10 Pop Stars Who Should Have Been One-Hit Wonders

This one-woman carnival act got lucky because her weirdness filled a gaping hole in mainstream music, which had been in need of another pop oddity ever since Marilyn Manson faded from the limelight.

The Office's Michael Scott was absolutely correct when he misattributed Lady Gaga's breakout hit, "Just Dance," to Britney Spears. There's nary a hint of the signature offbeat textures that occupy the rest of her discography. That sort of mainstream attention-grab is often hard to overcome, with the artist and the label fighting over what identity to present to the audience. Often the artist will push too far in the other direction, spending the remainder of their career trying to distance themselves form their big hit.

Luckily, she simply glided past it, proceeding to push out a slew of eccentric pop songs with just the right amount of sheen to get them onto pop radio. "Bad Romance" was a defining moment that found Mother Monster pushing the weird pedal hard enough to speed past all the generic pop stars on the crowded highway toward notoriety.