Artists you thought were going to be huge but weren't

[CoJoFan]

As far as I know there's no thread like this so I'd like to hear about artists you thought were going to be big stars when you first heard them but they ended up not being big at all.

Here's 5 picks from me with my personal favorite song from them. I chose artists that had less than 10 top 10 singles.

1. Blackhawk - "I'm Not Strong Enough To Say No"
2. Rick Trevino - "Learning As You Go"
3. Mindy McCready - "You'll Never Know"
4. Andy Griggs - "You Won't Ever Be Lonely"
5. Darryl Worley - "I Miss My Friend"

[bigfan101]

Sarah Buxton and Eden’s Edge had all the goods to me!

[gardyfan]

Rhett Akins and Wesley Dennis

[cousingerard]

Wade Hayes just felt like he came along at the wrong time.

[castleoblivion26]

Jamie O'Neal
Rebecca Lynn Howard
Jessica Andrews
The Wilkinsons
SHeDAISY

I'm sure there are many others but those are definitely a few that should be mentioned

[phil1996]

James Wesley
Carolina Rain
Charlie Worsham (though he’s not had a bad career)

[superdave3556]

Buddy Jewell
Frankie Ballard
Tyler Farr

[baltized]

Ashton Shepherd
Sunny Sweeny
Jimmy Wayne

[CoJoFan]

Going to name a few more personal favorites of mine

Clay Davidson
Josh Thompson
Kevin Sharp
Michael Peterson
Jeff Bates

[Deleted]

Julie Roberts looked to be on a promising career path, then Carrie Underwood released Some Hearts and essentially usurped an audience poised to connect with Roberts. To a greater degree, this is true for Sara Evans, too.

[gonecountry]

Keith Anderson
The Dirt Drifters

[Dustin J.]

So many bands I could mention...especially from the 90s. But here's a few from over the years that I personally have enjoyed

- Sixwire
- Carolina Rain
- Rushlow
- Burnin' Daylight
- 4 Runner
- River Road
- Yankee Grey
- The Buffalo Club
- Sons of the Desert
- Crossin' Dixon
- Whiskey Falls
- Gloriana
- One Flew South
- Hot Apple Pie
- Pinmonkey
- South 65
- Marshall Dyllon
- Mockingbird Sun (never rec'd offer from major label)

[Dreams]

Carly Rae Jepsen IMMEDIATELY comes to mind. I thought she'd be huge after the "Call Me Maybe" blew up but that didn't happen. :(

[gardyfan]

Apr 20, 2020 11:51:59 GMT -5 Dreams said:

Carly Rae Jepsen IMMEDIATELY comes to mind. I thought she'd be huge after the "Call Me Maybe" blew up but that didn't happen.

This is a country thread.  :)

[Dreams]

Apr 20, 2020 13:17:55 GMT -5 gardyfan said:

Apr 20, 2020 11:51:59 GMT -5 Dreams said:

Carly Rae Jepsen IMMEDIATELY comes to mind. I thought she'd be huge after the "Call Me Maybe" blew up but that didn't happen.

This is a country thread.  :)

Daaamn! Sorry didn't realize... carry on, guys! 🤓

[CoJoFan]

A few more from me

Thompson Square
Mo Pitney
Crystal Shawanda
Keith Harling (Papa Bear was such an earworm)
Buddy Jewell

[koogles]

Ashley Clark

Had Mutt Lange (AC/DC, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain) as his producer. Had a major label deal all teed up, dropped a great track in '15 called "Greyhound", then nothing....

[Troublemaker]

Ashley Monroe

[ethanhunt]

I know he was huge for a little bit of time. But the way fizzled out so quickly is still shocking to me: Hunter Hayes

[vamp111]

William Michael Morgan- Seemed to have a promising start
Tyler Farr
Cam- I thought "Burning House" was her big breakout, but her other singles kinda failed on the charts, sadly

Thompson Square

Easton Corbin- Thought he was going to be the young George Strait

[CoJoFan]

10 more picks from me. 

Bobby Pinson
Craig Campbell
Pat Green
Kellie Coffey
Deana Carter
Jeff Carson ("Real Life" was a gem to me)
Julie Roberts
Van Zant
Dusty Drake (Who thought "One Last Time" was a gem?)
Phil Vassar

[CoJoFan]

Apr 18, 2020 17:24:39 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

James Wesley
Carolina Rain
Charlie Worsham (though he’s not had a bad career)

James Wesley was very underrated in my opinion. "Real" should've been a top 10 single!

[CoJoFan]

Apr 20, 2020 11:37:39 GMT -5 Dustin J. said:

So many bands I could mention...especially from the 90s. But here's a few from over the years that I personally have enjoyed

- Sixwire
- Carolina Rain
- Rushlow
- Burnin' Daylight
- 4 Runner
- River Road
- Yankee Grey
- The Buffalo Club
- Sons of the Desert
- Crossin' Dixon
- Whiskey Falls
- Gloriana
- One Flew South
- Hot Apple Pie
- Pinmonkey
- South 65
- Marshall Dyllon
- Mockingbird Sun (never rec'd offer from major label)

I'm glad you mentioned Rushlow and Sons of the Desert. Tim Rushlow himself should've had a bigger solo career. He to me more than Brady Seals was the voice of 90's group Little Texas. Sons of the Desert's debut album is still one of my favorites to this day. I have their second album as well but I don't remember it that well besides the single from it "What I Did Right".

[jab820]

Jillian Jacqueline. I remember the push for "Reasons" was really solid and had lots of ads, but then stalled just under the Top 50 and nothing ever came of it...

Kristy Lee Cook. I didn't necessarily think she would be huge, but her first single did decently and she seemed to have a really solid fanbase.

[CoJoFan]

So is there a thread for songs you thought were going to be hits but weren't?

[vamp111]

A few more...

Danielle Bradbery- I remember a lot of people thought she would be the next Carrie Underwood. She had Blake Shelton in her corner. But after "Heart Of Dixie" she fizzled out.

Maddie & Tae- "Girl In A Country Song" seemed like it was going to push them to stardom.

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2020 22:58:17 GMT -5 vamp111 said:

A few more...

Danielle Bradbery- I remember a lot of people thought she would be the next Carrie Underwood. She had Blake Shelton in her corner. But after "Heart Of Dixie" she fizzled out.

Maddie & Tae- "Girl In A Country Song" seemed like it was going to push them to stardom.

Firstly, that was never going to happen because there can never be another Carrie Underwood, in the same vein there can never be another Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, or Reba McEntire. Every artist needs to carve out their own identity in this competitive industry, and as such, everyone's version of success is going to be unique to them. More realistically to say would have been, "A lot of people thought she would be a successful artist."

Secondly, Maddie & Tae's career is far from dead-on-arrival like that of some of the other artists name-checked in this thread. "Die From A Broken Heart" is currently sitting at #20 on Mediabase and they concluded a run as one of the opening acts for Underwood's Cry Pretty Tour 360 last fall. I certainly don't categorize either of those things as failed attempts whatsoever; conversely, it sounds like they're still winding up. "Girl In A Country Song" reached #1 and although subsequent singles haven't charted as well, the fact that radio is still playing them and providing opportunities for their current single to advance is incredibly promising.

[McCreerian]

Apr 21, 2020 10:50:36 GMT -5 ethanhunt said:

I know he was huge for a little bit of time. But the way fizzled out so quickly is still shocking to me: Hunter Hayes

He was his generation's Bryan White. I never understood why he went away so fast too. I thought both Bryan and Hunter in their own times would have a decade long radio career.

[bboat11]

Apr 29, 2020 14:27:55 GMT -5 @stephanie said:

Apr 23, 2020 22:58:17 GMT -5 vamp111 said:

A few more...

Danielle Bradbery- I remember a lot of people thought she would be the next Carrie Underwood. She had Blake Shelton in her corner. But after "Heart Of Dixie" she fizzled out.

Maddie & Tae- "Girl In A Country Song" seemed like it was going to push them to stardom.

Firstly, that was never going to happen because there can never be another Carrie Underwood, in the same vein there can never be another Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, or Reba McEntire. Every artist needs to carve out their own identity in this competitive industry, and as such, everyone's version of success is going to be unique to them. More realistically to say would have been, "A lot of people thought she would be a successful artist."

"______ is going to be the next so-and-so" is just an expression though, and is almost never meant literally. People use it when they notice similarities between two artists, and nothing more. Like, Easton Corbin was always touted as the next George Strait, but nobody literally thought he would be replacing George or ultimately superseding him in star power. He just reminded people of George. Danielle and Carrie are both powerful, confident vocalists with beautiful and strong belting voices. Therefore people could say she'll be the next Carrie because Carrie is the most recent vocalist that has similar attributes, and Danielle reminds people of her. Just like Carrie herself was pretty much the next Martina when people first found out about her.

It's not like vamp111 is saying that anyone thought Danielle was going to replace Carrie

[Crimsonio]

I know she was huge at the start, but it's been troubling to see how Lauren Alaina's career has just stagnated since Roads Less Traveled and What Ifs, I thought she had a lot of potential.