Few, if any, acts go into their debut album expecting it to also be their last, but that was exactly the case for the artists on the below list of 15 Famous Acts Who Released Only One Album.
Various reasons led each of these acts to be one-and-done. Derek & the Dominos could have easily continued riding high on the success of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, but various issues, including Eric Clapton’s drug use, brought the group to an early end.
In some cases – such as Mother Love Bone and the post-Pantera group Damageplan – tragedy brought bands to an abrupt close. In other instances, like with Blind Faith and Coverdale-Page, artists simply began focusing on other endeavors and never returned.
Jimi Hendrix released three albums with the Experience, but his final group, Band of Gypsys, managed only one album before the guitar god’s death.
Supergroups have historically been one-album acts, due largely to their members’ responsibility for other projects. Them Crooked Vultures, Beck, Bogert & Appice and Temple of the Dog are among the all-star assemblies that decided to move on after just a lone release.
Then there’s the case of Sex Pistols, perhaps the most famous one-album wonder in music history. The punk pioneers ignited a cultural revolution that reverberated across the U.K. and, later, the world. Still, the notoriously combustible group was unable to stay together long enough to release more than a single LP.
That seems to be a theme in the below list of 15 Famous Acts Who Released Only One Album.
15 Famous Acts Who Released Only One Album
Some memorable artists were one-and-done.