until the late 1990s.

Anyone else think of more examples? 

[mkarns]

The Bee Gees had a number of hits in the late 60s/early 70s, then disappeared for a few years, and returned to dominate the later 70s (listen to the 3/18/78 AT40 played last weekend), to the point that most classic hits stations now seem to think their career began in 1975.

Maybe Jefferson Airplane disappearing and then evolving into Jefferson Starship (and eventually just Starship?) The Airplane period is generally regarded as the most musically influential (it was only that version of the band that made the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame), but the Starship eras had many more hits.

[OnWithTheCountdown]

Carlos Santana...1999-2000 clearly overshadows his prior stuff from the late 1960s, through the early 1980s. We could argue his dominance would last through 2004, in collaborations with Michelle Branch, Alex Band, Dido, etc.

I think a case could be made for Tina Turner as well - after many years away from music, she came back in a loud way in 1984 after years of charting with her then-husband, Ike. She'd continue through the rest of the 1980s through the early 1990s with hit after hit.

[freakyflybry]

Kenny Rogers - he had a streak of hits with the First Edition in the late 60's, then came back in 1977 with "Lucille" and had a run of hits that lasted into 1984, including two #1's and many top 10's.

[pb]

David Bowie had a #1 hit in 1975 and a few others around that time, then had no top 40 entries until late 1981, but had a bigger run of hits in the 80's including another #1.

[MrGeno502]

I was thinking of Rick Springfield.He had a hit in 1972 and then made a huge return in 1981 and then continued to hit the charts in the 80's.

[freakyflybry]

Meat Loaf is another - a few hits in 1978, then a comeback from 1993-95.

[seminolefan]

Billy Ocean: had a Top 40 hit in 1976, disappeared for a few years, had a Top 10 soul hit in 1981, then racked up a string of hits between 1984 and 1988 that included 3 #1 pop hits.

[at40nut]

Another one is ZZ Top, which was mentioned on the 3-8-80 show. They had an "unofficial" first Top 40 with "La Grange" in 1974, then "Tush" in 1975. They were found in 1980 with "I Thank You", followed by their most successful chart run with the "Eliminator" and the "Afterburner" years between 1983-1986.

[renfield75]

Heart didn't have as long of a dry spell as some of the other acts listed (3 years out of the top 40, 5 years out of the top ten), but after floundering in the early 80s following their run of late 70s classic rock hits they re-emerged in 1985 as one of the biggest pop groups of the late 80s/early 90s.

[djjoe1960]

Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka were two artists that had many hits in the late 1950's and early 1960's and basically disappeared during the British invasion years and then both men returned for a couple of hot years from 1974-76. So no I don't think they were hotter than they were before but it is a strange situation that nobody probably would've predicted in the late '60's or early '70's.

[djjoe1960]

Oh but here is a group that were popular in 1974-75 then didn't make the Top 40 again until 1979 and stayed hot til the mid 1980's--Kool & the Gang.

[dukelightning]

A lot of great examples so far but all of you have overlooked a major one and the only one do it not once, not twice but THREE times. Talking about Cher, who went at least 5 years between hits those 3 times. Several solo hits in the early 70s which was her most successful period though not by much. But she had no hits between 1974 and 1979. "Take Me Home" got her back in the top 10 although after that, she was nowhere to be found on the charts until 1987. Then her second most successful period that was not far behind her most successful period, the late 80s and early 90s. Then another drought before her last comeback and maybe most unlikely, in 1999 with "Believe".
Not quite the point of the thread but I see others that are not either. Artists are listed that only had 1 or 2 hits the first time around so hard to call them 'big' before disappearing and coming back.

[jlthorpe]

Mar 21, 2017 17:09:17 GMT -5 dukelightning said:

A lot of great examples so far but all of you have overlooked a major one and the only one do it not once, not twice but THREE times. Talking about Cher, who went at least 5 years between hits those 3 times. Several solo hits in the early 70s which was her most successful period though not by much. But she had no hits between 1974 and 1979. "Take Me Home" got her back in the top 10 although after that, she was nowhere to be found on the charts until 1987. Then her second most successful period that was not far behind her most successful period, the late 80s and early 90s. Then another drought before her last comeback and maybe most unlikely, in 1999 with "Believe".
Not quite the point of the thread but I see others that are not either. Artists are listed that only had 1 or 2 hits the first time around so hard to call them 'big' before disappearing and coming back.

I started a thread three years ago that's similar to what you're describing:

at40fg.proboards.com/thread/3964/artists-years-before-signature-chart

As for acts that fit this thread, how about Rod Stewart (I believe Casey brought this up on AT40)? A handful of hits (including a #1) in 1971 and 1972, then a dry spell, then a slew of hits (including three more #1s) from 1976-1994.

[pb]

Mar 21, 2017 16:30:37 GMT -5 djjoe1960 said:

Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka were two artists that had many hits in the late 1950's and early 1960's and basically disappeared during the British invasion years and then both men returned for a couple of hot years from 1974-76. So no I don't think they were hotter than they were before but it is a strange situation that nobody probably would've predicted in the late '60's or early '70's.

Another similar one is Cliff Richard. Britain's answer to Elvis in the 50's, with a couple of moderate hits in the U.S., and then a run of soft rock hits in the mid 70's and early 80's.