History BlackSheepHit / Music

* '''Music/DuranDuran''' are chiefly known for danceable {{New Wave| Music}} and AlternativeDance/Rock, whereas their [[Music/TheWeddingAlbum 1993 comeback]] hit "Ordinary World" is a [[RaisedLighterTribute lighter-raising]] {{power ballad}}.

* Jazz legend '''Peggy Lee''' will be remembered to kingdom come for "Fever", "It's A Good Day", "Is That All There Is?", "Why Don't You Do Right" and literally hundreds of other superbly performed torch songs...but her biggest hit by far was a forgettable, racist (by today's standards) number called "Mañana (Is Good Enough for Me)", sung in a faux-Mexican accent and comprising a string of stereotypes about Latin Americans. Latinos were considered to be acceptable targets in 1948, which helps explain how that song got to #1 for nine weeks.

* '''Modern English''' were generally a moody, goth-influenced post-punk band when the jangly, upbeat "I Melt With You" became a big hit - in the US they're still considered a OneHitWonder (they did technically have two other hits on the ''Billboard'' charts, but one of them was just a 1990 remake of "I Melt With You").

* Music/UriahHeep, a hard rock group, had their biggest hit in Germany with "Lady in Black", a semi-acoustic song that borders on progressive folk. The keyboardist Ken Hensley wrote it, changed from his usual Hammond to Mellotron strings for a change and even contributed the lead vocals because David Byron refused to sing it. Probably the only reason why this didn't happen in the UK and the USA is because it was kept from being released as a single there.
* Velvet is an Italian band whose most popular song is the poppy, catchy "Boyband". The problem is, they are an indie rock band mostly influenced by Britpop and AOR, and that song is a parody of the BoyBand phenomenon at the peak of its popularity in the early 2000s. Not only that song has very little to do with the rest of their discography since then, but the general public took it at face value despite it [[PoesLaw being clearly satirical]]. Thus most listeners didn't take them seriously anymore and their sales and popularity suffered.
* "All in the Mind", the title track of Music/TheVerve's first single, is in a very different style from the rest of the band's early output as seen on the ''Verve EP'', which was more strongly psychedelic or shoegazer.

* Vince Vance & the Valiants were mostly known for their novelty songs, such as "Bomb Iran" (a parody of Music/TheBeachBoys' CoveredUp [[Music/BeachBoysParty version of "Barbara Ann"]]) and the flashy appearance of Vance. However, their most famous song is the fairly serious Christmas song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (not to be confused with the Music/MariahCarey song from her album ''Music/MerryChristmas''), which also has Lisa Layne doing the vocals.
* Music/TheWaitresses were a struggling NewWave band when their label ordered them to create a [[ChristmasSongs Christmas Song]] for an {{Anthology}} album it was producing. Several months later the band was on tour in December and they were shocked to learn that the song, "Chistmas Wrapping" was a big hit on the radio. It has remained a seasonal favorite to this day.
* Music/WalkTheMoon's "Shut Up and Dance" became a surprise SleeperHit, being their first song to hit the ''Hot 100'' (entering the Top 10). It's also different from their repertoire as it's far more poppier than their normal material, which usually targets alternative radio. They’ve done more like it since
* Music/ZZWard's single "Last Love Song", which has received solid airtime on radio stations, is a pretty traditional BreakupSong: slow, melancholy and despairing. The rest of her debut album, "'Til The Casket Drops," is quite upbeat and energetic, even when dealing with breakups or bad relationships.
* Filipino rock band Weedd was, by nature, a band of 16-year-old high school boys who drew their influence from the '70s hard rock their dads most likely listened to. But their only mainstream hit was the faux-reggae "Long Hair", a novelty throwaway about how teachers in their school didn't like long bangs and "undercut" hairdos, as was the style in the mid-'90s.
* Canadian alternative R&B artist Music/TheWeeknd made a surprise detour into UsefulNotes/{{Synthwave}} territory with his late 2019 hit "Blinding Lights".

* Music/{{Weezer}}'s Green Album got lots of airplay for "Hash Pipe", which had a harder sound than most of the emo the band regularly played, and a ''much'' harder sound than anything from that album.
** The Green Album's second single "Island in the Sun" then went and did the opposite, taking the album's poppy direction and going even further with it.

* The Whirling Dervishes were an early AlternativeRock band who had a big following in their home state of UsefulNotes/NewJersey starting in The80s, noted for hard-edged, lyrically sardonic songs. Their one minor national hit was a lighthearted rock cover of [[WesternAnimation/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"]].
* Wild Cherry was a 70's rock band. As disco became more popular, many of their audience, particularly the black members, started asking them to play "funky" music. So they came up with the song "Play That Funky Music". which became their only number one hit (more specifically their only hit ever), although it was nothing like the rest of their music.
* Kim Wilde is best known for perky NewWaveMusic jams such as "Kids in America"; however her DarkerAndEdgier SynthPop single "Cambodia" [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff was a surprise hit in many European countries]], though it never caught on in the UK or US.
* Music/WithinTemptation's "What Have You Done" was a commercial success, but many longtime fans dislike the presence of male vocals (especially from a singer who never appeared in any other WT track) and dismiss the song as an Evanescence rip-off.
** It could be argued that Music/{{Evanescence}} had their own black sheep hit with "Bring Me to Life", as that song was recorded with someone from a different band entirely, and 99.98% of their output lacks male backing vocals. Said male backer was added due to ExecutiveMeddling, and Amy Lee released [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5QFLV_lzeQ a version]] that lacked it in 2017 (claiming to have been happy to do so).
* Music/WizKhalifa's "See You Again" was recorded for the ''Film/FuriousSeven'' soundtrack and was a pop-rap song combined with a piano-based ballad, which is completely at odds compared to usual urban stuff. It became his biggest mainstream hit, becoming much bigger than its already-huge parent movie and the biggest rap hit since "Thrift Shop".

* Music/LeeAnnWomack's career is dominated by neotraditionalist country with twangy vocals and plenty of fiddle and steel. But her biggest hit was the extremely slick pop ballad "I Hope You Dance".
* {{Music/XTC}}'s only number one hit in the U.S. is "Dear God", an extremely dark and serious tune about the thoughts of a young man who curses God for His callous and uncaring nature and blames Him for all the tragedy in the world. All of this coming from a band who's catalogue consists mostly of upbeat, quirky, and fun songs.
* Music/WeirdAlYankovic:

** Weird Al's original composition "You Don't Love Me Anymore", a breakup song with humorously brutal lyrics, was a decent hit in Canada and one of the most popular ballads in the Philippines in 1992 and 1993 -- probably the only Weird Al song many Filipinos instantly recognize. So popular was the song in the Philippines that it inspired a song called "Sinaktan Mo Ang Puso Ko" (semi-literally translated to "You Broke My Heart") by Michael V, who is arguably the country's answer to Weird Al for his parodies of popular songs and original novelty recordings. Even in the States, "You Don't Love Me Anymore" stands out for being one of his only non-parody songs that isn't InTheStyleOf another artist.
* Shortly before Music/EricClapton left Music/TheYardbirds, they recorded their major breakthrough hit, "For Your Love" -- a pop song as opposed to the blues-driven rock they'd recorded prior. Needless to say, Clapton has [[CreatorBacklash since detested it]] -- despite the song's mass success (#3 in Britain, #6 in America) -- while the pop sound would be better suited to his replacement, Music/JeffBeck.
* Music/YeahYeahYeahs best-known song is "Maps"--a somber, minimalist love ballad that's quite different from the band's usual upbeat, eclectic IndiePop sound. For comparison's sake, try listening to the song before playing one of their other big hits, like "Heads Will Roll", "Zero", or "Gold Lion". If you're not a fan, you could be forgiven for not realizing that it's the same band.
* Music/YellowMagicOrchestra was to be a single album side project that parodied Exotica. Instead, the album became one of the most important in Japanese recording history.
* Music/{{Yes}} - "Owner of a Lonely Heart", compared to their ProgressiveRock work from before that song/[[Music/NineOhOneTwoFive album]], which is largely because they had undergone massive turnover right before that album. It was the same band InNameOnly.

* You Me at Six's biggest hit in America was "Room to Breathe", a song that takes more cues from alternative metal than their typical pop-punk style.
* Music/ZacBrownBand, despite being a constant player of GenreRoulette (they are nominally a country band), pulled this off with "Heavy Is the Head", their 2015 collaboration with Music/ChrisCornell which went to #1 on Mainstream Rock while not charting on any country-based format. The track is a great deal heavier and harder than anything else ZBB has done before. "Beautiful Drug" also stands out as their first stab at an electronica influence.
* Zager and Evans remain best known for "In the Year 2525", which held the #1 spot for six weeks during the summer of 1969 ‐- the longest reign for any OneHitWonder in the decade. Compared to the remainder of their debut album, however, its apocalyptic message makes it DarkerAndEdgier.
* Music/FrankZappa's ''Music/SheikYerbouti'' contained one in the form of "Dancin' Fool". The humor is very typical of Zappa's music, but the highly commercial melody and radio-friendly production is not. Ironically he was trying to ''parody'' these effects, but Top-40 radio programmers [[MisaimedFandom didn't get the joke]]. See also "Valley Girl", the lead single from ''Music/ShipArrivingTooLateToSaveADrowningWitch''.

* How many people could have guessed that the biggest hit of Zedd's career in the United States would be, of all things, a collaboration with a ''country singer'' of all people? "The Middle" with Music/MarenMorris is his highest charting hit as a lead artist. It also sounds nothing like the country music that Morris normally makes.

* '''Music/LanaDelRey'''=]'=]s only pop radio hit is a dance remix of "Summertime Sadness" by Cedric Gervais. It sounds nothing like her normal material (the original "Summertime Sadness" included), which is many things but ''not'' dance music.

* The '''Music/BeastieBoys'''[='=] ''Music/LicensedToIll'' spawned one in the form of "You Gotta (Fight for Your Right) To Party!" Not only was it different for being a PunkRap tune, but most people [[MisaimedFandom didn't understand the irony of the lyrics]]. The band hates the song and hasn't played it live for over 20 years.

* Maddie & Tae's TakeThat to bro-country, "Girl in a Country Song", is much more mainstream-sounding than their other work, which has a neo-traditional sound comparable to the Dixie Chicks. Given the song's purpose, the different sound was likely intended as a StealthParody.
* The British {{ska}} band Music/{{Madness|Band}}, known to Americans for the '80s song "Our House", is a OneHitWonder in the United States, in part due to the fact that ska in general wouldn't really catch on until [[SkaPunk the third wave of ska during the '90s]]. "Our House" itself is a far more conventional-sounding post-disco and soft rock song that sounds almost nothing like their TwoTone and {{New wave|music}} material.[[note]] They actually had another American hit on the Top 40, their cover of Labi Siffre's "It Must Be Love", but that song has been completely forgotten in the U.S., and also sounds ''much'' closer to their regular style.[[/note]]
* Similar to The Elastik Band mentioned above, The Magic Mushrooms gained immortality on the ''Nuggets'' compilation, which closed with their wacked-out 1966 minor hit "It's-A-Happening". They only released two follow-up singles, and the A and B sides are Folk Rock in the vein of Music/TheLovinSpoonful, rather than the PsychedelicRock that the first single (and the band name) would lead you to expect.
* Major Lazer scored a massive crossover hit with "Lean On", which became one of the biggest EDM crossovers since "Wake Me Up". It's also one of their only songs that doesn't feature any {{reggae}} vocals.
* Melissa Manchester's biggest hit and only Grammy Award-winning song is "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" in 1982 which is a dance pop song while her primary music style is MOR. Her other top 10 hits, "Midnight Blue" and "Don't Cry Out Loud", are more representative of her usual style of music.
* Manufacture's "As the End Draws Near", which features a pre-fame Music/SarahMcLachlan on vocals, is much LighterAndSofter and more mainstream-accessible than the rest of their catalogue, which is chiefly aggressive {{industrial}} that ranks high on the SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness.
* Music/{{Marillion}} had one with "Kayleigh", which is a '''lot''' poppier than their usual progressive rock style.
* Music/MarilynManson's two biggest hits are his cover of [[Music/{{Eurythmics}} "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"]] and his song "The Beautiful People". The first is unlike most of his work due to being a cover song (but admittedly, standard for his covers, which are "Take song with dark lyrics but more positive sound, inject the misery that oozes out of him, record") and the second really doesn't mesh with most of the album it is on, due to being heavier than half the songs, lighter than the other half, and being much more sane than most of the album (the figurative language is much easier to figure out, with stuff like "It's all relative to the size of your steeple", and the song in general being more traditional metal). The both are concert staples, but still don't fit in, partially due to the fact that each album is so insanely different that slamming them all together really can be just kinda odd.
* "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was also a black-sheep hit when Music/MarkChesnutt covered it; before that song, he was mostly known for his honky-tonk influences, and certainly ''not'' for pop power ballads. It was also apparently [[ExecutiveMeddling forced upon him by the label]].
* Music/BobMarley's "One Love" and "Three Little Birds" are happy anomalies in his usually serious rock reggae catalogue, but they are the songs most commonly associated with him. Similarly the album ''Music/{{Kaya|BobMarleyAlbum}}'' sold well but is LighterAndSofter than the rest of his work. It is said that he released accessible material on ''Music/{{Exodus|BobMarleyAlbum}}'' and ''Kaya'' so that the public would pay attention to his work for his next album ''Music/{{Survival}}'', which contained his most political themes to date. However, they ended up changing the public perception of him to that of a carefree hippie rasta rather than someone who was using his music to call for social change.

* While Bobby [=McFerrin=] is still respected as a jazz vocalist, he's not likely to ever live down "Don't Worry, Be Happy".
* Maria [=McKee=] with "Show Me Heaven" mean't people expected her to be a pop balladeer when her usual style was more of a raw country rock.
* In The90s, Music/SarahMcLachlan was an artist who specialized in folk and alternative music, and she commonly received airplay on rock radio. However, her two biggest hits, 1998's "Adia" and "Angel" (both from ''Music/{{Surfacing}}''), were adult contemporary piano ballads. Ever since the success of these two singles, she's been producing nearly nothing but piano-based adult contemporary music.
* One reason that Music/DonMcLean's successful career as a singer-songwriter was somewhat limited was that audiences and radio programmers expected his other songs to be similar to "Music/AmericanPie" and were disappointed when they weren't.
* "Hurts So Good" by Music/JohnMellencamp. (And don't call him Cougar.) His greatest hit (besides "Jack and Diane"), but his later career should make clear he always wanted to be a "political" singer.

* Music/{{Metallica}}, "Nothing Else Matters" (the closest the band came to writing a ballad) and "The Unforgiven" from ''The Black Album'', and all of ''Music/AndJusticeForAll'' save for "One", which was the only song from said album that survived the band's live setlist after the tour for the album ended.
* Music/{{MGMT}}'s album '''Music/OracularSpectacular''' was a criticial and commercial hit and reached the charts with "Kids", "Time To Pretend" and "Electric Feel". Despite the album and singles' success its entire sound is very different compared to their regular music. Even "Kids" and "Time To Pretend" had appeared earlier on their EP "Time To Pretend" (2005) in a different version. As a result it became a Black Sheep Hit and the band themselves have made clear that they won't be making songs like those again.
* Music/FrankMills first gained notice as a singer-songwriter in his native Canada, with a couple of his vocal songs also becoming minor hits south of the border in the United States. But when a piano {{instrumental|s}} he initially recorded as an album cut, "Music Box Dancer", became a major worldwide hit in 1979, he shifted his style to instrumental music.
* Music/{{Ministry}}'s "(Every Day Is) Halloween" was the biggest single from the band's period where they tried to be a {{new wave|Music}}/SynthPop act. Once they became an Industrial Metal band, [[OldShame they tried to shove it under the rug]]. Same with "Revenge", their first hit song.
* Comedian/singer Minnie Pearl, best known for her appearances on ''Series/HeeHaw'', had [[OneHitWonder exactly one hit]]: a completely serious AnswerSong to Red Sovine's heartwarming trucker's hit "Giddyup Go", titled appropriately enough, "Giddyup Go - Answer".
* Modern English were generally a moody, goth-influenced post-punk band when the jangly, upbeat "I Melt With You" became a big hit - in the US they're still considered a OneHitWonder (they did technically have two other hits on the ''Billboard'' charts, but one of them was just a 1990 remake of "I Melt With You").
* Music/ModestMouse - "Float On". While the song sounds pretty similar to their other songs, it is 1000x times more upbeat and positive than other songs by them. "Dashboard" far more so.

* Music/TheMonkees had one with "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", which they CoveredUp from Music/PaulRevereAndTheRaiders by making the Top 20. Not too may songs of theirs are that hard (the live versions they did around that time are almost ProtoPunk). Also worthy of mention is the schizophrenic "Alternate Title", aka "Randy Scouse Git", which Micky Dolenz wrote after watching ''Till Death Do Us Part'' on TV.
* Music/MontgomeryGentry reflects this with most of their #1 hits. The first was the in-your-face, vaguely RapRock-influenced "If You Ever Stop Loving Me", which stands out as being more aggressive than even their typical country-rock style. "Lucky Man", "Back When I Knew It All", and "Roll with Me" are far softer than their usual fare, with "Something to Be Proud Of" being their only #1 hit that reflects both their rowdiness and introspection in equal measure. Both "If You Ever Stop Loving Me" and "Roll with Me" stand out for being sung entirely by Troy Gentry with very little vocal contributions from Eddie Montgomery (mainly due to the latter having a second backing vocal from Five for Fighting), as opposed to their usual formula of having [[VocalTagTeam both of them sing lead alternately]] or having Eddie lead and Troy harmonize (which was more common on their earlier singles before they established the back-and-forth formula on "My Town").
* Music/TheMoodyBlues were best known for their psychedelic and prog-rock songs in the 60's and 70's like "Nights in White Satin" and "The Story in Your Eyes". In The80s, however, they scored their second and last Top 10 entry with 1986's "Your Wildest Dreams", a synth-pop song.
* Music/VanMorrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" is ''way'' poppier than most of his other stuff. It ''really'' doesn't help that Morrison was broke, desperate, and had no star leverage when he wrote it. Because he was forced to sign the rights to Bang Records, he gets virtually no ongoing royalties whatsoever from what is still his most popular song (which is why he was still broke and desperate when he recorded his career-defining album, ''Music/AstralWeeks''). Yet the fans still expect to hear it at gigs, which does not help his legendary curmudgeonliness.
* Music/MrBig, a band known for having one of the fastest and most technically adept guitarists in rock and metal (and this was in the late 80s, when lightning-fast guitar shredders were everywhere) and a world famous bass guitar virtuoso, naturally had their biggest stateside hit with "To Be With You", a relatively slow and simple acoustic ballad.
* Mr. President's "Coco Jamboo", [[OneHitWonder their only major hit in Anglophone countries]], was a reggae-rap tune very different from their traditional Eurodance material.
* With Music/MyChemicalRomance, they like to take it to an extreme, with their entire latest ''album'', ''Music/DangerDaysTheTrueLivesOfTheFabulousKilljoys'' being the most successful album they've had so far, despite a different style to what they're often known for (This album was [[FunPersonified Fun Personified as an album instead of a character]] while they're often known for emotional '[[DeTerminator don't stop singing]]' powerful songs which are often mistaken for Emo). However, to fans who listened to their previous albums, they'd know they've had similar songs scattered through their previous albums, but none had been released. This time, all but a small percentage are anything but poppy and fun. Previous non-single songs, such as ''House of Wolves'' for example, have a similar tone and style to ''Danger Days''.
* Music/NadaSurf's "Popular" differs a lot from their other songs, for using spoken word verses excerpted from ''Penny's Guide to Teen-Age Charm'' and a sound more reminiscent of grunge rather than the power pop and indie rock that the is common in the band's discography.
* Music/{{Nazareth}} was a hard rock band that made the mistake to record a ballad, "Love Hurts", and has been mistaken for a ballad band ever since.
* While many of Music/NoDoubt's most memorable hits are in the ska-punk genre, the ballad "Don't Speak" is by far their most recognizable song, and arguably the song that turned singer Music/GwenStefani into a household name.
* Music/TheNeighbourhood's most popular song is "Sweater Weather", a romantic song with a vastly different tune than their other songs like "Afraid" or "Honest".
* Music/NewOrder's "Blue Monday" was only meant as an experiment with electronic instruments, and an encore instrumental piece which could be played after they had left the stage, but ended up as their best selling single.
* Music/NickiMinaj had a massive hit with "Starships", which is one of her few songs that's entirely sung rather than rapped.
* "Head Like a Hole" was originally this for Music/NineInchNails. It's a loud, angry rock song with a guitar-driven chorus while the rest of their debut album is dark synth pop with little, of any, guitar and more brooding or angsty lyrics. The follow-up ''Broken'' was full-on industrial metal in a style more similar to "Head Like a Hole" than any of their other material.
* Music/{{Nirvana}}'s "About a Girl" is the only song off ''Music/{{Bleach|Album}}'' that most people can name, and the only one you'll likely hear on the radio or in a public setting. For good reason, it's much more mainstream-friendly than the rest of the album, being more in line with the material from ''Music/{{Nevermind|Album}}'' as well as sounding very [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles-esque ]]. ''Bleach'' is easily their least-accessible album in their entire library, being much noisier and denser than its polished follow-ups, with the exception of that song. It should be noted however that it wasn't a hit until ''after'' Kurt Cobain's death, due to being featured as the lead single off of ''Music/MTVUnpluggedInNewYork'', where before then it was very obscure (like the rest of ''Bleach''), making it a SleeperHit.
* The ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' arrange "Bad Apple!!" is by far Nomico's most popular song, but most of her other works are peppy {{moe}} songs in a much higher, cutesy register.
* Minor example: Although Duane Allen is considered the lead singer of Music/TheOakRidgeBoys, tenor Joe Bonsall sang lead on their most famous song, "Elvira".
* Music/TheOffspring:

* As an experimental musician, Music/MikeOldfield has never been interested in crafting pop hits, but he's remembered by most people as the guy who recorded "Music/TubularBells", the theme from ''Film/TheExorcist''. Only a small part of the album-long composition was used in the film, but that part was released as a single and made the U.S. Top 10.
* Another one whose first hit is the black sheep: Music/OneRepublic. In TheNew10s, they're best known for upbeat pop-rock like "Good Life", "Counting Stars", and "Love Runs Out", but try convincing anyone from the [[TurnOfTheMillennium previous decade]] that that would be the case, when their first single was the ultra-slow "Apologize" (thanks to a redrummed backing track by superstar producer Timbaland) and their second was another ballad, "Stop and Stare" (though still a step towards the rock side, which was completely absent from the former).
* Joan Osborne is a raw and rootsy blues-rocker whose one big hit, "One of Us", is a relatively lightweight alternative-pop tune.
* Music/OzzyOsbourne is known for the metal he does. His only two songs to chart in the top 40 in the US were "Close My Eyes Forever" (a somber, melancholy duet with Lita Ford) and "Mama, I'm Coming Home" (about his impending "retirement"; also co-written by [[Music/{{Motorhead}} Lemmy]]!), which are ''not'' indicative of the bulk of his discography. His highest-charting song in Britain, "Changes" (which hit no.1), is a father-daughter duet with Kelly, and a cover of what is ''itself'' a Black Sheep Hit of Black Sabbath's.
* Music/TheOsmonds, purveyors of safe seventies pop music had a big hit with "Crazy Horses", a hard rock song.
* Music/OutKast have long been known for their endlessly creative brand of hip hop. Their biggest hit? "Hey Ya", a [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles-esque]] pop song, which became this trope mostly [[IAmTheBand because Big Boi wasn't involved with that song]]. If [=OutKast=] was just André 3000, there would have been more songs like "Hey Ya!". Follow-up "The Way You Move" was also more R&B than rap; this time around André 3000 wasn't involved with the song, so if [=OutKast=] was just Big Boi, there would have been more songs like it.
* "Jackie Blue", by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, sounds absolutely nothing like the rest of the album it appeared on (''It'll Shine When It Shines''), or much of the rest of the band's catalog for that matter.
* Music/{{POD}} is known for rap-rock, but their surprise comeback in 2012 with "Lost in Forever" and "Beautiful" differs heavily from the material they're known for. While the former is still fairly heavy, it lacks a lot of the rapping, while the latter is a full-on soft ballad. The single released in between, "Higher", was more typical P.O.D., but unlike the other two, it fell short of the top 10.
* Music/BradPaisley:

* Music/{{Pantera}}'s biggest hit on rock radio was a cover of Music/BlackSabbath's "Planet Caravan". Like the original, it's a softer PsychedelicRock number that sharply contrasts their hard-hitting GrooveMetal material. The ''Far Beyond Driven'' liner notes even acknowledge that this isn't the kind of material fans would normally expect from them - The following message is printed in place of the song's lyrics:

* Music/{{Paramore}}:

* Ray Parker Jr.'s "Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}", which sounds uncannily like a Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews song "I Want a New Drug" but sounds nothing like Parker's other work. This led to legal action being taken and an out-of-court settlement.
* Music/PearlJam had this with "Last Kiss". Even though it was a cover of an old 60's pop song, and only originally offered to the band's fan club, once radio stations picked it up it became their biggest hit.

* Music/KatyPerry's ''Prism'' is filled with pure {{Pop}} music, except for its biggest hit "Dark Horse", which is much more "urban" than her normal material. It became her second song to top the rhythmic charts (following "E.T.", itself an example).
* Invoked intentionally by early ChristianRock band Music/{{Petra}}, because their usual material was considered unacceptable for airplay on Christian radio.
* Music/PinkFloyd's [[Music/TheWall "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2"]] became a ProtestSong, something which the band hadn't planned, resulting in it being [[BannedInChina banned in South Africa]].

* "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's - their usual style is much more upbeat and is more pop-punk oriented, but their acoustic ballad was what became a major hit. Their only other Top 40 hits in the United States, "1234" and "Rhythm of Love", were ''also'' acoustic ballads (although both slightly more upbeat).
* Music/ThePolice with "Every Breath You Take". A number one hit in many countries, it was the best-selling single of 1983 in the US and the 5th-best-selling single of the decade. The Police's music style is a combination of New Wave, reggae, post-punk, and rock, but "Every Breath You Take" was borderline ''soft rock'' and a departure from their usual sound. Everyone of all ages has probably heard of this song at least once since almost any radio station still plays this song daily (it actually holds the record of one of the most requested songs in radio history) and many think it's a romantic ballad to this day. [[LyricalDissonance They are in for a huge surprise.]]
* Music/PorcupineTree are mostly a ProgressiveRock group whose music is not generally considered radio-friendly. Their 2005 song "Shallow", a {{Grunge}}-esque rock song, was their only radio hit in the U.S.
* "Dance with the Devil" was Cozy Powell's first and biggest solo hit. Unfortunately, he didn't really mean it: "I only cut 'Dance with the Devil' for a laugh, but then it escalated until I felt I was losing credibility..." It led to him quitting music and going into motor racing full time for a few months, after which he was persuaded to join Strange Brew and then Music/{{Rainbow}}.
* Music/ElvisPresley pretty much ran the gamut from loud rockers and jumpy, jazzy tunes to soft ballads and bluesy melodies. Shortly before his entry into the army, however, he recorded the Dixieland-based "Hard Headed Woman", one of the more unusual of his numerous chart-toppers, for the film ''King Creole'', while his last #1, "Suspicious Minds," was less unusual but featured a little soul music to it.
* Primitive Radio Gods scored a hit in 1996 with the ethereal "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand", but the rest of the album it was taken from consisted of '80s style rock. The only things the rest of the material had in common with the hit was {{sampling}} and use of drum machines. Unsurprisingly, the group never had another hit.
* Music/{{Queen}}:

* Music/{{Queensryche}}'s sole Top 40 hit, "Silent Lucidity", which is a mainstream rock ballad rather than their prior ProgressiveMetal.

* Music/{{Radiohead}}'s "Creep", which is a very radio-friendly pop/indie rock song with a relatively traditional guitar/bass/drum sound. It's not only very different than most of the rest of the parent album ''Music/PabloHoney'', but completely different than Radiohead's subsequent stuff, which is heavily electronic, jazz, and pure-rock. Even 20 years later, it's still their most recognized (but hardly only) hit.
* Music/{{Rainbow}} was a metal pioneer, but their one and only Top 40 hit was "Stone Cold", a slow song from the Joe Lynn Turner era.

* The Rascals scored three #1 hits in the 1960's, the last being "People Got to Be Free". Holding the top spot for five consecutive weeks in the summer of 1968 – longer than both "Good Lovin'" and "Groovin'", for which people ''still'' remember them – that song was much DarkerAndEdgier than its two predecessors, coming out, by pure coincidence, in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
* "Mujer Amante", a love song by the Argentinean HeavyMetal band RataBlanca was their biggest hit ever. The rest of their music was 100% HeavyMetal. (Even at high speeds and heavy sound.)
* '''James Ray''' had a ''very'' brief career as an R&B singer, but [[OneHitWonder his only Top 40 hit]] was "If You've Got to Make a Fool of Somebody," featuring a waltz melody, something more commonplace in jazz than in R&B.
* Record label Razor & Tie mostly serves as an outlet for hard rock artists like Music/AllThatRemains, Music/ThePrettyReckless, and Music/{{Starset}}. But they will always be best known for Music/KidzBop, an act who can’t be any more different from the former three, plus, Razor and Tie started out as a reissue and compilation label.
* Chris Rea is best known as a blues-rock artist and for his slide guitar playing, but his biggest American hit was his debut single "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", a keyboard-based soft rock song which is also the only song he's released that he doesn't play guitar on.
* "Under the Bridge" by the Music/RedHotChiliPeppers got a lot of people buying ''Music/BloodSugarSexMagik'' expecting more of the same and not an album full of funk with only maybe two other ballady songs. Imagine all the suburban housewives who liked "Under the Bridge" and wound up stumbling into "Sir Psycho Sexy"!
** "Under the Bridge", while being a SurprisinglyGentleSong, nevertheless treats a fairly dark topic - Anthony Kiedis's reflections on everything and ''everyone'' he's thrown away in his life because of drugs, and the city/spirit of Los Angeles as the only entity that will support him unconditionally.
** They managed an inverted version of this later on, with the hit "Can't Stop" from the album ''By the Way''. Can't Stop is the only example of funk-pop on the album. The remaining tracks are mostly ballads, though there are a few exceptions.
* Music/OtisRedding was already famous as an Stax/Volt R&B artist when he recorded "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". Three days later, he and most of the rest of his band died in a plane crash. The song became wildly popular (the first posthumous song to top the charts in the UK), even though it's very different from much of his ''large'' body of work.
* Aaron Barrett of Music/ReelBigFish has gone on record saying "... ["Sell Out" was] some dumb novelty song I wrote ten years ago.".
* Music/{{REM}} has the peppy "Shiny Happy People", which even features [[Music/TheB52s Kate Pierson]]. [[CreatorBacklash And damn, they hate this song]].

* The Rembrandts' "I'll Be There for You" (the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' theme), a more mainstream-pop friendly song compared to their alternative power-pop sound.
* Music/TheResidents are best known by the mainstream public for their underground hit "Kaw Liga", which is a very danceable cover of a song by Music/HankWilliams and very catchy and slick compared to their general experimental output.
* Canadian indie-rock band Rheostatics had to write an in-universe hit single for the soundtrack of the film version of ''Whale Music'', and the song ended up becoming an actual Top 40 hit, proving that they ''could'' write a hit single if they wanted to. They didn't enjoy the experience and never tried it again.
* While Music/{{Rihanna}} frequently plays the GenreRoulette (she is ostensibly a ContemporaryRAndB singer), she had this happen to her with [=FourFiveSeconds=], her 2015 collaboration with Music/KanyeWest and Music/PaulMcCartney. It's a folk tune that doesn't sound at all like anything else she's ever done.

* Music/RiseAgainst usually write blistering HardcorePunk anthems with ''heavy'' political themes, but they had a big hit with the subdued, apolitical acoustic song "Swing Life Away".
* Rollergirl's [[OneHitWonder only major hit]], a cover of Sunscreem's "Love You More", is trance, while most of her other songs are Music/Eiffel65-style Nu-Italo/Europop.
* This often happens with veteran artists who try changing their sound to meet current tastes. "Miss You", Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}' flirtation with disco, is one example.

* Music/ToddRundgren, despite his [[GenreRoulette mastery of a myriad of different genres and styles]], may be best known for the latter-day Music/TalkingHeads rip-off "Bang the Drum All Day". Especially by [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Green Bay Packers]] fans.[[note]]The song is played after every Packers touchdown at their home stadium, Lambeau Field.[[/note]]

** He was so disgusted with the vapidness of his biggest hit "I Saw the Light" (which he insists his record label forced him to record, and he writes off as a "bad Peter Frampton wannabe song"), that he intentionally quit the high-profile music business to focus on producing other artists while occasionally releasing more low-profile but critically-acclaimed albums.
* Music/{{Rush|Band}}'s only Top 40 hit in the United States (charting at #21) and only number one hit in Canada was "New World Man" off their 1982 album ''Music/{{Signals}}''. The song was a huge hit on the radio, but the only reason the song was written was to balance out Side A and Side B on cassette and vinyl versions of the album. The song was written in one day and recorded at the very end of production. The song departs the progressive-elements that characterizes Rush and it has a standard 4/4 time signature throughout the whole song, a very rare thing for Rush to do. The song essentially follows a standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus pattern in the absence of a guitar solo and the bridge sounds like something that should be on a song by Music/ThePolice.

* One of the Smithereens' biggest hits? "Too Much Passion", a light soul-pop song that sounds nothing like their guitar-driven sound. Their other top 40 hit, "A Girl Like You", is an upbeat power pop love anthem also atypical of their headier fare.

* Music/EltonJohn's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" is one of his best-known songs, but is ''much'' harder than his other material. An inversion of the usual scenario. Elton also never thought "Bennie and the Jets" was commercial enough to be a hit. It not only ''did'' become a hit, but topped the ''R&B'' charts. Elton was one of the first white performers to play on ''Series/SoulTrain''.
* '''Josh Turner''' is known for his very conservative, old-school approach to country music, with very modest production and lyrics (as exemplified by his breakthrough "Long Black Train", a Southern gospel song that many felt could've been cut in the 1940s or 1950s with almost no changes). But his biggest hits include "Your Man" and "Why Don't We Just Dance", both of which are unusually upbeat and sultry, and "Time Is Love", a more keyboard-driven country-pop song.

* "Always" by Saliva was a post-grunge ballad that was softer than the rap-heavy nu-metal songs they’re better known for, like "Your Disease" and "Click Click Boom". They did shift away from the rap stylings later on, but even compared to their new output, "Always" is
* French singer Henri Salvador is best known for his child-friendly comedy songs, yet he also wrote a lot more mature romantic ballads, which were never quite as popular. He's also famous for recording the first French rock-and-roll songs under the pseudonym Henry Cording, but despite that he later claimed to dislike rock-and-roll and treated his Henry Cording persona as an OldShame.
* Lina Santiago's [[OneHitWonder only hit]], "Feels So Good (Show Me Your Love)", was Latin freestyle/electropop, while the rest of her debut ([[OneBookAuthor and only]]) album, thanks to ExecutiveMeddling, was mainly R&B/pop ballads.
* Saving Abel were another late 2000s to early 2010s band often lambasted as "butt rock". Only two of their five top 10 hits on rock radio, "18 Days" and "Drowning (Face Down)", were not highly sexual or hedonistic songs, and only "Drowning" had nothing to do with women or romance at all. Their sophomore album leaned much more heavily on the sexuality, right down to having a model on the cover. (Their debut originally had a woman’s butt on the cover, but it was later replaced by a photo of the band.)
* Music/{{Scorpions|Band}}, "Wind of Change". Even though this song became the hymn for the fall of the Berlin Wall, vocalist Klaus Meine said that the song had actually been written long before, and he happened to stumble on it when looking at some annotations.

* Music/BobSeger was first known for his garage rock and then his guitar-driven arena rock. His only #1? "Shakedown", a synth-driven song that was written by him, Harold Faltermeyer, and Keith Forsey for the movie ''Film/BeverlyHillsCopII''.

* Music/{{Seether}} are usually considered to be South Africa's answer to Music/ThreeDaysGrace. Then they released "Words As Weapons", a rousing, "Mad World"-influenced alt-rock anthem, gaining them new-found success. Then of course there's "Broken", which was their only pop hit. It's far softer than their normal material, and their only song to feature guest vocals (courtesy of frontman Shaun Morgan's then-girlfriend [[Music/{{Evanescence}} Amy Lee]]).
* OneHitWonder Michael Sembello's "Maniac", a fast-paced NewWave {{Synthpop}} anthem, is completely different from the other songs on its parent album, which are mainly post-disco, funk, and contemporary R&B/soul.
* Music/ShadowsFall, while no strangers to power ballads ("The Art of Balance", "What Drives the Weak", "Inspiration on Demand", etc.), had never made one that was quite as modern rock-oriented as "Another Hero Lost". It was an obvious bid at widespread radio play; while it did accomplish that, it also pissed off dedicated fans (who hated it for being such an obvious radio song) and alienated non-fans who latched onto it (as the parent album was far heavier than that song). The band quickly turned against it and stopped playing it live around the end of 2008 and never brought it back.
* Music/BlakeShelton was one of the big figures in bro-country, a subgenre defined by two things: rap-inspired production and a near-total disinterest in any topic beyond parties, booze, tits and cars. Even after bro-country fell out of favour, Shelton's output was still pretty heavy on pop production and light on deeper themes, which is why "God's Country", a bleak, harsh-edged Southern Gothic country song, is so jarring. It's not his ''biggest'' hit, but it still feels weird to listen to it and think that this was the dude who made "Boys Round Here".
* Music/{{Shinedown}}'s cover of "Simple Man". Constantly screamed for at concerts by drunk people who know the band only for Brent Smith's rendition of this Music/LynyrdSkynyrd classic. Old interviews had the band stating that they would never play it live again, due to guitarist Jasin Todd's departure. It is thought among some fans that the song's resurfacing in their Carnival of Madness tour is due to pressure from their record label Atlantic, and the band actually hates playing the song. Singer Brent Smith has been heard to drop snide remarks at fans who show up only to hear Simple Man ("How many of you want to hear Simple Man so you can leave?").

* The Silencers, a Scottish rock band with a bit of a [[CultClassic cult following]], are known for their highly prolific and eclectic output, but most of their songs are generally categorized as "punk", and they skew towards a rather aggressive sound with strong electronic influences. But their best-known song is probably their mellow and soulful cover of the traditional Scottish folk song "Wild Mountain Thyme", which caught on after it was used in a Scottish tourism ad. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MagG8J--BBI music video]] is the most viewed Silencers video on Website/YouTube by a pretty substantial margin.
* Music/CarlySimon's "You're So Vain" is not her only TakeThat, but it's probably her least subtle. While it's far from her only hit, it's her only #1 (in Australia and North America), her best known song and is more rock-oriented than most of her hits.
* Simply Red were one of Britain's biggest blue-eyed soul groups of the '80s and '90s. Their only number one single in their native country is "Fairground", a house track.
* Music/FrankSinatra and his SignatureSong "Music/MyWay", which is more adult contemporary than his usual swinging style. Indeed, he never really liked it despite being his most famous song.
* Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, whose signature style is GothRock, achieved their biggest hit in the US with the much poppier AlternativeDance single "Kiss Them for Me".
* Music/{{Slipknot}}'s lead single off their successful [[SelfTitledAlbum self-titled]] debut, "Wait and Bleed", could be considered an example. While it has the speed, angst and chaotic qualities of most of their output, it's by-far the least heavy non-electronic song on the record. It's also one of the album's shortest songs.

* Music/TheSmallFaces were a mod rock band comparable to a bluesier version of Music/TheWho. Their biggest hit (and only hit in the US) was "Itchycoo Park", a flower power number they wrote as a joke. In the UK, they scored another Black Sheep Hit with the equally jokey "Lazy Sunday". The lukewarm reception of the band's more serious songs led Steve Marriott to leave the group in order to form Humble Pie, while the other four regrouped as Music/{{Faces}}.
* Music/SmashMouth's first hit single, "Walkin' on the Sun", was a '60s-esque pop tune; the rest of their debut album was mostly pop-ska, with the exception of a cover of War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Like Sugar Ray, who charted at about the same time, they embraced their Black Sheep Hit, and their second album was much heavier on the retro-pop.

* Music/PattiSmith was a founding mother of American [[PunkRock punk music]] who was shockingly profane for a female vocalist of her time, and brought to her music a strong feminist vibe. Her best-known hit is "Because the Night" (first heard on the 1978 record ''Music/{{Easter}}''), a pop love ballad written by Music/BruceSpringsteen, which contains ''none'' of these elements.

* Music/TheSmiths have "How Soon Is Now?" It's probably their best-known song, but its psychedelic atmospheric quality is nothing like their normal jangly indie rock sound.
* Soft Cell's megahit, "Tainted Love", is nothing like most of their other material, which is loaded with kinky sexual content that would not be played on most radio stations. In fact "Tainted Love" was [[CoveredUp originally an obscure 1965 Motown song performed by Gloria Jones]].
* Despite being their SignatureSong, Music/SonicYouth[='s=] "Teen Age Riot" is highly atypical compared to their usual oeuvre, consisting of the standard verse-chorus structure that they more often than not forego.
* Music/{{Soundgarden}}'s "Black Hole Sun" is LighterAndSofter, with a tone described by the band as "Beatles-esque", but became the band's SignatureSong.
* Outside of their native UK, the vast majority of people have probably only heard one Spandau Ballet song, the jazzy ballad "True". This actually sounds nothing like the majority of their very synth-heavy work.
* Music/DustySpringfield kicked off her solo career in 1963 with "I Only Want to Be with You", a heavy song in her rather light career. Somehow, it shot to #4 in her native UK but missed the Top 10 in the US.
* Music/{{Squeeze|Band}} seem to make a habit of being atypical in their successes:

* Music/SteeleyeSpan is an electric folk/folk-rock band with a repertoire drawn from the British Isles' musical tradition. However, their first UK hit in 1972 was an a capella Christmas song, "Gaudete," sung in Latin.
* Music/SteelyDan's biggest hit in the UK is "Haitian Divorce", a reggae-influenced song that is not only atypical of their normal jazz rock sound, but also one of their more obscure singles in their native United States. It's one of only a few of their singles to miss the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entirely. The main reason "Haitian Divorce" was a hit in the UK was because it came out at a time when reggae music was particularly popular thanks to the likes of Bob Marley. It should be noted that the song doesn't get radio airplay very often anymore.
** In the US, they had a big hit with "Dirty Work", a country-influenced ballad which features effeminately voiced guest vocalist David Palmer on lead vocals. At the time, songwriter and usual singer Donald Fagen felt Palmer could help make the song a bigger hit, and had also hired him to sing vocals live, due to lack of confidence in singing and playing piano at the same time. After the album ''Can't Buy a Thrill'' (which features vocals from Fagen, Palmer and fellow band member Jim Hodder), Fagen would assume lead vocals for all their songs - partly for continuity and partly because he felt nobody could convey the cynicism in his lyrics as well as he could. This is something of a subversion in that the two other hits from ''Can't Buy a Thrill'' - "Do It Again" and "Reelin' in the Years" - do feature Fagen singing lead.
* Music/CatStevens was quite reluctant to release "Wild World" on ''Tea for the Tillerman'' because he considered it too commercial compared to his folk-rock output, but it was indeed one of his first Top 20 hits. His next album, ''Teaser and the Firecat'', gave him two Top 10 hits with "Peace Train", which has a loose soul inspiration, and his cover/arrangement of "Morning Has Broken", contrasting his calm guitar with the flamboyant piano of [[Music/{{Yes}} Rick Wakeman]].
* Music/RayStevens is mainly known for his novelty songs. However, he had his biggest hit with the extremely serious and sentimental "Everything Is Beautiful". He had another serious hit earlier with "Mr. Businessman" and also had a country hit with the Gospel standard "Turn Your Radio On".
* Stevie B was a singer in the late 80s and early 90s who was part of Miami's freestyle scene and, as a result, wrote and performed mostly dance songs. His only number 1 (and only top 10 hit, for that matter) on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 was "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)", a piano-based love ballad. Unlike his previous singles, this one never even touched the dance charts, but that never stopped it from being his most well-known single.
* One of the most popular Stingers songs with fans of the 80s cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' is "Destiny". Riot usually sings lead and the women are backup however in this song Riot only sings the chorus.
* Stone Sour's two biggest hits, "Bother" and "Through Glass." (the latter starts off ballad-y and gets harder as it goes, but is still different from their other songs). A few other of their rock hits, like "Sillyworld" and "Hesistate", also qualify.
* 1990s country star Doug Stone was usually known for being a balladeer, usually with an emphasis on heartbreak or sorrow (as exemplified by his debut single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)"). Two of his biggest hits ("A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Why Didn't I Think of That") were far more uptempo, but not completely outside his comfort zone thematically — the first is about him seeking a place to [[DrowningMySorrows drown his sorrows]] after a fight with the Mrs., while the latter is him regretting that his girl is now with someone else. However, "In a Different Light" stands out as a romantic love song about a relationship with an [[OfficeRomance office worker]]. "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Born in the Dark" also stand out for having a much harder country-rock edge than the rest of his career.
* The Stranglers' "Golden Brown", a baroque composition that was completely different from the band's earlier punk rock sound.

* The Strawbs specialised in folk-rock, mostly based on timeless poetic themes, historical events or personal experiences. The majority of their songs originated from frontman Dave Cousins, who sang lead vocal on all but a few. "Part of the Union", by far and away their biggest hit ever, was a topical pub-rock anthem that took the rise out of the militant workers who were butting heads with the UK's employers and government at that time. It was written by Rick Hudson and John Ford and performed with John Ford on lead vocals. The huge success of this Black Sheep Hit was one of the main factors in Hudson and Ford's departure from the group, and also resulted in it being excluded from the playlist entirely when they took their next album on tour. (However, Hudson, Ford and [=PotU=] were all eventually returned to the fold.)

* Strawberry Alarm Clock and their #1 hit from 1967 "Incense and Peppermints" count. For one thing, the lead vocal on "Incense" wasn't even by a band member. The band had worked up the melody as an {{Instrumental}}, then their producer hired an outside writer to pen some lyrics that the band hated, so they asked a friend who was visiting the recording session to sing lead. And the song leaned much more in the direction of PsychedelicRock than their usual material, which was typically Sunshine Pop (with a bit of Psychedelic influence) featuring elaborate vocal harmonies. Naturally, the band never had another hit afterwards.
* "Babe" by Music/{{Styx}} is a slow electric piano-based ballad, unlike most of their other more rock-oriented works. Additionally, "Mr. Roboto" is mostly synthesized, while most of their songs were guitar-based.
* Music/SugarRay's "Fly". To the point where they had a song that sounded like it ("Every Morning") released as the first single from their next album ''14:59''. And another, "Someday", from the same album... and ''another'', "When It's Over", as the lead single from their ''next'' [[SelftitledAlbum album.]]

* One of Music/{{Sugarland}}'s biggest hits was "Stay", a ballad done entirely on organ and acoustic guitar. It is also one of the only songs in their catalog where lead singer Jennifer Nettles sings entirely by herself (although the other member, Kristian Bush, is still the one playing guitar on it). The five-minute minimalist ballad was far removed from anything else in Sugarland's discography, never mind anything else on country radio at the time.
* Music/{{Sum 41}} is a skate punk / PopPunk, but their biggest hit "Fat Lip" is one of their only songs to feature [[PunkRap rapping]].
* Music/DonnaSummer was most famous as the Queen of Disco, but then "I Feel Love", her 1977 collaboration with Music/GiorgioMoroder, was almost entirely produced on a Moog Modular 3P synthesizer, and may be the UrExample of ItaloDisco and ElectronicDanceMusic, not to mention her singing in [[VocalDissonance head voice]] as opposed to her normal chest register.
* Music/TaylorSwift:

* Music/TalkingHeads' "Wild Wild Life", from ''Music/TrueStories'', was a mainstream rock song rather than the eclectic WorldMusic-influenced sound the band became known for on albums like ''Music/RemainInLight''.
* Ten Years After's biggest hit, "I'd Love to Change the World", was much softer than their usual hard-rock style.
* Terror Squad's only #1 hit ([[OneHitWonder and only hit whatsoever]]) was "Lean Back", a party track that introduced a dance move made for people who can't dance. This song came in the midst of the rest of the album, which feature less mainstream-friendly material that was ''not'' made for the radio or party playlists.
* Latin music star Music/{{Thalia}}'s "I Want You", a deliberate and successful attempt at a US crossover pop hit, but generally considered a throwaway by her regular fanbase.
* Music/TheoryOfADeadman is mostly known as a poster-child for the much maligned "butt-rock" genre, but their only pop hit, "Not Meant To Be", was a soft ballad that got zero airplay on rock radio. They’ve done more songs like it since, such as "Hurricane" and "Angel". "Drown", meanwhile, is a dark and brooding song that lacks the hedonistic themes they’re known for on most of their songs.
* Music/ThinLizzy's "Whiskey in the Jar" was originally recorded as an Irish in-joke and as B-side to one of their singles. When the management got hold of it, they flipped it to the A-side and it became a massive hit, much to the band's chagrin. Music/{{Metallica}} covering it didn't help too much.
* CountryMusic singer Aaron Tippin is best known for his patriotic, blue-collar working-man songs and his extremely nasal singing voice. However, his only #1 hits on the country charts do not reflect his typical blue-collar themes at all: "There Ain't Nothin' Wrong with the Radio" (1992) and "Kiss This" (2000) are goofy novelty songs, while "That's as Close as I'll Get to Loving You" (1995) is a smooth ballad about an affair which has Aaron singing in a much higher and less nasal range than usual.
* [[JennysNumber "867-5309/Jenny"]], the only hit single for the band Music/TommyTutone, was a goofy novelty love song that didn’t sound anything like the rest of their discography, which was much more serious and straightforward.
* Tones and I's "Dance Monkey" is this for her, according to [[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/26/tones-and-i-not-alone-wishing-people-would-stop-making-song-about-that-tune this article]].
* Emiliana Torrini's biggest hit "Jungle Drum" is a textbook example of this. Being very upbeat and rather poppy it was a big hit in Europe. And also completely different from her usual rather quiet, dark and bittersweet songs. Torrini herself was rather surprised at the success of the song since it [[ExecutiveMeddling barely even made it to the album.]]
* Music/PeterTosh's biggest hit "You Gotta Walk And (Don't Look Back)" is a very upbeat synth-heavy {{reggae}} cover of the Temptations song, sung as a duet with Music/MickJagger. Sounds nothing like his other work where he usually sounds more cynical.
* Music/{{Toto}}'s "Africa". The song was almost omitted from the ''Toto IV'' album, since the band in general was tired of it, and some members even thought it didn't sound like Toto at all.
* "Christmas Canon" is one of Music/TransSiberianOrchestra's most famous works, yet it's very different than most of their albums and songs. Instead of using electric guitars, the song strives for a children's choir, pianos and strings instead.
* Music/MeghanTrainor had one with "Like I'm Gonna Lose You", featuring Music/JohnLegend. The song is more along the lines of classic soul, rather than her normal bubblegum pop/doo-wop style. It ended up being her biggest hit on adult contemporary stations.
* Music/TravisTritt is known mainly for big-voiced impassioned ballads (including all of his #1 hits -- "Help Me Hold On", "Anymore", "Can I Trust You with My Heart", "Foolish Pride", and "Best of Intentions") or rowdy honky-tonk numbers ("Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)", "T-R-O-U-B-L-E", "Put Some Drive in Your Country"). But in late 2000-early 2001, he scored one of his biggest career hits with "It's a Great Day to Be Alive", a folksy sounding, light-hearted ditty about enjoying life.
* The British PunkRock band Tubeway Army had exactly one big hit: "Are Friends Electric?", a SynthPop tune that came into existence after their lead singer Music/GaryNuman had found a stray Minimoog in the studio. The reason why they had no more hits: [[BreakupBreakout Gary Numan dissolved the band because he wanted to switch to synthpop entirely, and he didn't need a band anymore for that]].
* Music/TheTurtles, under pressure from upstairs to put out hit material, recorded "Elenore", deliberately going for the trite and cheesy ("Elenore/gee, I think you're swell") - it was a big hit. The band's best-known song, the #1 hit "Happy Together", was created in a similar way.
* Bonnie Tyler is primarily a pop-rock artist, but her first international hit was the country rock styled "It's a Heartache". Due to the success of "It's a Heartache" on country radio stations at the time (1978), this made people originally think she was a country singer.

* While calling any of their songs a "hit" would be stretching it, the cult classic DeathMetal band Music/EdgeOfSanity is best known for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwhzmUismio "Black Tears"]], a catchy punk/alternative rock-influenced song which has been covered by numerous other metal bands including Music/HeavenShallBurn and Music/EternalTearsOfSorrow. Even with singer Dan Swanö's new band Nightingale, it remains a SignatureSong that gets played at most live shows and has become an AudienceParticipationSong.
* The Elastik Band were a pretty obscure, short-lived band in the 60's, but later on their bizarre, politically incorrect psychedelic blues-rock single "Spazz" became a cult favorite when it showed up on the compilation ''Nuggets''. Some time later, a compilation of their complete recordings came out, and it turned out they were otherwise a gentle folk-rock band who generally had more in common with Music/TheByrds or The Left Banke than Music/CaptainBeefheart.
* Music/ElectricLightOrchestra's trademark sound of symphonic rock brought them fame... but their biggest hit in the US was the string-less PowerPop song "Don't Bring Me Down".
** They also had two other top 20 hits in the U.S. - "Hold on Tight" and "Calling America" - which lacked strings (although it must be noted that strings had been largely abandoned by that point in their career).
* Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer's "Lucky Man". ELP's first album did not have enough material to meet contract obligations, and thus Greg Lake decided to record a song he had written when he was twelve. It is very atypical of the band in that it focused mainly on acoustic guitar and singing instead of keyboards and instrumentals. A song meant to be a filler turned out to be a successful hit, reaching number 48 in the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Lake would write and play acoustic guitar ballads on later albums, such as "From The Beginning", "Still... You Turn Me On" and "C'est La Vie", some of which were Black Sheep Hits in their own right.
* Music/{{Eminem}} had an unprecedented Black Sheep Hit with "My Name Is" (the second single off ''The Slim Shady LP'' [[note]] the first was the much more aggressive "Just Don't Give a Fuck"[[/note]]), which typecast him into launching every album with a novelty song that mocks pop culture and celebrity gossip. Because of the {{light|erAndSofter}}hearted tones of these tracks and their suitability for a video, they serve as the lead singles to his albums and, as a result, are some of his more popular and well-known songs - even when the albums they're attached to are twisted BlackComedy or outright brooding in tone. In the 2010s, Eminem stopped making these songs and expressed CreatorBacklash against them, seeing as they had originated as the product of ExecutiveMeddling and didn't, in his opinion, do anything to make anyone's lives any better, noting in "Guts Over Fear" he'd 'rather make "Not Afraid 2" than another motherfuckin' "We Made You"'. He did continue to make comedic songs/videos that nodded to the tradition, but they stopped serving as lead singles and became more stylistically diverse.

* Music/{{Eve 6}} followed a similar path. The hit from their debut self-titled album, "Inside Out", was much lighter and more pop-flavored than the harder-edged post-grunge style of the rest of the album. The following album ''Horrorscope'' was filled with mellower, poppier songs. Among several songs from that album to hit the charts was one that took them even further from their roots - the ballad "Here's to the Night", making it, arguably, a black sheep among black sheep (or maybe a black goat).
* Everything but the Girl's greatest hit was Todd Terry's dance remix of "Missing", which influenced them to undergo a GenreShift from their prior SophistiPop, though [[OneHitWonder they never achieved any further US pop hits]].
* Music/{{Extreme}} was known for [[FunkMetal funky]] HairMetal with clever lyrics and remarkably intricate and speedy guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt (the Beethoven guitar riff from ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'' came from their song "Play With Me" and a regular feature in their concerts was Nuno's rendition of "Flight of the Bumblebee"... take THAT, Music/DragonForce!). The only songs by them that get any airplay anymore? The ballad "More Than Words" and the folksy "Hole Hearted", both slower acoustic songs.
* After it was used for the closing credits of ''Film/{{Rushmore}}'', "Ooh La La" has probably become the best-known Music/{{Faces}} song, but it's an outlier for them several ways. The lead vocal wasn't by frontman Music/RodStewart or occasional lead singer Ronnie Lane, but rather by guitarist [[Music/TheRollingStonesBand Ron Wood]] (his only lead vocal for the band, in fact), and it's an acoustic guitar-led CountryMusic-influenced number, when they specialized in raucous HardRock. As noted below, their predecessor band Music/TheSmallFaces already had experience with this trope.
* Music/FaithNoMore had one with "Epic", their only Top 40 hit. Of the [[GenreRoulette countless genres]] they've done over their long career, this was one of only a handful of songs that featured [[RapMetal rapping]]. Commonly seen as a song that pioneered rap metal, this song has led to them getting pigeonholed as being a "rap metal" band.
** Their second highest entry on the Hot 100 was a [[SurprisinglyGentleSong completely straight-faced]] cover of [[Music/LionelRichie The Commodores]]' ballad "Easy". Before they recorded it, it was a song that they would perform in concerts to [[TrollingCreator intentionally annoy]] close-minded metalheads in the audience.
* The band Far are widely considered to be one of the first emo bands, but like many early groups in the genre, they had no hits before they disbanded in 1999. When they reunited in 2008, they released a joke cover of Ginuwine's R&B hit "Pony" as a reunion single. That cover, which is heavier than their usual fare, became their first and only entry on the ''Billboard'' Alternative chart.

* Texas power-pop group Fastball's "Out of My Head" was a ballad that was different from the rest of their album ''All the Pain that Money Can Buy''. As a bit of extra (and unfair) trivia, due to a ''Billboard'' chart quirk that denied Hot 100 chart entry to their monster pop radio hit "The Way", [[ChartDisplacement "Out of My Head" is also their only official Top 40 hit despite being much less remembered than "The Way".]] Nowadays, when Fastball appear on one-hit wonder retrospectives and countdowns, it's usually for "The Way" and not "Out of My Head".
* Fat Larry's Band were a funk dance group whose one crossover hit was "Zoom", a slow ballad.
* Fergie's had numerous hits independent of Music/TheBlackEyedPeas, but one of her biggest would be "Big Girls Don't Cry". It's an adult contemporary song that sounds nothing like her normal "urban" material. It topped both the AC and Hot AC charts, which marks her only entry on the former, though some of her other songs scraped the end of the latter.
* Music/{{Filter}}'s "Take a Picture" is a light, melodic song that stands in contrast to their darker, heavier music. This leads to a funny moment when one unfamiliar with the group first plays "Hey Man, Nice Shot" on ''VideoGame/GuitarHero World Tour'' and then wonders why the band has a song on the mainstream pop-oriented ''Band Hero''.
* Finger Eleven present a variation. Until they had a hit with "Paralyzer", their best known song was the slow ballad "One Thing," which was far less representative of their typical style.

* Most people who've heard of Leslie Fish know her first for "Banned From Argo", a lighthearted song about spacers[[note]]as in the crew of space ships[[/note]] misbehaving in bars and becoming [[PersonaNonGrata Personae Non Gratae]] as a result. However, most of her work, even most of her filks, is some kind of ''protest'' song.
* Sort of averted by The Music/FlamingLips' "She Don't Use Jelly" - the band's only American chart single. Most fans tend to be weary of it still being the first thing many people think of when they hear the band's name, but the band still like it: Even though they're increasingly playing less early material live, the song is nearly always included in their setlists. Plus, whilst their work tends to be a lot more atmospheric, the song still shows off the average LSD-infused weirdness of their early output, and their tendency to not take themselves too seriously.
* Music/FleetwoodMac's best-selling single in the UK is still, by quite a distance, the 1968 single "Albatross", an almost easy-listening instrumental bearing no resemblance to either the blues rock they normally played at the time, or the pop rock they became known for.
* Music/{{Focus}}, "Hocus Pocus". It still gets more play than anything else they ever did (with the possible exception of "House of the King"). If you've heard it, you'll remember Thijs van Leer's yodeling performance ("...yodel-lay-ee yodel-om-pom-pom!"). It is quite distinct from the rest of their repertoire, and has misdirected potential fans in the past. However, the group never turned against it.
* Music/FooFighters have a couple:

* Music/FosterThePeople's "Pumped Up Kicks", their only Top 40 hit, completely lacks the electro-pop slant of the rest of ''Torches''. Interestingly enough, it was the song that got the band a record deal in the first place; the material that made "Pumped Up Kicks" seem incongruent came along ''after'' it.
* While it's still one of the Foundations' many SillyLoveSongs, "Build Me Up Buttercup" is a lot more upbeat than most of them (including their other hit "Baby Now That I've Found You").
* Michael Franti is a fusion musician who has been playing professionally since 1986 and recording since 1992, with nine albums in his name in a variety of styles from jazz to reggae to hip-hop. The only song of his to get significant airplay is 2009's "Say Hey (I Love You)", a {{Silly Love Song|s}} that barely represents the scope of his abilities.
* Music/{{Free|Band}}, "All Right Now". Before that, they mostly did slow blues-rock ballads.
* Funk group Freeez's biggest hit was the uncharacteristically electro-influenced "I.O.U.", which was written and produced by Arthur Baker.
* Fuzzbubble were a PowerPop band who were once the only rock act signed to Creator/BadBoyRecords, a label otherwise known for hip-hop and R&B. The Bad Boy connection led to the only charting song they were ever involved in, a RapRock remix of Puff Daddy's "It's All About the Benjamins" ([[ParodyDisplacement you know, the version that formed the basis of]] [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic "All About The Pentiums"]]). When their full-length album [[DevelopmentHell finally came out]], they lampshaded this history a bit with its HiddenTrack - a cover of Music/TheNotoriousBIG's "Hypnotize" InTheStyleOf lounge music.
* Subverted by Music/{{Genesis|Band}}. Once a sophisticated progressive rock band, "Follow You, Follow Me" (a gentle love ballad) and especially "Misunderstanding" (a poppier song done InTheStyleOf Music/TheBeachBoys) ''should'' by all rights have been Black Sheep Hits for them. But they seemingly decided to go with it, and soon became ''far'' better known for a string of hit singles mostly fairly similar to those songs than for their more progressive work.

* The Music/GooGooDolls were originally a punk-oriented alternative band similar to Music/TheReplacements (they were on Metal Blade Records -- a famous metal label, and as such, were a strange fit there) with a few slower acoustic songs here and there. They decided to record a ballad ("Name") for their 1995 album ''A Boy Named Goo'', which wound up being a major hit (their first, after five albums). They actually decided to roll with it and wound up completely changing their style to the softer pop-rock they're known for now.
* Music/EllieGoulding:

* Music/ArianaGrande had a massive hit with "Break Free", which is an EDM number that is at complete odds with her normal Music/MariahCarey-esque RAndB style. This is because it was produced by German DJ Music/{{Zedd}} (who was even credited as a feature). For Zedd, however, it's pretty normal sounding.
* Music/GratefulDead's "Touch of Grey" was a hit pop rock single far removed from the band's improvisational psychedelic style. The pop song [[NewbieBoom introduced them to new fans in the '80s]], who clashed frequently with the band's preexisting fandom.
* Music/GreenDay, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". Also, to a lesser extent, ''Music/AmericanIdiot''[='=]s "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends". Different from many examples in that they're not upset about it, and the songs are hardly out of place for the band anymore since ''Music/TwentyFirstCenturyBreakdown'' has many similar songs.
* Music/GunsNRoses:

* Music/CalvinHarris did all the singing himself on his first two albums, but since he broke into the mainstream almost every song features a SpecialGuest doing the singing rather than him. There are two exceptions, namely "Feel So Close" from ''18 Months'' and "Summer" from ''Motion'', two massive hits sung entirely by him (the latter of which is seen as his SignatureSong). Almost every other song that doesn't feature a guest vocalist is an instrumental.
* Sophie B. Hawkins' biggest pop hit is "As I Lay Me Down", which lacks the overt sexual content of most of the rest of her repertoire (including her other big hit, "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover").
* "Strange Fruit" was the only protest song Music/BillieHoliday ever recorded. It was the underground hit that marked the turning point in her career.
* Music/TheHollies' "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" is much harder than their usual material. Also, the lead guitar was played by vocalist Allan Clarke as opposed to Tony Hicks, and it contains a solo vocal from Clarke (one of the Hollies' trademarks was their great vocal harmonies). {{Justified|Trope}} since its InTheStyleOf Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival (Clarke's vocals in this song specifically imitate John Fogerty's from the song "Green River"). Interestingly, Fogerty himself views the song as somewhere between ActuallyPrettyFunny and "A damn good song in its own right" to the point where he has ''happily sung the song in concert!''
* "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes, who otherwise does serious work. This song is "the success that ruined his career."
* Hoobastank, "The Reason". It's completely a ballad, contrasting strongly with Hoobastank's usual alternative rock/alt-metal style (though they are mostly the former).
* One of Music/TheHumanLeague's greatest hits, "Being Boiled", was produced by their DarkerAndEdgier [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness "Mk. 1" lineup]], whose producers, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, split with singer Phil Oakey to found Heaven 17 after their first two albums. On the other end of the scale, "Human", THL's only American #1 hit after "Don't You Want Me", is an adult contemporary ballad quite distanced from their signature synthpop sound.
* Music/BillyIdol, "Eyes Without a Face"; a synthpop ballad by a normally punk-rock singer.
* Music/{{Incubus}}'s breakout hit, "Drive", was much softer than their past work, though they've done more like it since.
* Music/IggyPop. Known for being the grandfather of punk rock, much of his output is rough, hard, and loud. But the closest thing he's had to a hit was a pop ballad love song. It's called "Candy" and is duet with Kate Pierson of Music/TheB52s. It reached 28 in the US Billboard top 100.
* Music/AlanJackson is one of the leading voices in "neo-traditional" country, a style that flourished in The90s and up to the TurnOfTheMillennium which was defined by twangy fiddle-and-steel with a bit more modernized polish. So what was his biggest hit? A duet with Music/JimmyBuffett titled "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", which fit well into Buffett's laid-back beach-party style but was a pretty radical departure for the usually more buttoned-down Alan.
* James Ray had a ''very'' brief career as an R&B singer, but [[OneHitWonder his only Top 40 hit]] was "If You've Got to Make a Fool of Somebody," featuring a waltz melody, something more commonplace in jazz than in R&B.
* Music/JanelleMonae's highest charting song is "Yoga", which is a much more traditional R&B/hip-hop song than most of her other music (which tends to fall into the GenreBusting trope).
* Music/JanesAddiction: "Been Caught Stealing", an upbeat, hooky, somewhat comical song with HipHop influences and even dog barks.
* Music/{{Japan}}: "Ghosts" was the band's first single to reach the UK top ten and remains their biggest hit to this day. Despite that, it's a radical departure from the rest of their output -- whereas Japan's usual material was NewRomantic fare (with their earliest stuff being GlamRock), "Ghosts" is a slow, atmospheric dirge with no instruments apart from sparse synths and a marimba. Frontman Music/DavidSylvian, however, would regard this as a blessing for him, as the song laid the groundwork for the avant pop of his solo career.
* Music/JeffersonStarship mostly did rockers. Their biggest hit, "Miracles", was a soft ballad.
* Music/WaylonJennings hated "Luckenbach, Texas", because it was way too conventional and derivative for his outlaw country style, but he recorded it anyway because he figured it would be a huge hit. He was right: it was his biggest hit on the country charts and crossed over to the pop Top 40 too.
* "Aqualung" is one of the most recognizable songs by Music/JethroTull, yet it lacks the flute prominent in their other songs. Another Tull example is "Living in the Past", scored in the UncommonTime of 5/4.
* Music/{{Jewel}}, normally a folk-pop singer-songwriter, had an unexpected #1 hit on the dance charts with "Serve the Ego", especially when it received a remix from the [=DJs=] Gabriel & Dresden. The success of "Serve the Ego" led her to lean fully into electronic dance-pop on her next album ''0304''; unfortunately, said album is widely regarded by her fans as an AudienceAlienatingEra that [[CreatorKiller killed her mainstream success]], and she's largely returned to her older style since. She would later record a pair of CountryMusic albums, ''Perfectly Clear'' and ''Sweet & Wild'', and two albums of children's music with ''Lullaby'' and ''The Merry Goes 'Round'', but compared to "Serve the Ego" and ''0304'', they were a much smaller diversion from her usual style.
* Music/JillScott's debut single "Getting in the Way" is about a woman confronting some hussy who's making moves on her man. It is ''much'' angrier in tone than 90% of her music, which is generally good-natured and uplifting, making it all the more baffling that ''this'' song was chosen as her first single and video.
* David Johansen, former singer for the proto-punk band Music/NewYorkDolls, recorded the pop song "Hot, Hot, Hot" under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter. He later described the song in an interview as the "bane of his existence". Unfortunately for him, the song is more famous than anything he ever did with his band.

* Josh Turner is known for his very conservative, old-school approach to country music, with very modest production and lyrics (as exemplified by his breakthrough "Long Black Train", a Southern gospel song that many felt could've been cut in the 1940s or 1950s with almost no changes). But his biggest hits include "Your Man" and "Why Don't We Just Dance", both of which are unusually upbeat and sultry, and "Time Is Love", a more keyboard-driven country-pop song.
* Music/{{Journey|Band}} felt this way for a long time about their ballads, fancying themselves an arena rock band. While Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain wrote and believed in ballads like "Faithfully", "Open Arms" and "Don't Stop Believing", Perry and guitarist Neal Schon clashed constantly over the creative direction of the band, especially since their ballads usually performed better.
* Music/{{Kansas}}, "Dust in the Wind". Also "Carry On Wayward Son" -- it lacks the "fiddle" strings that characterize many of their other songs.

** Then in 1986, they released their last Top 40 hit, "All I Wanted", which had more of a mid 80's adult contemporary sound to it.
* Music/TobyKeith's biggest crossover hit is "Red Solo Cup", a silly acoustic novelty song far outside his usual mainstream sound, ''and'' one of only a handful of singles that he did not co-write.

* Music/{{Kesha}} is mostly known for raunchy party anthems, but "Praying", a ballad she wrote about her experiences being abused by her former producer, is an Adult Contemporary ballad.
* Music/KidRock with "Picture", a country-rock ballad duet with Music/SherylCrow[[note]]the official radio edit [[FakeShemp replaced her vocals]] with those of Allison Moorer, but most stations played the Crow version anyway due to her greater name recognition[[/note]] far removed from his usual mashup of hip-hop and rock. The song even became his first hit on ''country'' radio, which had never played him before.
* Music/KingsOfLeon's biggest hit (and their only pop hit) "Use Somebody" is completely different from the rest of their catalog, which leans far more towards indie rock, or its parent album, which has a more alternative rock feel.
* Music/{{Kiss}} released "Detroit Rock City" from their album ''Music/{{Destroyer|Album}}'' as a single. Yet radio stations liked to play the piano and string based B-side ballad "Beth" instead. Their other big Top 10 pop hit was "Forever" (co-written by Music/MichaelBolton of all people, though then-guitarist Bruce Kulick used to be part of Bolton's band) which while somewhat heavier still falls firmly into the PowerBallad genre. The only other studio single to flirt with the top ten (reaching number 11) was the {{disco}} influenced "I Was Made for Lovin' You" - Kiss just can't get a hit single with songs in their trademark style.
* Krewella's biggest hit "Alive" is much LighterAndSofter than most of their other songs.
* Music/MirandaLambert is known for her somewhat prominent rock influence and empowering lyrics, with up-tempos such as "Kerosene", "Gunpowder & Lead", or "Mama's Broken Heart". But her first top 5 hit was the mid-tempo, bluegrass-influenced "White Liar". And its followup was "The House That Built Me", a sentimental ballad featuring only her voice and acoustic guitar, which became her absolute biggest hit to date.
* Lasgo is normally cheesy electro/pop trance, but "Only You" is retro Italo Hi-NRG.
* Music/LedZeppelin:
** "Stairway to Heaven" is far more gentle and calmer than most of their loud and heavy output. To this day Robert Plant despises "Stairway to Heaven" and even encourages radio stations not to play it! The band prevented it from charting by refusing to release it as a single (although a few 7-inch promos were made for distribution to US radio stations). In at least one interview, Plant stated that he always thought of the more typical Zeppelin-sounding "Kashmir" as the definitive Led Zeppelin song. Despite Robert Plant's feelings towards his signature song, Music/{{Heart|Band}} performed it live at Kennedy Center and the video released shows Plant in the audience, visibly moved by the performance. The presence of Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham (drummer for Led Zeppelin) playing his father's drums and wearing his father's trademark bowler also affected those tears.

* Jazz legend Peggy Lee will be remembered to kingdom come for "Fever", "It's A Good Day", "Is That All There Is?", "Why Don't You Do Right" and literally hundreds of other superbly performed torch songs...but her biggest hit by far was a forgettable, racist (by today's standards) number called "Mañana (Is Good Enough for Me)", sung in a faux-Mexican accent and comprising a string of stereotypes about Latin Americans. Latinos were considered to be acceptable targets in 1948, which helps explain how that song got to #1 for nine weeks.
* When "[[Music/{{Meteora}} Breaking the Habit]]" was at its high point, new listeners may never imagine Music/LinkinPark was best known for being the raprocking face of NuMetal. The song helped the band change their style more successfully.
** "[[Music/HybridTheory In the End]]" is this to a lesser extent compared to the other songs in their nu-metal era -- it lacks the use of electronica that defined their other songs, instead being replaced by the use of piano. It's also a bit lighter compared to the other songs, hence why it was such a big pop hit.

* Lita Roza was much respected as a jazz and ballad singer, but her big hit record was the children's novelty song "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?", which she loathed so much that after recording a single take, she never sang it again.
* Country music band Little Texas' biggest hit, "My Love", was also the only single with keyboardist Brady Seals on lead vocals instead of usual lead singer Tim Rushlow. It was also a more relaxed midtempo song, instead of their usual upbeat country-rock fare or slick power ballads.
* While Creator/AndrewLloydWebber is known for his work in musical theatre, he used to produce an Eurodance remix single of Platform/GameBoy ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'''s theme song in 1992 under the pseudonym "Doctor Spin".
* The people who made "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" a hit in 1972 would be surprised when attending live performances by Looking Glass--it was a a hard-edged Jersey Shore Sound band. Many of its members later formed heavy metal band Starz.
* Los Bravos recorded a large amount of material in the pop-rock vein. However, [[OneHitWonder their only hit]], "Black Is Black", shows some soul influence (particularly from the Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself") rather than pop-rock.
* Few people who aren't fans of flamenco music (or even those who are) can name any other song by Los Del Rio besides "Macarena". While the original version of "Macarena" sounds like a fairly standard flamenco song, the Bayside Boys remix is a different story entirely.
* From Argentina's border, Brazilian band Los Hermanos had "Anna Júlia", a catchy pop-rock song unlike the rest of their material (specially [[NewSoundAlbum the one stuff came after]]), which [[CreatorBacklash they've grown to hate.]]
* The Lovin' Spoonful, "Summer in the City", which had a much harder sound than their usual folk-pop. Their second biggest hit, "Do You Believe in Magic?" was poppier than their usual sound.
* The Lyrics were a short-lived band that recorded a series of harmonica-driven folk- and blues-rock songs in their brief existence. The one oddity, becoming a cult favorite through the ''Nuggets'' box set, was "So What!!" – often cited as an early proto-punk song.

* '''The Music/BarenakedLadies''' ran into this with "One Week", the entirely goofy white-boy rap which finally shot them to international recognition after years of crafting intelligent, snarky pop-rock. A track off a later album hung a lampshade on the pressure they faced to repeat this success:

* Music/ThreeEleven - "Amber", a slow reggae-ish song compared to their ska-punk rap-rock signature sound.

* ''38 Special'' is known for their guitar-driven, arena rock-oriented Southern rock. Yet their biggest hit was the synth-driven soft rock/adult contemporary ballad "Second Chance", released in 1989 and a "comeback" single (it had been several years since they'd had a top 40 hit) to boot.
* The biggest hit for 4 Runner on a debut album of standard, by-the-numbers upbeat country-pop was the dark and brooding gospel harmonies of "Cain's Blood."
* Music/{{Aerosmith}}, multiple times, with "Dream On", "Angel", and "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing", the latter being their only number-one hit in the US. "Dream On" is less so than the others as it is from their first album and it still has an intense build up, while the other songs are more straightforward ballads.
* Music/{{AFI}} was mostly known as a hardcore punk band at the beginning of their career. Their biggest hit, however, was the hard rock/emo song "Miss Murder", which blended in with other rock radio hits of the time.
* After the Fire were a British power-pop/new-wave band who had their biggest hit with "Der Kommissar", a {{cover|edUp}} of a Music/{{Falco}} song, that sounded nothing like their regular material. Additionally, it began moving up the charts ''after'' the band had broken up. A compilation album was quickly thrown together by Creator/EpicRecords to capitalize on the song’s popularity in the US market (where none of the band’s studio albums had been released).
* Music/JasonAldean had his first big hit in 2007 with "Why", which was also his only love ballad for quite some time. "Big Green Tractor" and "The Truth" are also far mellower than his usual rock style. With the release of the Music/KellyClarkson duet "Don't You Wanna Stay" (a PowerBallad), "Why" now looks like much less of a Black Sheep Hit, but the other two still qualify.

* Fans turned on to Music/AlienAntFarm by their hit cover of "Smooth Criminal" were probably confused when they got that track and 12 tracks of emo. Before "Smooth Criminal" hit the radio circuit, AAF were a hyped band in the local Bay Area rock scene, and they had two minor singles that received some radio play. After "Smooth Criminal", it got really hard to market "that band who did that Music/MichaelJackson song".
* Music/AlisonKraussAndUnionStation, best known for very moody, mellow bluegrass music, had its only big hit with a more mainstream cover of Music/KeithWhitley's "When You Say Nothing at All". The song was a hit due mainly to unsolicited airplay from a tribute album, following closely on Krauss' first mainstream hit, a duet vocal on Music/{{Shenandoah}}'s "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" -- which was also a slick, mainstream, mid-90s country ballad, and thus an anomaly in the catalog of Shenandoah, who were usually more energetic, slick honky-tonk influenced country.
* Music/AllThatRemains are known as a heavy-metal band, but "What If I Was Nothing", a #2 hit, is a slow ballad.
* "This Guy's in Love with You", a #1 hit for Music/HerbAlpert in 1968, is one of the few vocal entries among the mostly instrumental material of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It's a Black Sheep Hit in another way—even though it was recorded during the Brass' heyday, it was credited solely to Alpert.[[labelnote:Postscript]]Alpert went on to become the first (and to this day only) artist to hit #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with vocal and instrumental performances, with "Rise" (1979) filling the latter slot.[[/labelnote]]
* British duo [=AlunaGeorge=] ''is'' an ElectronicMusic act, mainly {{synthpop}}, trip-hop, and UK garage, but their biggest worldwide hit sounds nothing like it. While the original "You Know You Like It" fits their normal material well, the DJ Snake remix that turns it into [[TrapMusic trap]] is their only song to cross UsefulNotes/ThePond.
* One of Music/AngelsAndAirwaves' most successful songs is "Paper Thin", a {{dubstep}}-influenced EDM track made in collaboration with DJ and electronic artist Illenium in 2020. While the band's music has always included elements of electronic and ambient music, they're primarily an {{alternative rock}} group.
* Angry Anderson is a hard rock artist who got his biggest hit when the romantic ballad "Suddenly" was chosen to be the song at Scott and Charlene's wedding in ''Series/{{Neighbours}}''. He's reportedly fine with this.
* Music/AphexTwin and 'Avril 14th'. Most people don't even know it's by him but they know the song.
* Canadian hair-metal band April Wine is best known for a sweet ballad [[GratuitousFrench with French lyrics]] (and a kick-ass guitar solo) called "Just Between You And Me." It was admittedly written as an attempt to bring more female members into their fanbase.
* Music/LouisArmstrong, primarily a player of hot jazz, is best remembered for the sentimental pop ballad "What a Wonderful World".

* Avantasia is a German power metal project. Their biggest hit? The pop ballad "Lost in Space".
* Music/AvengedSevenfold's first number-one hit on the rock charts must have been a hard-rocking metal anthem, right? Wrong, it was actually a slow ballad called "So Far Away".
* Music/TheB52s are well-known for their [[Main/NewWaveMusic new wave]] and [[Main/PostPunk post-punk]] sound, but "Love Shack", one of their five Top 40 hits, is lighter and more poppy.
* The rapper B.G. felt this way about the song "Bling Bling", which spawned a global phenomenon, and made the term a recognized word in the dictionary. Saying that people thought that was what he was all about.
* Bachman-Turner Overdrive, a band cited as one of the precursors to heavy metal, hit the US top 10 only once, with "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", considered a bit of a novelty piece because of the stuttering vocal. It's not ''that'' much of an outlier to the rest of their music, but still was one of their more light and poppy songs. The lyrics were written as a lark.
* Music/TheBangles write the vast majority of their own songs, but of their four best-charting singles, "Manic Monday" was written by Music/{{Prince}} (and sounds like it, being a SuspiciouslySimilarSong vocally to his "1999"), "Walk Like An Egyptian" was a novelty song, "Hazy Shade of Winter" was a Music/SimonAndGarfunkel cover, and "Eternal Flame" was the only ballad on ''Everything''. Only their last top 5 hit "In Your Room" sounded like a typical Bangles song.
* The Music/BarenakedLadies ran into this with "One Week", the entirely goofy white-boy rap which finally shot them to international recognition after years of crafting intelligent, snarky pop-rock. A track off a later album hung a lampshade on the pressure they faced to repeat this success:

* Music/CountBasie, leader of an influential jazz big band, had his only #1 hit in 1947 with "Open the Door, Richard", a comedy skit with the occasional chanted refrain and not much jazz outside of Basie's piano accompaniment. A contemporary review lamented that "musically, this is Basie's worst record."
* Songwriter Dave Bassett is best known for writing hard rock songs (including the aforementioned "Second Chance" for Shinedown), but the biggest hit of his career? Music/RachelPlatten's "Fight Song", which is a purely Adult Contemporary ballad. He had another major hit only a few months later writing Elle King's Grammy-nominated "Ex's & Oh's". While it's the closest pop radio has seen to a "hard rock" hit since "Second Chance" and Music/KingsOfLeon's "Use Somebody", it's still practically pop compared to most other Bassett tunes. That being said, they're both typical songs for Platten and King. Those three songs were Bassett's only mainstream hits, with his only other top 40 entry being a song he wrote for the first winner of ''Series/TheVoice'', and none of the artists ever had another pop hit aside from Platten, and even then, with a song that wasn't written by Bassett and barely scraped the top 40 for a week or two. Shinedown and King both maxed out at #42, the latter only via a featured spot on a song by country singer Music/DierksBentley.
* Music/TheBeachBoys went through this several times:
** "Good Vibrations" (#1) was psychedelia at its peak, especially compared to their early "surfin' style,"
** "Sail on Sailor" (#49) is a piano-driven song with some light {{Soul}} and GospelMusic influences that sounds more like early Music/EltonJohn. It also sported a lead vocal by Blondie Chaplin, who was only in the band for two years.

* Beabadoobee's song "Coffee", best known through its sample on Powfu's 2020 hit "Death Bed (Coffee for Your Head)", is a lo-fi indie folk song that is very different from her normal sound, which is noisy guitar-driven indie rock similar to Music/{{Pavement}}. This is partly because of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, as "Coffee" was the first song Beabadoobee wrote and released.
* The Music/BeastieBoys' ''Music/LicensedToIll'' spawned one in the form of "You Gotta (Fight for Your Right) To Party!" Not only was it different for being a PunkRap tune, but most people [[MisaimedFandom didn't understand the irony of the lyrics]]. The band hates the song and hasn't played it live for over 20 years.

* Music/TheBeatles declined to release "Yesterday" as a single in Great Britain for fear it would become one of these. (Let's just say that their producer, George Martin, proposed that it be a Music/PaulMcCartney solo work. Brian Epstein nixed it.) It became the most covered of their songs.

** "The Ballad of John and Yoko" has a similar history, being written by John and Paul as a snarky response to the media hype around John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It's credited to the Beatles as a whole, but only John and Paul appear, with John playing both lead and rhythm guitar, and Paul playing bass, drums, piano, and percussion (it was an 'on the spur of the moment' recording).
* Bella Morte's "The Rain Within Her Hands" was a LighterAndSofter proto-UsefulNotes/{{Synthwave}} song, in contrast to their normal DarkWave and IndustrialMetal output, and became the basis for Andy Deane's SoloSideProject, The Rain Within.
* Music/BenFoldsFive with "Brick": Their signature style usually revolves around uptempo, jazz-influenced songs with witty, irreverent lyrics and fuzz bass. "Brick", meanwhile, was a somber ballad about abortion and the destruction of the relationship between the couple involved.
* Music/PatBenatar's "Love Is a Battlefield".

* Listen to Berlin's best-of collection and you'll notice that [[Film/TopGun "Take My Breath Away"]], the only song they're really known for, sounds like nothing else on the disc. Berlin's usual style is high-energy synth pop; "Breath" is a rather somber power ballad.
* Music/ChuckBerry, the RockAndRoll legend whose songs such as "Johnny B. Goode" and "Roll Over Beethoven" influenced entire generations of rock artists, scored several hits on the R&B charts but only one #1 hit single on the Billboard Hot 100 during his multi-decade career: the silly novelty ditty "[[DoubleEntendre My Ding-a-Ling]]", which he didn't even write.
* Music/BigAndRich's only Top 40 pop hit and only #1 country airplay hit is "Lost in This Moment", a sensitive and serious wedding ballad which is far removed from their in-your-face hard rock and rap influences (as codified by "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)").
* Elvin Bishop's musical style is primarily blues-rock. His only Top 10 hit "Fooled Around and Fell in Love", however, is an easy-listening soft rock ballad. Adding further is that the vocals were done by his then-backing vocalist Mickey Thomas (who eventually joined Music/JeffersonStarship on the strength of this song), as Elvin felt that his gruff vocal style did not do the song justice.
* While Music/{{Bjork}} is known for "being weird", it's likely that the only song of hers the average person could name is "It's Oh So Quiet" (from her early album ''Music/{{Post}}'') which is (a) nothing like anything else she's ever done, (b) A [[CoveredUp cover]] and (c) [[CreatorBacklash a song she detests now.]]

* Music/BlackSabbath's "Changes", a piano-driven PowerBallad from the band that basically created HeavyMetal.
* [[CreatorCouple Husband-and-wife team]] Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan had a #1 hit on the country chart (and a fairly sizable crossover hit on the pop chart) with the wacky 1970 novelty tune "Tennessee Bird Walk", then also had a Top 10 country hit with the equally wacky followup "Humphrey the Camel". While their repertoire (mostly written by Blanchard) had a few more eccentric songs along those lines, the majority of it is fairly straight SliceOfLife country songs, featuring the pair's SopranoAndGravel vocal stylings. Their other Top 20 country hit, "Somewhere in Virginia in the Rain" (about a separated couple deciding to reconcile) is much more representative of their usual style.
* Music/BlindMelon. A very extreme and passionately-defended case among fandom. "No Rain" is not only a classic example of LyricalDissonance, being a sort of sill-sounding upbeat song about paralyzing depression, but was also intended as a kind of parody of the white suburbanite angst that permeated much of the pop music of the 90s. And while the rest of the band's catalog ran the gamut of sound, style and emotion both lyrically and musically, the only thing any of their other material had in common with "No Rain" was Shannon Hoon's distinctive voice.
* Music/{{Blondie|Band}}'s primary musical style is {{New Wave|Music}}[=/=]PopPunk, but their four highest-charting singles in the US were the disco-electronica songs "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me", the hip hop song "Rapture", and a cover of a rocksteady song "The Tide Is High".

* Music/BlueOysterCult's ''Music/AgentsOfFortune'' album featured "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", which became a fluky breakthrough hit for a band whose previous albums are full of weird, abrasive proto-metal songs. Their only other U.S. Top 40 hit was "Burnin' for You", which somehow managed to be even ''poppier'' and less representative of their sound than "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was.
* Music/{{Blur}}, "Song 2", especially in America where it's the only song most people know by them. Ironically the song was written to parody American alternative rock at the time. Right down to the indecipherable vocals.

* The [=BoDeans=]' biggest hit is "Closer to Free", a jangly PowerPop song that sounds nothing else like the rootsy folk-rock they normally play.
* Music/BoneThugsNHarmony: The Ghetto Cowboy Song, and to a lesser extent "Tha Crossroads". The latter making them ContractualPurity in some fans eyes. What really made "Tha Crossroads" stand out on the ''E.1999'' album was the fact it was a somber rap ballad amidst a album that was filled with occult mysticism, and bloodthirsty gangsta rap. The original mix was closer in tone to the Gothic-sounding album. The former was actually a remix.
* The Boomtown Rats was a punk rock/new wave band, but their one US hit was ''I Don't Like Mondays'', a much slower ballad.
* Music/{{Boston}}, who were stadium rockers, rarely recorded ballads. However, one of their few, "Amanda", became their only #1 hit.
* A rare example where the black sheep hit was their first: Music/BoyzIIMen are known for the romantic ballads and soulful harmonies. Naturally, their first hit "Motownphilly" was an up-tempo NewJackSwing dance number.
* The two biggest American hits for the British band Breathe were the ballads "How Can I Fall" and "Hands to Heaven". The rest of their material isn't exactly ''heavy'' by any means, but does have a much more upbeat and dance-y SophistiPop quality to it than those two songs.
* Music/JacquesBrel: One of Brel's most popular songs, "La Valse a Mille Temps" (and its TranslatedCoverVersion, "Carousel"), is a comedic number, almost completely devoid of any of the social commentary he is best known for. He once claimed in an interview that "La Valse" "should have never become such a success."
* Atlanta singer Alicia Bridges got pegged as a "disco diva" when her dance-oriented "I Love the Night Life" became her biggest/[[OneHitWonder only hit]]. It was far removed from the bluesy rock & roll that made up the rest of her output.
* Music/GarthBrooks, "Lost in You" (from ''Music/InTheLifeOfChrisGaines'') at least was his biggest single pop-wise (it was his only Top 40 pop single, believe it or not).
* Two of Music/BrooksAndDunn's biggest hits were outside their honky-tonk roots: a Latin-flavored cover of B.W. Stevenson's "My Maria", and the bombastic, electric guitar-heavy, rock-influenced "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You". These are also among the few singles of their career that neither member of the duo wrote.

* Music/{{BTS}}' first #1 hit in the US, "Dynamite", is also their first fully English single[[note]]not counting songs where they appear as featured artists[[/note]], and it's the only one where no member has writing credits (rap line included), so while its sound is on par with their GenreRoulette musical approach, it doesn't have BTS' usual lyricism, {{Call Back}}s or ties to larger themes. It was also originally released as not part of an album (they usually release {{Concept Album}}s, and (most of the time) release singles during their album releases), before being added to the group's album ''BE''. Thematically, it only really fits on a meta sense, with the stated intent to bring joy to listeners during the COVID-19 pandemic being in line with the way much of their work seeks to bring healing and comfort (albeit through lyrics more elaborate and personal than in "Dynamite").

* Music/{{Buckcherry}} mostly does heavily sexualized hard rock songs, but "Sorry", their only pop crossover hit, is a slow ballad.
* Music/KateBush's biggest international hit, "Running Up That Hill", is an upbeat and mainstream-accessible {{New Wave| Music}} {{Synthpop}} number, departing significantly from her traditional Art Rock and BaroquePop.
* Music/ButtholeSurfers' number one hit "Pepper" is a style parody of Music/{{Beck|Musician}} with serious lyrics, and not really representative of their output, which is generally darker, more humorous, and more experimental.
* Music/JohnCage's "4'33[=''=]." Of course, [[FridgeLogic what else]] ''[[FridgeLogic could]]'' sound like it?
** Although he's also sometimes noted in the record books for another reason: His piece [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_as_Possible As Slow As Possible]] is currently being played in a church in Germany... and if things go as planned, will be until '''''September 5, 2640'''''.
* CaptainSensible of Music/{{The Damned|Band}} had a solo hit with a cover version of "Happy Talk" from Film/SouthPacific. Allegedly the band's usual punk rock style came as a shock to some old ladies who later bought tickets to one of their shows expecting an evening of similar ballads. [[note]] One of the old ladies, upon hearing the dulcet tones of Music/{{The Damned|Band}}'s "New Rose" is reported to have said to a fellow concert goers that "This isn't exactly what I came here for - but I am glad I came!" [[/note]]
* Music/TheCardigans' "Lovefool" is much poppier and upbeat than the rest of their work (but its lyrics are just as [[LyricalDissonance dark and ironic]] as their other songs). The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUIElvJRyNU original music video]] made the intent of the song very clear: needless to say, they were forced to shoot a new one for American audiences.
* Comedian/singer Rodney Carrington rarely saw chart action due to the highly profane nature of his songs, which include such titles as "Letter to My Penis", "Dancin' with a Man", "Morning Wood", "Burning Sensation", et cetera. But in 2009, he had his only major chart hit to date with "Camouflage and Christmas Lights" -- a completely serious song about a soldier celebrating Christmas while on active duty.
* Music/NickCave's duet with Music/KylieMinogue, "Where The Wild Roses Grow", was an international hit song, yet Cave himself felt a bit bothered by this as its soothing performance, despite the LyricalDissonance of the topic, is not all representative for the rest of [[Music/MurderBallads the album]].
* Music/TheChainsmokers:

* 80s group Champaign's big hit was the slow ballad "How 'Bout Us", which stands in contrast to their usual upbeat funk style.
* "Rockney" duo Music/ChasAndDave, best known for their humorous and fast-paced songs, had a hit with their maudlin ballad "Ain't No Pleasin' You".
* Music/CharliXCX finally had a hit with her theme from ''Film/TheFaultInOurStars'', "Boom Clap", after 8 non-charting singles and only being known for features (Music/IconaPop's "I Love It" and Music/IggyAzalea's "Fancy"). "Boom Clap" is a clean, upbeat, energetic {{silly love song|s}} that could safely be played on any radio station or event with children involved (indeed, the song is very popular with kids). Anyone who looked up her ''other'' material however, might have been in for a shock to discover how [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic]], [[IntercourseWithYou raun]][[HardDrinkingPartyGirl chy]], and [[ClusterFBomb swear-filled]] her songs normally are. This is most likely why she never had another major solo hit afterwards.
* Music/CheapTrick's "The Flame". Best known for their high energy PowerPop numbers, they were [[ExecutiveMeddling forced to record this ballad by their label]] because their previous two albums had been duds. Guitarist Rick Nielsen hated the song so much that when its demo was first played for the band, he pulled the cassette out of the machine and destroyed it by grinding it with his boot heel. Eventually they felt obligated to record it and it became their only number 1 single. When they play it live, they often mock the song and the fanbase they picked up from it.[[note]]The band was offered the choice of either recording "The Flame" or a Diane Warren song called "Look Away", and they picked the ballad they hated the least. Music/{{Chicago|Band}} took "Look Away" to the top of the Hot 100 six months after "The Flame" did the same.[[/note]]
* Cherry Poppin' Daddies recorded music in practically every genre, but their main one was primarily ska. Yet they are labeled as a swing band, thanks to "Zoot Suit Riot". To be fair, "Zoot Suit Riot" was also the title track to a compilation specifically meant to highlight their swing material, which then became their most commercially successful album. Even before "Zoot Suit Riot" became a hit, the swing revival caused them to pick up a new fanbase, so their manager suggested they put together a compilation featuring just the swing songs from their previous albums.
* Music/KennyChesney has had three styles since scoring his first big hits at the TurnOfTheMillennium: beachy Music/JimmyBuffett-esque tunes, introspective acoustic ballads, or arena rock. His two biggest hits on the country charts, "The Good Stuff" and "There Goes My Life", are none of the above -- they're slicker and more mainstream than the likes of "You and Tequila", "A Lot of Things Different", or "Down the Road".
* Music/{{Chicago|Band}}'s "If You Leave Me Now" was this at the time of its release. It was almost left off ''Chicago X'' for this reason. After the album was released, band member Walter Parazaider heard the song on the radio... and didn't know it was his own band's work. Needless to say, the success of the song led to a big shift in the band's style. Thirty-five years later, keyboardist Robert Lamm has been known to jokingly introduce it at concerts as "The song that ruined our career."
* Music/ChildishGambino started off as and has always been primarily a rapper. However, his album ''"Awaken, My Love!"'' saw him [[CreatorsOddball veer off into funk]]. That album has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8 ''Redbone'']], which was his first big hit on the charts.
* Music/{{Chumbawamba}} got known as an anarchistic punk band, but the only song of theirs most people could probably name is the dance-rock number "Tubthumping". Unfortunately, due to "anarchist punk" being virtually unknown in mainstream, and this tag being used in conjunction with every mention of the band, "Tubthumping" has become a representation of "anarchist punk".

* Gary Clark Jr. is known for his eclectic mix of guitar-driven rock, blues, and soul. However, his biggest hit, and his only rock radio hit so far, is his cover of Music/TheBeatles' "Come Together" made for ''Film/JusticeLeague2017''. This one is a booming electronic rock track that sounds nothing like what he usually makes, mainly due to being produced by Music/JunkieXL.
* Most of Music/TheClash's biggest hits are examples of this. Although music critics know them as revolutionaries in punk rock music (who later played reggae, jazz, world music and just about anything they could think of), most normal people know them for their pop hits: the title track and "Train in Vain" from ''Music/LondonCalling'' and "Rock the Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" from ''Combat Rock''.

* Music/DavidAllanCoe was best known for his rebellious outlaw style, yet his biggest hit was the sensitive ballad "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile".
* Music/{{Coldplay}} was quite possibly the most popular rock band in the world during the 00s, rivaled only by Music/LinkinPark for the title. They're known for playing AlternativeRock, and later incorporating ElectronicMusic into their sound. Their biggest hit? "[[Music/VivaLaVidaOrDeathAndAllHisFriends Viva la Vida]]", a BaroquePop song with elements of neither one. It was their only #1 pop hit in the US.
* Music/PaulaCole's "I Don't Wanna Wait", a.k.a. the ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' theme song. The rest of her work is much harder and darker. Yes, darker than a song about wanting to die.
* "Everyday I Write the Book" is one of Music/ElvisCostello's biggest hits, but he's said he's not that big a fan of the song, admitting he deliberately wrote it to be very poppy.
* Coven was a hard rock band in the late '60s whose use of Satanic imagery predated Music/BlackSabbath by nearly a year (they even had a song called "Black Sabbath" and a bassist named Oz Osbourne), and their debut album concludes with a recording of a Satanic mass performed by the group. Their biggest hit? "One Tin Soldier", a folksy ProtestSong (first by The Original Caste) recorded for the soundtrack to ''Billy Jack''.
* "Dance with the Devil" was Cozy Powell's first and biggest solo hit. Unfortunately, he didn't really mean it: "I only cut 'Dance with the Devil' for a laugh, but then it escalated until I felt I was losing credibility..." It led to him quitting music and going into motor racing full time for a few months, after which he was persuaded to join Strange Brew and then Music/{{Rainbow}}.
* Music/TheCranberries' "Zombie" to an extent - they've had hits that were just as big and were more representative of their signature style, but it's one of their most famous songs and also the only heavy, grunge-influenced thing they've ever done. They specifically went for a darker, more aggressive sound in this case because they thought it would fit with the overtly anti-war lyrics. It's sort of an inverse of the typical SurprisinglyGentleSong example.

* Crazy Town's entire discography consists of [[RatedMForManly macho]] RapMetal. Their only #1 hit and by extension [[OneHitWonder their only Hot 100 entry]]? "Butterfly". A funky pop-rap love ballad that sounds absolutely nothing like anything else they have ever done.
* Music/JimCroce wrote mostly melodramatic, guitar-laden pieces during his brief career as a singer-songwriter. A couple of months before his tragic death in a plane crash, however, he scored his only #1 hit – at least in his lifetime – with the blues-inspired, piano-heavy "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown".
* Music/CultureClub had their only American #1 hit with "Karma Chameleon," which most of the group expressed reluctance for with its harmonica-laden riffs and country-sounding melody greatly in contrast to the new-wave music they're better known for.
* Music/{{The Cure|Band}}'s "Friday I'm in Love" is an incredibly silly love song, contrasting their usual darker style.

* Music/BillyCurrington is usually known for his relaxed, laid-back drawling country songs such as "Good Directions" or "People Are Crazy" (his biggest hit overall), or for warm impassioned ballads like "Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" or "Let Me Down Easy". However, his career from 2013 onward has been dominated by heavier and more upbeat songs driven by electric guitar, such as "Hey Girl", "Don't It", and "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To".
* Music/DaYoopers' two best-known songs are "Rusty Chevrolet" and "Second Week of Deer Camp". The former is an example because it's one of the only parody songs they've ever done (specifically, of "Jingle Bells"), while the latter is far more traditional and folk sounding (the only instruments on it are an accordion and gutbucket bass).
* Music/DaftPunk's ''Random Access Memories'' takes it to another level by applying it on an album-scale. They're a massively influential ElectronicMusic duo, so naturally their biggest hit album would be a '70s {{Disco}}[=/=]{{Funk}} throwback to the sounds that originated from UsefulNotes/LosAngeles.
* Everything Music/ChrisDeBurgh ever did falls into three categories: 1. Michael Bolton-esque PowerPop beltfests ("Don't Pay the Ferryman"), 2. Gentle, melodic folk ballads ("This Song for You"), and 3. narratives ("Patricia the Stripper"). One time... ''one time''... he did a mushy love song, "Lady in Red". Which he specifically did as a tribute to his wife. Guess which one gets the most airplay? (At least they're still married.)
* To some extent, two of the best known Music/DeadMilkmen songs are these: "Punk Rock Girl" doesn't differ that much from their usual style musically, but the lyrical humor is a bit LighterAndSofter than usual, and Joe Jack Talcum sings it instead of their regular vocalist Rodney Anonymous. Meanwhile, "You'll Dance to Anything" does have Rodney on lead vocals and is more representative of their TakeThat-laden humor, but since it's a TakeThat to [[NewWaveMusic NewWave]], it's based around deliberately repetitive synthesizers and drum machines instead of their usual full-band sound.
* Del Amitri's "Roll to Me" was added to ''Twisted'' as an afterthought, and it's now the only song of theirs that many people know. The rest of ''Twisted'' is a bit harder and while not inaccessible, isn't nearly as perky as "Roll to Me".
* Music/LanaDelRey's only pop radio hit is a dance remix of "Summertime Sadness" by Cedric Gervais. It sounds nothing like her normal material (the original "Summertime Sadness" included), which is many things but ''not'' dance music.
* "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" by Music/{{Delirious}} might have been their most famous song in America. It was mellower than their other hits and was also more of an old-timey praise chorus song than a contemporary worship (a genre they helped popularize). Martin Smith didn't think it was one of his best songs, either. They later released a rocked-up version of it.
* Derek and the Dominoes recorded a large number of blues-rock songs in their brief existence, but "Layla" is a hard rocker, an abnormality even for Music/EricClapton.
* Music/DiamondRio had their biggest crossover with "One More Day", a lush pop ballad that stood at complete odds to their usual twangy country-rock.
* Dion is probably less notable for his more serious works. One of his biggest hits, however, was "Abraham, Martin and John," a ProtestSong that reached #4 in Billboard in the wake of the assassination of one of its namesakes.
* Music/DireStraits, [[Music/{{Brothers in Arms|Album}} "Money for Nothing"]]; a fast-paced, high-energy pop rock song from a band typically known for roots and blues rock. Even in the context of its parent album, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
* In a bizarre twist, this happened to Music/{{Disturbed}} in just the opposite manner: "Down with the Sickness" remains one of their heavier and most well-known songs, which has gone to undermine their slower, more melodic works in later albums. 11 million records, five number 1 albums and a Grammy nomination later, they're still seen in the public eye as that band that makes staccato monkey noises. "Down with the Sickness" was typical of Disturbed's style at the time. The slower, melodic, stuff came later as the band got more mature.

* Music/{{Donovan}}'s lone #1 hit was the totally psychedelic "Sunshine Superman", following a long chain of [[Music/BobDylan Dylanesque]] folk rock. Eventually he switched to psychedelia because of this.
* 1990s country star Doug Stone was usually known for being a balladeer, usually with an emphasis on heartbreak or sorrow (as exemplified by his debut single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)"). Two of his biggest hits ("A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Why Didn't I Think of That") were far more uptempo, but not completely outside his comfort zone thematically — the first is about him seeking a place to [[DrowningMySorrows drown his sorrows]] after a fight with the Mrs., while the latter is him regretting that his girl is now with someone else. However, "In a Different Light" stands out as a romantic love song about a relationship with an [[OfficeRomance office worker]]. "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Born in the Dark" also stand out for having a much harder country-rock edge than the rest of his career.
* Music/{{Drake}}'s "Jimmy Cooks", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022, while typical for Drake standards, is this in the context of the album it's featured on, as its the only {{trap|Music}} cut in an album primarily rooted in {{house|Music}}.
* Music/DreamTheater wrote "Pull Me Under" almost as an afterthought to the album ''Music/ImagesAndWords'' because it was thought the album (which was released in 1992 but mostly written in 1989) needed a more straight-forward heavy song to balance out the EpicRocking and the ballads. The song went on to be a surprise # 10 rock radio chart hit and popular MTV video. They've also expressed irritation over the immense and enduring popularity of "Metropolis Pt. 1" (although this was not a radio hit) to the point where many fans wanted to hear it at ''every'' show. Mike Portnoy once asked, "Don't you guys ever get tired of this fucking song?" and John Petrucci said the band could "play it in [their] sleep."
* Music/DuranDuran are chiefly known for danceable {{New Wave| Music}} and AlternativeDance/Rock, whereas their [[Music/TheWeddingAlbum 1993 comeback]] hit "Ordinary World" is a [[RaisedLighterTribute lighter-raising]] {{power ballad}}.

* Music/KatyPerry's ''Prism'' is filled with pure {{Pop}} music, except for its biggest hit "Dark Horse", which is much more "urban" than her normal material. It became her second song to top the rhythmic charts (following "E.T.", itself an example).

* Music/PeterTosh's biggest hit "You Gotta Walk And (Don't Look Back)" is a very upbeat synth-heavy {{reggae}} cover of the Temptations song, sung as a duet with Music/MickJagger. Sounds nothing like his other work where he usually sounds more cynical.

* Music/CatStevens was quite reluctant to release "Wild World" on ''Tea for the Tillerman'' because he considered it too commercial compared to his folk-rock output, but it was indeed one of his first Top 20 hits. His next album, ''Teaser and the Firecat'', gave him two Top 10 hits with "Peace Train," which has a loose soul inspiration, and his cover/arrangement of "Morning Has Broken," contrasting his calm guitar with the flamboyant piano of [[Music/{{Yes}} Rick Wakeman]].

* Music/MeghanTrainor had one with "Like I'm Gonna Lose You", featuring John Legend. The song is more along the lines of classic soul, rather than her normal bubblegum pop/doo-wop style. It ended up being her biggest hit on adult contemporary stations.

* Music/{{Coldplay}} was quite possibly the most popular rock band in the world during the 00s, rivaled only by Music/LinkinPark for the title. They're known for playing AlternativeRock, and later incorporating ElectronicMusic into their sound. Their biggest hit? "Viva la Vida", a BaroquePop song with elements of neither one. It was their only #1 pop hit in the US.

* When "[[Music/Meteora Breaking the Habit]]" was at its high point, new listeners may never imagine Music/LinkinPark was best known for being the raprocking face of NuMetal. The song helped the band change their style more successfully.

* When "Breaking the Habit" was at its high point, new listeners may never imagine Music/LinkinPark was best known for being the raprocking face of NuMetal. The song helped the band change their style more successfully.
** "In the End" is this to a lesser extent compared to the other songs in their nu-metal era -- it lacks the use of electronica that defined their other songs, instead being replaced by the use of piano. It's also a bit lighter compared to the other songs, hence why it was such a big pop hit.
** "Bleed it Out" was a big hit on rock radio. It was also the only song off ''Minutes to Midnight'' that featured Chester and Mike as a VocalTagTeam.

* While Creator/AndrewLloydWebber is known for his work in musical theatre, he used to produce an Eurodance remix single of UsefulNotes/GameBoy ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'''s theme song in 1992 under the pseudonym "Doctor Spin".

* Music/{{Nirvana}}'s "About a Girl" is the only song off ''Music/{{Bleach|Album}}'' that most people can name, and the only one you'll likely hear on the radio or in a public setting. For good reason, it's much more mainstream-friendly than the rest of the album, being more in line with the material from ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' as well as sounding very [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles-esque ]]. ''Bleach'' is easily their least-accessible album in their entire library, being much noisier and denser than its polished follow-ups, with the exception of that song. It should be noted however that it wasn't a hit until ''after'' Kurt Cobain's death, due to being featured as the lead single off of ''Music/MTVUnpluggedInNewYork'', where before then it was very obscure (like the rest of ''Bleach''), making it a SleeperHit.

* Music/ButtholeSurfers' number one hit "Pepper" is a style parody of Music/{{Beck}} with serious lyrics, and not really representative of their output, which is generally darker, more humorous, and more experimental.

* Count Basie, leader of an influential jazz big band, had his only #1 hit in 1947 with "Open the Door, Richard", a comedy skit with the occasional chanted refrain and not much jazz outside of Basie's piano accompaniment. A contemporary review lamented that "musically, this is Basie's worst record."

* Music/{{Blondie}}'s primary musical style is {{New Wave|Music}}[=/=]PopPunk, but their four highest-charting singles in the US were the disco-electronica songs "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me", the hip hop song "Rapture", and a cover of a rocksteady song "The Tide Is High".

* Music/ChildishGambino started off as and has always been primarily a rapper. However, his album ''Awaken, My Love!'' saw him [[CreatorsOddball veer off into funk]]. That album has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8 ''Redbone'']], which was his first big hit on the charts.

* Most of Music/TheClash's biggest hits are examples of this. Although music critics know them as revolutionaries in punk rock music (who later played reggae, jazz, world music and just about anything they could think of), most normal people know them for their pop hits: the title track and "Train in Vain" from ''Music/LondonCalling'' and "Rock the Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" from ''Music/CombatRock''.

* Fuzzbubble were a PowerPop band who were once the only rock act signed to Creator/BadBoyRecords, a label otherwise known for hip-hop and r and b. The Bad Boy connection led to the only charting song they were ever involved in, a RapRock remix of Puff Daddy's "It's All About the Benjamins" ([[ParodyDisplacement you know, the version that formed the basis of]] [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic "All About The Pentiums"]]). When their full-length album [[DevelopmentHell finally came out]], they lampshaded this history a bit with its HiddenTrack - a cover of Music/NotoriousBIG's "Hypnotize" InTheStyleOf lounge music.

* Music/AlanJackson is one of the leading voices in "neo-traditional" country, a style that flourished in TheNineties and up to the TurnOfTheMillennium which was defined by twangy fiddle-and-steel with a bit more modernized polish. So what was his biggest hit? A duet with Music/JimmyBuffett titled "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", which fit well into Buffett's laid-back beach-party style but was a pretty radical departure for the usually more buttoned-down Alan.

* In TheNineties, Music/SarahMcLachlan was an artist who specialized in folk and alternative music, and she commonly received airplay on rock radio. However, her two biggest hits, 1998's "Adia" and "Angel" (both from ''Music/{{Surfacing}}''), were adult contemporary piano ballads. Ever since the success of these two singles, she's been producing nearly nothing but piano-based adult contemporary music.

* Music/TheMoodyBlues were best known for their psychedelic and prog-rock songs in the 60's and 70's like "Nights in White Satin" and "The Story in Your Eyes". In TheEighties, however, they scored their second and last Top 10 entry with 1986's "Your Wildest Dreams", a synth-pop song.

* Another one whose first hit is the black sheep: Music/OneRepublic. In TheNewTens, they're best known for upbeat pop-rock like "Good Life", "Counting Stars", and "Love Runs Out", but try convincing anyone from the [[TurnOfTheMillennium previous decade]] that that would be the case, when their first single was the ultra-slow "Apologize" (thanks to a redrummed backing track by superstar producer Timbaland) and their second was another ballad, "Stop and Stare" (though still a step towards the rock side, which was completely absent from the former).

** "Shake It Off" is a horn-driven, Motown-like song with a tongue-in-cheek cheerleader chant in the middle and not a hint of country elements; even "Trouble" had acoustic guitar strumming in the verses. It was even different from much of its parent album, ''1989'', which is built around [[TheEighties 1980's]]-influenced synth-pop.

* The Whirling Dervishes were an early AlternativeRock band who had a big following in their home state of UsefulNotes/NewJersey starting in TheEighties, noted for hard-edged, lyrically sardonic songs. Their one minor national hit was a lighthearted rock cover of [[WesternAnimation/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"]].

* Music/{{Kiss}} released "Detroit Rock City" from their album ''Music/{{Destroyer|Album}}'' as a single. Yet radios liked to play the piano and string based B-side ballad "Beth" instead. Their other big Top 10 pop hit was "Forever" (co-written by Music/MichaelBolton of all people, though then-guitarist Bruce Kulick used to be part of Bolton's band) which while somewhat heavier still falls firmly into the PowerBallad genre. The only other studio single to flirt with the top ten (reaching number 11) was the {{disco}} influenced "I Was Made for Lovin' You" - Kiss just can't get a hit single with songs in their trademark style.

* Nada Surf's "Popular" differs a lot from their other songs, for using spoken word verses excerpted from ''Penny's Guide to Teen-Age Charm'' and a sound more reminiscent of grunge rather than the power pop and indie rock that the is common in the band's discography.

* Music/{{Squeeze}} seem to make a habit of being atypical in their successes:

** There's also "Dirt Road Anthem", a CountryRap that's his biggest hit on the pop charts to date. Country-rap is not usually what he does.

* Music/{{Kiss}} released "Detroit Rock City" from their album ''Music/{{Destroyer}}'' as a single. Yet radios liked to play the piano and string based B-side ballad "Beth" instead. Their other big Top 10 pop hit was "Forever" (co-written by Music/MichaelBolton of all people, though then-guitarist Bruce Kulick used to be part of Bolton's band) which while somewhat heavier still falls firmly into the PowerBallad genre. The only other studio single to flirt with the top ten (reaching number 11) was the {{disco}} influenced "I Was Made for Lovin' You" - Kiss just can't get a hit single with songs in their trademark style.

* "Sweet Child o' Mine" from Music/GunsNRoses, the riff was written as a joke by Music/{{Slash|Musician}}. The song was quickly written, it had been heard that Slash does not really like the song.
** Actually, the intro was just Slash warming up in their rehearsal-room, and Axl just happened to hear it, loved it and found an old poem he'd written and voila, Guns' most famous song was written.