20 once-popular musicians everyone has totally forgot about

The band fun. was made of Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, and Jack Antonoff, and they had some wildly popular hits in the early 2010s. While Antonoff is still a present figure in music thanks to his success producing acts like Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, and Sabrina Carpenter, the rest of fun. has all but disappeared from stardom, and the band is mostly a memory. 

Willa Ford had some success in the early 2000s. In an unfortunate, tragic coincidence, her second single, “I Wanna Be Bad,” was released on 9/11, and because of the poor timing, Ford’s career as a musician was short-lived. She eventually left the industry and pursued a career as an interior designer. 

Cindy Birdsong was a member of the Supremes, the iconic girl group that gave the world the gift that is Diana Ross. Birdsong was with the group on and off until the early ‘80s, and after her exit she pursued a few different career paths, including nursing. 

Band culture in the music landscape has changed mightily since the ‘80s. Back then, nearly every member of a band was a superstar. Drummer Bill Berry was a superstar thanks to his inclusion in R.E.M., but some health issues forced him to take a step back from music. Berry became a hay farmer in his musical retirement. 

Liz Phair had a solid presence in music in the ‘90s and early ‘00s, first garnering acclaim for her debut album Exile in Guyville (1993), and later earning time on the radio thanks to hits like “Why Can’t I?”. Phair still works as a musician, but her popularity as a mainstream artist has waned significantly. 

Okay, not everyone has forgotten about the Pixies because they still perform, but their most popular days are behind them. But what good is popularity if you’ve got a few thousand ultra-dedicated fans? 

Michelle Branch put out some bangers in the early ‘00s. She had a specific sound that perfectly met the times. Tragically, time is fleeting, and Branch’s popularity went away with the era. Her songs still hit, though. 

Mya was a culture-defining artist in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. Her starpower today isn’t quite what it used to be, but her legacy lives on through the songs she was part of, like “Lady Marmalade,” “Case of the Ex,” and “Ghetto Superstar.”

There were a plethora of late ‘90s/early ‘00s female musicians who put out era-defining music before seemingly slipping into obscurity. One such musician is Dido. Her album No Angel was a hit, and while she continued releasing music throughout the ‘00s and beyond, she didn’t achieve the same mainstream success as she did toward the beginning of her career. 

Another female artist who achieved great success with a few hit songs in the ‘90s is Des’ree. Her song “You Gotta Be” is just as good today as it was when it was released. And that’s what’s really important. Fame, however fleeting, means nothing if there’s no lasting legacy. 

B2K had success in the hip-hop game in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. They staged a comeback in the late 2010s, but their initial success couldn’t be repeated. 

Blu Cantrell was a star in the early ‘00s. “Hit ‘Em Up Style” was one of those songs you couldn’t escape. She wasn’t a one-hit wonder, but she was somewhat of a few-hit wonder. 

Two members of 3LW — Kiely Williams and Adrienne Bailon — stayed relevant in the public eye after the band broke up, but it was not because of the group's success. Williams and Bailon found success as part of another musical act, The Cheetah Girls, from the Disney Channel movie trilogy of the same name. 

BBMak is another band that’s better remembered by its songs than its band name. But that’s not a bad thing — it means the songs they put out were great and memorable, songs like “Back Here” and “Still on Your Side.” 

Unless you’ve watched Rugrats in Paris recently, then you’ve probably forgotten about the Baha Men. The Baha Men hit mainstream success in the early ‘00s with their song “Who Let the Dogs Out.” The group is still together, but they aren’t nearly as popular as they were at the height of that song. 

Blues Traveler is one of the bands of the ‘90s that defined the sound but ultimately didn’t stand the test of time (popularity-wise, that is; their music is still great). People will recognize hits like “But Anyway” and “Hook,” but aside from that, Blues Traveler’s memory is reserved for superfans. 

Some Kris Kross songs, such as “Jump,” are still relevant today, but the pair itself no longer is. For many, the two then-kid rappers are a fond memory of the ‘90s. Tragically, one half of the duo, Chris Kelly, died in 2013. 

Something missing from pop music today is groups like S Club 7. The group has faded into obscurity for most, but songs like “Bring It All Back” and “S Club Party” were major crowd-pleasers, and we need more pop tunes like that today. 

For, like, two years in the late 2000s, Sean Kingston was unmissable. His songs “Beautiful Girls,” “Take You There,” and “Fire Burning” were everywhere, all the time. And so was he. But his popularity went away with the decade, and his recent output hasn’t had the same commercial success. 

Ashley Parker Angel rose to fame through O-Town, and then he went solo and even had his own reality show on MTV. Angel never had solid enough footing to make it long-term as a solo artist, but we thank him for his contributions to ‘00s pop culture.