These are those such sleeper-hit songs, ones that didn't see initial cultural and commercial success when they were released but gained major recognition later on. And they really run the gamut of pop music, from Elvis Presley ballads to Fleetwood Mac break-up anthems to Taylor Swift bops. Here are 15 super-popular songs that became hits years after they came out.
Several of Elvis Presley's biggest hits were actually written by or for other artists, from "Hound Dog" (first recorded by Big Mama Thornton) to "Blue Suede Shoes" (originally sung by Carl Perkins). His chart-topping 1960 pop ballad “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” was no exception—however, what was unusual is that the track had been originally released nearly four decades earlier.
2. "Baby Blue" - Badfinger
One of the greatest TV endings of all time turned a melodic early-70s rock song into a true television anthem—we're talking, of course, about Breaking Badand that Badfinger-soundtracked goodbye to the show's antihero for the ages, Walter White (Bryan Cranston).
Related: 1977 Rock Classic Is Suddenly Climbing the Charts 49 Years Later
The sweeping song was popular among its initial release—it hit No. 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100—but it took on a whole new life when it was featured in season four of the Netflixsci-fi juggernaut Stranger Things, introducing the haunting masterpiece to a whole new generation of fans in 2022. Boosted by that streaming attention, "Running Up That Hill" reached number one in eight countries and reached a billion streams on Spotify 37 years after its debut.
Related: 1983 Iconic Pop Hit Originally Written for ToTo is Climbing the Charts Again 43 Years Later
4. "Silver Springs" - Fleetwood Mac
Originally written by Stevie Nicks during the Rumours era, “Silver Springs” was famously left off the band’s landmark 1977 album, much to the singer's chagrin. However, the breakup anthem would take on icon status two decades after its creation, during the band's 1997 reunion concert, The Dance. The taped performance is famed for its smoldering passion and emotional intensity, with Nicks delivering the ballad's heated lyrics ("You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you") directly at Buckingham, her bandmate and onetime lover.
British singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor found global fame with her 2001 disco-pop smash "Murder on the Dancefloor," which peaked at number two on the UK singles chart and became a top 10 hit worldwide. However, the early-aughts groove would re-enter global consciousness two full decades after it first dropped courtesy of a little movie called Saltburn.
6. “Three Little Birds" - Bob Marley
It might seem surprising how much of a sunny favorite it's been for decades, but “Three Little Birds”—released by Bob Marley and the Wailers on their 1977 album Exodus and later as a single in 1980—actually didn't chart on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time of its original release.
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But that was far from the song's only surge—in fact, "Bohemian Rhapsody" reached a rare achievement, charting across three decades. The second bout of popularity occurred in the early 1990s, boosted by the tragic death of Mercury to AIDS-related pneumonia in November 1991 and the infamous headbanging scene in 1992's Wayne's World. It would break into the charts yet again following the 2018 release of the Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.
8. “Proclamation” - Gentle Giant
Fans of the British progressive rock band Gentle Giant had already known and loved the group's song "Proclamation"—the first track on their sixth studio album, 1974's The Power and the Glory—long before Travis Scott sampled the gorgeous rock hit nearly 50 years after its release.
“We are honored by the inclusion of our 1974 song ‘Proclamation’ in the intro track ‘Hyaena’ to Travis Scott’s new album Utopia," the band released in a statement. "We are always amazed how Gentle Giant’s music continues to inspire and evolve across diverse genres and generations, particularly within the hip-hop community.”
The song eventually hit No. 1 on the US Billboard Pop Airplay chart and was certified five-time platinum in the United States, with everyone from Kelly Clarksonto GWAR to Keith Urbanaffectionately offering up their own cover versions.
10. “Everytime You Go Away” - Paul Young
However, it was half a decade later when British soul singer Paul Young covered the tune for his 1985 studio record The Secret of Association and turned it into a number one hit, with the ballad topping the Billboard Hot 100 on July 27 and staying there for one week. That success was a surprise even to Young: “I almost passed on the song because I was getting into the relatively darker material (darker than my first CD) that was making up the album,” the singer explained in a 2011 interview with the Kickin’ It Old School blog.
Given their inherently annual nature, we're used to Christmas songs coming back into popularity year after year, and Brenda Lee's iconic holiday classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"—which, fun fact, the American singer recorded when she was only 13 years old—is one such recurring yuletide favorite.
Related: 44 Years Ago, Willie Nelson Took a Song From a Future Christmas Queen to No. 1
12. “Red Red Wine” - UB40
That's quite a departure from where "Red Red Wine" originated: It is actually a cover of a 1967 Neil Diamond song, a folksy ballad that only peaked at No. 67 on the Billboard 100 list in April 1968 upon its release.
It would actually be two whole years later—thanks to TikTok virality, a memorable soundtrack moment in the Netflix rom-com Someone Great and the singer's own standout performance at the MTV Video Music Awards—that "Truth Hurts reached the coveted number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart when it was re-released as a radio single in March 2019.
14. "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - The Proclaimers
Scottish alt-rock duo The Proclaimers, a.k.a. twin brothers CraigandCharlie Reid, crafted an inescapable earworm with "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," the jaunty lead single from their sophomore album, 1988's Sunshine on Leith.
Related: 18 Weird Songs That Shouldn’t Have Hit No. 1 (But Did)
15. "Cruel Summer" - Taylor Swift
When Swift began performing the song as the big opener of her record-breaking global tour, that sheer exposure prompted a massive streaming spike. Four years after its initial drop, "Cruel Summer" was released as a radio single in June 2023 in response to that viral demand and officially claimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in October of that year. More like cool summer, right?
Next,The 81 Best Songs of Summer We Listen to on Repeat Year After Year
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