Some singers manage to become successful and maintain that level of success from album to album, though there are others who aren’t as lucky. Here are 8 singers who failed to make successful comebacks either because they waited too long and didn’t strike the iron was hot or because their new material just wasn’t up to scratch.
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Nelly Furtado
Nelly’s third album Loose, which was released in 2006, was by far the most successful in her career, selling 12 million copies worldwide and providing the singer with hit singles such as ‘Maneater’, ‘Promiscuous’, ‘Say It Right’ and ‘All Good Things (Come To An End)’. It would be another six years before Nelly released her next English language album, The Spirit Indestructible, though its singles flopped and the album was nowhere as near as its predecessor; Nelly also had to scale back the album’s associated tour because of low ticket sales.
2. Robin Thicke
‘Blurred Lines’ was one of the biggest hits of 2013 and was the biggest hit of Robin Thicke’s career. He had released several successful albums before that, but ‘Blurred Lines’ took his career to the next level. The song caused a lot of controversy and affected Robin’s personal life. In an attempt to woo his ex-wife back and top the charts again, his next album Paula was written a tribute to his ex-wife. It didn’t fare well in the charts and would become the lowest selling album of Thicke’s career.
3. Cher Lloyd
Cher found fame on the seventh series of The X Factor and even though her debut single ‘Swagger Jagger’ was panned, it debuted at number one and her first album Sticks and Stones sold fairly well. After a gap of three years, she returned to the music scene with the aptly titled second album Sorry I’m Late, which failed to set the charts alight, even though it was well received by critics.
4. Shayne Ward
The winner of the second series of The X Factor had quite a lot of success with his first two albums, which together sold over a million copies. After a three year gap, he came back with his third album Obsession, which failed to replicate the success of his previous albums. Even though he performed the lead single on The X Factor, it wasn’t enough to generate interest in his new material.
5. Duffy
Welsh singer Duffy had huge success with her debut album Rockferry, which spawned hit singles such as ‘Mercy’, ‘Warwick Avenue’ and ‘Rain on Your Parade’. The album, which was released in 2008, sold over 2.2 million copies in the UK. When she released the debut single from her second album, Endlessly, in 2010, it didn’t catch on and the album ended up selling ten times fewer copies than her debut effort.
6. Christina Aguilera
Christina was once one of the biggest names in pop music, though as with many other singers, she reached her peak with her first album. She’s had two comebacks, though neither has managed to propel her to the level of success the previously enjoyed. Her most recent comeback was when she released her album Lotus – although the album’s singles were fairly successful, the album underperformed and would become her lowest-selling album; it wasn’t too well received by the critics.
7. Ciara
Ciara had enjoyed quite a lot of success with her first five albums and after the release of her fifth album, she decided to take some time out to focus on motherhood. When it came to making a comeback, she wasn’t all that successful, with her sixth album Jackie receiving a lukewarm response from critics and failing to sell as well as her previous albums.
8. Geri Halliwell
Geri was the first Spice Girl to embark on a solo career and her first two albums were quite successful. After a four-year break she returned to the music scene with her third album Passion, which sold far fewer copies than her previous two albums. Then in 2013 she attempted a second comeback, though lead single ‘Half of Me’ bombed in the charts, only charting at number 281 in Australia.
