This is the very work that practically begins the career of a creator. This is the hit that gives the creator success in their medium. This is the Breakthrough Hit.
You can bet that any creator who you can name off the top of your head has his/her breakthrough hit. For some creators, it could be the very first work he/she created. For others, it comes only after a series of unsuccessful attempts, although these early attempts stand a chance of being VindicatedByHistory. For many of these, creators are often subject to the curse of ToughActToFollow, as practically every subsequent work may be compared to the breakthrough.
Compare KillerApp (equivalent for game systems), StarMakingRole (equivalent for actors), and GatewaySeries (equivalent for an entire genre or multimedia franchise). Compare ''and'' Contrast MagnumOpus, another landmark in a creator's career. There may be some overlap for a few creators, but Magnum Opus usually represents the pinnacle of the career while Breakthrough Hit represents the beginning. Contrast CreatorKiller and OneHitWonder.
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!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/ZombiePowder'' for Creator/TiteKubo in his own country, ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' worldwide.
* Likewise, ''Butsu Zone'' for Hiroyuki Takei country-wide, ''Manga/ShamanKing'' internantionally.
* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' for Bisco Hatori; prior to it, she had written some shojo which was never well-known.
* ''DrSlump'' for AkiraToriyama in his home country. He would later make it big worldwide with ''Manga/DragonBall''.
* ''{{Gunbuster}}'' for HideakiAnno.
* ''Manga/LoveHina'' for KenAkamatsu.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' for MasashiKishimoto.
* ''Manga/YuGiOh'' for Kazuki Takashi, ''Anime/YuGiOh Duelist'' worldwide.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' for GenUrobuchi.
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' for SevenArcs.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' for Creator/EiichiroOda after a slew of one shot mangas.
* ''Manga/RaveMaster'' for Hiro Mashima.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comics]]
* ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' #1 for DCComics, which featured the debut of {{Superman}}.
* ''[[Comicbook/TeenTitans The New Teen Titans]]'' for MarvWolfman.
* ''Comicbook/VForVendetta'' for AlanMoore.
* ChrisClaremont and John Byrne, ''The Uncanny ComicBook/{{X-Men}}''
* JackKirby, ''CaptainAmerica''
* StanLee, ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''
* SteveDitko, ''The Amazing SpiderMan''.
* FrankMiller, ''{{Daredevil}}''
* JohnBuscema, ''Comicbook/TheAvengers''.
* Creator/KurtBusiek and AlexRoss, ''{{Marvels}}''
* JimLee, ''The Uncanny ComicBook/{{X-Men}}''
* MarkWaid, ''TheFlash''
* NealAdams, ''{{Batman}}''
* JimSteranko, ''NickFury Agent Of SHIELD''.
* Creator/BrianMichaelBendis, ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' and ''Daredevil''.
* Creator/GrantMorrison, ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol'' and ''Comicbook/AnimalMan''
* Creator/NeilGaiman, ''Comicbook/TheSandman''
* Creator/ScottSnyder, ''AmericanVampire''
* Jim Davis and ''{{Garfield}}''
* Creator/GeoffJohns, ''Comicbook/GreenLantern''
* GarthEnnis, ''{{ComicBook/Preacher}}''
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film - Animated]]
* ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarves'' for WaltDisney in the feature-length animated film industry.
* After breaking away from {{Disney}}, Creator/DonBluth had his breakthrough with ''TheSecretOfNIMH''.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' for {{Pixar}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' for Creator/DreamWorks Animation.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
* ''Film/TheTerminator'' for JamesCameron
* ''AmericanGraffiti'' as a director and ''StarWars Episode V: TheEmpireStrikesBack'' as a producer for GeorgeLucas.
* ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' for Creator/StevenSpielberg.
* ''Film/{{Alien}}'' for RidleyScott.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' for Creator/PeterJackson.
* ''Film/PulpFiction'' for QuentinTarantino.
* ''Film/TheGodfather'' for FrancisFordCoppola.
* ''TaxiDriver'' for MartinScorsese.
* ''{{Carrie}}'' for BrianDePalma.
* ''Film/{{Clerks}}'' for KevinSmith.
* ''Film/RomancingTheStone'' for RobertZemeckis.
* ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' for JohnCarpenter.
* ''RosemarysBaby'' for RomanPolanski.
* ''AnimalHouse'' for JohnLandis.
* ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' for BryanSinger
* ''{{Pi}}'' for Creator/DarrenAronofsky
* ''Film/{{Memento}}'' for Creator/ChristopherNolan
* ''ElMariachi'' for {{Creator/Robert Rodriguez}}
* ''Film/AnnieHall'' for Creator/WoodyAllen.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''TheDaVinciCode'' for DanBrown.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' for StephenieMeyer.
* ''TortillaFlat'' for Creator/JohnSteinbeck.
* ''Nightfall'' for Creator/IsaacAsimov. As he himself described it "The writing of 'Nightfall' was a watershed in my professional career ... I was suddenly taken seriously and the world of science fiction became aware that I existed. As the years passed, in fact, it became evident that I had written a 'classic'".
* ''Literature/TheHobbit'' for Creator/JRRTolkien.
* ''TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' for Creator/CSLewis.
* ''EndersGame'' for OrsonScottCard.
* ''TheAndromedaStrain'' for Michael Crichton
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' for SuzanneCollins.
* ''{{Carrie}}'' for Creator/StephenKing
* Miguel de Cervantes was regarded as a very mediocre playwright and author of a mildly successful pastoral romance before he published ''Literature/DonQuixote''. The rest is history.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' for Creator/JKRowling.
* ''{{Literature/The Dresden Files}}'' for JimButcher.
* ''{{Literature/The Adventures of Tom Sawyer}}'' for MarkTwain.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/AllThat'' for DanSchneider.
* ''LawAndOrder'' for DickWolf.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' for JossWhedon.
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' for Jerry Bruckheimer as a TV producer (since he was already famous for his film work).
* ''VeronicaMars'' started Rob Thomas' career as a television producer, although his book ''Rats Saw God'' started his career as a novelist.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' for Tim Kring (although his previous series ''CrossingJordan'' lasted longer).
* ''MagnumPI'' for DonaldBellisario.
* ''{{Lost}}'' for JJAbrams (though he'd already written or co-written several films and this wasn't his first series, having previously co-created ''{{Felicity}}'' and created ''Series/{{Alias}}'').
* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' for Haim Saban.
* ''{{Series/Survivor}}'' for MarkBurnett.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Country ]]
* '''Music/{{Alabama}}''': The Fort Payne, Alabama quartet did have some chart success prior to their early 1980 breakthrough, "My Home's in Alabama." The first song, "I Wanna Be With You Tonight" from 1977, was but a blip on the radar, but "I Wanna Come Over" from December 1979 got Randy, Teddy and Jeff into the top 40 for the first time. Despite CD availability, "I Wanna Come Over" rarely gets airplay these days, leaving "My Home's In Alabama" as the oldest Alabama song in many country libraries; both songs are on the band's breakthrough album, ''My Home's in Alabama''.
* '''Rodney Atkins''', "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)". Also a "first single from second album" type (he had a top 10 hit in 2003), although well before his ''first'' album, he had a single way back in 1997 that went nowhere.
* '''Music/LukeBryan''': Although his debut album was a modest success, the first single off his second album ("Do I") went to #2 and became his first Top 40 pop hit, thus helping to launch him into the mainstream for good.
* '''Glen Campbell''': Already, this handsome young native of Delight, Arkansas had been the part an instrumental group (a post-"Tequila" Champs) and was a member of TheBeachBoys during their many tours. He was also a much-in-demand session musician, showing superb guitar-manship. In the mid 1960s, he began recording solo hits, and had his first top 15 country hit in February 1967 with "Burning Bridges." A well-done ballad written by Walter Scott, that song is largely forgotten today ... and ironically enough, the follow-up, a John Hartford folk song called "Gentle On My Mind" (released in July 1967) fared ''even worse'' on the charts it barely even broke into the top 30, and in fact didn't even make the Hot 100's top 40. Yet, "Gentle on My Mind" (which has since become an iconic country music hit, and has been covered by dozens of country ''and'' pop/rock superstars) is the one that's remembered today as Campbell's breakthrough hit and sparked a career that's won him international acclaim.
* '''Music/KennyChesney'''. Already one of many in the "hat act" boom of the mid-90s, Chesney had three albums under his belt by 1997, but none had produced any really big hits. Although "She's Got It All", the first single off his fourth album ''I Will Stand'', was a three-week #1, he stumbled a bit after that, and finally locked himself in as a hitmaker with the six-week chart-topper "How Forever Feels" in 1999. The subsequent years would find him moving from mainstream country to a unique style more influenced by arena rock, Music/JimmyBuffett-esque island tunes, and introspective ballads.
* '''Music/EricChurch''' had great commercial success with his first two albums, but neither produced a major hit the second album had two songs barely sneak their way into Top 10. But his third album, ''Chief'', got him into #1 territory for the first time with "Drink in My Hand" and "Springsteen". These songs were also crossover successes, getting him into Top 40 on the Hot 100 for the first time. "Springsteen" remains his best-selling single.
** Church's breakthrough also led to a breakthrough for his producer, Jay Joyce, who was mainly a rock producer otherwise. After "Drink in My Hand", Joyce began producing for other country music singers, including Little Big Town, Randy Rogers Band, Thomas Rhett, and Gary Allan.
* '''Freddie Hart''', a country music performer from Loachapoka, Alabama, was on the fringes of success for many years. He had released several singles during the late 1950s through mid 1960s, and although a fair number reached the top 30 (and a couple did sneak into the top 20), Hart -- a World War II veteran before he was 18, a longtime teacher of self-defense at the Los Angeles Police Academy and a successful songwriter (best known for "Loose Talk," a smash hit by Carl Smith and again by Buck Owens) -- never did have that one key hit. Several record labels saw little to no hit-making potential in Hart. Then, in the summer of 1971, his ballad "Easy Loving" began getting some airplay at a couple of southern United States radio stations. The song caught on like wildfire, and by that September, Hart had a No. 1 smash on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart (as well as Canada's country chart) ... and a top 20 pop hit to boot, a true breakthrough if there ever was one! "Easy Loving" was among the top 5 country songs of 1971 (depending on the publication), and legend has it Hart once had to encore the song ''11 times'' during a single concert early in 1972. Hart went on to have five more No. 1 country hits in the U.S. during the next two years, and eight more top 10 hits through 1977. Hart, at age 86, still maintains a touring schedule today ... and it was "Easy Loving" that allowed him to break through.
* '''Music/LadyAntebellum''', "Need You Now". Technically, "Love Don't Live Here" was a major hit on the charts, and "I Run To You" hit #1 beforehand; it also hit the Hot 100's Top 40. However, "Need You Now" was their breakout on pop radio. In fact, many people are unaware that they had a full album out before that song..
* '''Music/MirandaLambert''': She had already scored two platinum albums by late 2007, but the biggest hit off either was "Gunpowder & Lead" at a mere #7. Finally, ''Revolution'' brought Lambert her first Top 5 hit with "White Liar"[[note]]although she had to call a mulligan with the #37 "Dead Flowers" first[[/note]], and her first #1 with "The House That Built Me", which spent four weeks on top. Since then, her career has been nothing but high notes.
* '''Little Big Town''': The vocal quartet has long been a victim of "try, try again" syndrome. They first signed to Mercury in the late 90s, but achieved nothing more than a backing vocal credit on a Collin Raye album. Moving to Monument in 2002, they got only a couple low-charting singles from a debut album subject to all sorts of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. Three years later, Music/ClintBlack picked up the group and signed them to his own Equity label. They got a dark horse Top 10 hit in 2005 with "Boondocks", followed by three more hits (including the #4 "Bring It On Home") which helped boost their first Equity album to platinum status. However, the lead single from their next Equity album stalled out in the mid-30s, and the label closed soon afterward. Capitol Nashville then took control of that album, but failed to get a hit out of the two singles they chose. And just when it looked like the #6 hit "Little White Church" (the lead-off to their fourth album) might finally be their breakthrough, ''that'' album's next two singles fizzled out just shy of Top 40. In 2012, LBT ''finally'' got that breakthrough with "Pontoon" (the first single off their ''fifth'' album), which became their first #1 hit and netted them several awards.
* '''Loretta Lynn''': Speaking of Conway Twitty, her breakthrough came in 1960, when the Butcher Holler, Kentucky native and "Coal Miner's Daughter" had her first major hit, "Honky-Tonk Girl." Success didn't become sustained until her second big hit, titled (incidentally enough) "Success," and thereafter came her iconic series of hits that pushed the boundaries of country music.
* '''Martina [=McBride=]''', "My Baby Loves Me" in 1993. It was the first single from her second album, ''The Way That I Am''. This album also included her SignatureSong "Independence Day". Although the next album (''Wild Angels'') got Martina her first #1 with its title track and another Top 10, she kind of went quiet after that, only to experience a second breakthrough in late 1997 with "A Broken Wing". This song became another #1 and pushed her into the pop-friendly territory that made her a force to be reckoned with through 2003.
* '''RebaMcEntire''' Two years after signing her first recording contract in 1976, she had yet to come close to achieving her first hit single. In 1978, the pretty, red-headed 22-year-old native of Chockie, Oklahoma, was paired with a successful country artist of the time, Jacky Ward, for a song called "Three Sheets in the Wind." (This was a somewhat occasional tactic used by recording labels at the time pairing a well-known artist with an unknown or up-and-comer on a series of duets.) The song broke through and soon became a top 20 country hit for Ward and [=McEntire=] ... but the even more amazing thing is, the song would mark a turning point in both singers' careers. Ward who also had two successful covers of old pop hits in 1978 ("A Lover's Question" and "Rhythm of the Rain") would see his career fade less than two years later; [=McEntire=], however, had her breakthrough solo hit in 1980 with "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven," and she has never looked back. While Ward is largely forgotten, [=McEntire=] went on to a career that's included 24 No. 1 hits (amongst more than 50 top 10 singles), gold albums, a lucrative acting career with starring roles in two situation comedies, duets with many more artists in addition to her early hits with Ward, she's recorded with Hank Williams Jr., Vince Gill, Linda Davis and KellyClarkson and, due to her influence on countless up-and-coming female vocalists, induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
* '''TimMcGraw''' In 1992, [=McGraw=] a handsome young Delhi, Louisiana, native and son of Philadelphia Phillies great Tug [=McGraw=] signed a recording contract with Curb Records and released a self-titled album. From that came his first single, "Welcome to the Club," which (depending on the publication), may or may not have become a top 40 country hit in early 1993; two other singles failed. Curb Records, however, saw hit-making potential in [=McGraw=], and in early 1994 released the album ''Not a Moment Too Soon''. The release of the lead single, "Indian Outlaw," was indeed not a moment too soon: The song which controversially paid homage to Native American culture soared to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, and since then [=McGraw=] has never looked back, scoring 23 No. 1 hits and nearly 50 top 10 singles, earning a high profile marriage to FaithHill and a lucrative acting career to boot.
* '''RonnieMilsap''': Although he had two top 10 hits beforehand ("I Hate You" and "That Girl Who Waits on Tables," both 1973), those songs are largely forgotten today. His third top 10 hit "Pure Love," which topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in June 1974 is often considered his true "breakthrough" and is, as a result, the oldest Milsap song in many country music libraries.
* '''Music/JakeOwen''' He had two modestly-performing albums for RCA Nashville before "Barefoot Blue Jean Night", the title track and first single from his third album, became his first #1. He followed it up with two more.
* '''Buck Owens''': Depending on one's definition of success and breakthrough, either one of two songs could be considered his breakthrough for the originator of the Bakersfield Sound: "Under Your Spell Again," his first top 5 hit from November 1959; or "Act Naturally," the Johnny Russell-penned song that became Owens' first No. 1 hit from the summer of 1963. Often lost are the early hits, where Owens and his band, the Buckaroos, were perfecting their new sound that would eventually result in 20 No. 1 hits from 1963-1972 and make Owens a household name, long before ''HeeHaw'' was a twinkle in that show's creator Sam Louvillo's eye.
* '''Ray Price''' Many consider the Cherokee Cowboy's breakthrough was his double-A sided monster hit from 1954, "I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)" and "Release Me" (the latter famously covered by Engelbert Humperdink). However, Price had enjoyed consistent, if not spectacular success with lost gems like "Jealous Lies" (1950), "If You're Ever Lonely Darling" (1951), "Talk to Your Heart" (1952) and a cover of the Perry Como hit "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" (1953), but most of those early songs are long forgotten and rarely played today ... even though they like his later hits such as "Crazy Arms" (1956), "City Lights" (1958) and "Heartaches by the Number" (1959) introduced to fans a critical part of his style: the 4/4 honky-tonk rhythm.
** In a way, too, his cover of Como's pop song would foreshadow Price's even later success in the Nashville style, most notably on 1970's "For the Good Times." Indeed, "For the Good Times" was Price's big pop breakthrough. A No. 1 country hit, the song gained mass Top 40 airplay and peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 10 on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart.
* '''Eddie Rabbitt''': As with Milsap, his "breakthrough" hit came after he had already scored a number of moderately successful songs. For Rabbitt, the breakthrough was 1976's "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)," and that put two other top 15 hits the ballads "I Should Have Married You" and "Forgive and Forget," both 1975 off everybody's minds. The two earlier songs are available on iTunes, but they are all but forgotten otherwise.
** Some even consider his 1970s songs "forgotten," looking at his early 1980s crossover hits first, with "Drivin' My Life Away" as his true breakthrough.
* '''Charlie Rich''' From the mid 1950s through early 1970s, Rich an eclectic musician who was gifted in many genres, from rock and rockabilly to jazz, blues, gospel and of course, country was highly respected for his musicianship, but had little to show for it. That is, until 1972, when he scored a top 10 country hit with "I Take It On Home." That got the ball rolling, and a year later, things were busted wide open with two huge hits: "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl," the latter one a No. 1 country and pop smash. Rich had been recording for Epic Records (a division of what was then CBS Records) in the mid 1970s, but several earlier recording labels most notably, RCA decided that several of Rich's 1960s recordings would make hit records. They were right, and three of them "There Won't Be Anymore," "I Don't See Me in Your Eyes (Anymore)" and "She Called Me Baby" would top the country chart and cross over to the pop chart as well; the trio of songs, plus two others for Epic ("A Very Special Love Song" and "I Love My Friend") helped Rich establish a record for most No. 1 songs in a calendar year (five) on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, which stands to this day.
* '''Music/TaylorSwift''': "Our Song" at country radio, as it was her first #1 hit. "Love Story" elsewhere, as it was her first huge crossover.
* '''Music/RandyTravis''': In a very odd example, Travis's breakthrough was a re-release of his first major-label single. That song, "On the Other Hand", only went to #67 its first time out. The label followed it up with "1982", which went to #6. Afterward, they made the extremely unorthodox move of re-releasing "On the Other Hand", which turned out to be the right move it went all the way to #1 and started a very fruitful career. Travis was seen as one of the artists who moved the genre back to a more traditionalist bent following the ''Urban Cowboy''-esque pop crossovers of the early-mid 80s.
* '''Josh Turner''': "Your Man". Yet another example of the "first single from second album becomes first #1" variant. Although "Long Black Train" from the first album had an extremely long chart run that got it to #13, that song (which sounds more like a 1940s gospel song than anything in mainstream country) is mostly forgotten today.
* '''Music/ShaniaTwain''', "Any Man of Mine". Twain already had a solid, if unremarkable album for Mercury in 1993 which sounds like it could've been recorded by just about anybody. After getting "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" to #11 in 1995, she followed up with this #1 smash from her album ''The Woman in Me'', thus paving the way for a country-pop career that made her one of the most famous Canadian country singers ''ever'', not to mention one of the best-selling. Her next album, ''Come On Over'', is the best-selling every by a female artist, and produced a staggering ''twelve'' singles.
* '''ConwayTwitty''': Harold Lloyd Jenkins, who according to legend took his stage name from the names of two towns on a map (Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas), has two to his name, each representing his start in a particular genre. When he was a teen heartthrob in the rock music world in the late 1950s, he first hit it big with "It's Only Make Believe." Amazingly, that 1958 No. 1 million seller stuck with him throughout his country music career ... and it was a 1968 top 5 hit called "The Image of Me" that was his first big country hit, after which followed his immortal hits such as "Hello Darlin'" (1970) and "You've Never Been This Far Before" (1973), five No. 1 duets with Loretta Lynn and 33 more solo No. 1 hits.
* '''Music/KeithUrban''': The New Zealand-born Australian cut an album in Australia in 1991, and spent the next several years finding some bit parts in Nashville. He founded a short-lived band called The Ranch, which scraped the bottom of the country charts with two cuts from their only studio album in 1997, and followed with his first American solo album for Capitol Records in 1999. The album was somewhat successful, getting him a Top 20 right away with "It's a Love Thing", followed by the top 5 hit "Your Everything", the #1 "But for the Grace of God" (which ended a nearly three-year spell in which no artist on Capitol's Nashville division topped the charts), and the #3 "Where the Blacktop Ends". After a nearly year-long hiatus, he returned in late 2002 with "Somebody Like You", a six-week #1 hit that started a streak of Top 10 country hits that remains unbroken more than a decade later. "Somebody Like You" was named by ''Billboard'' as the biggest country hit of the 2000-2010 decade, and everything before it has long since been forgotten.
* '''HankWilliamsJr''': Ol' Bochephus had a long history in country music prior to 1979, when he scored with his autobiographical country-rocker "Family Tradition." In fact, he had had 11 top 10 hits, including two No. 1 singles (1970's "All for the Love of Sunshine" and 1972's "Eleven Roses," both soft ballads) prior to his landmark "Family Tradition." Yet, few seem to be aware of Hank Jr.'s countrypolitan-sounding material of the 1960s and 1970s, even with the occasional glimpses of his looming southern rock stylistic preferences ... and often, those early Bochephus songs are ignored today by many country stations. With all that in mind, "Family Tradition" is sometimes considered to be the breakthrough, and his true breakthroughs either "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" from 1964 (sung by a then-14 year old Hank Jr.) or "Standing In the Shadows" from 1966 (and a then 16-year-old Hank Jr.) are forgotten today.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Dance and Electronic ]]
* Music/DaftPunk and their first album ''Homework'' as well as its leading single "Da Funk".
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Hip Hop/Rap ]]
* "My Name Is" for Music/{{Eminem}}. It was the first single from his first major record label effort ''The Slim Shady LP'', and the music video would eventually reach the #1 spot on ''Total Request Live'' (a spot usually dominated at the time by the likes of the Music/BackstreetBoys, *NSYNC and Music/BritneySpears), starting him on his path to stardom.
* ''Things Fall Apart'' for The Roots. It was their fourth studio album, and the first one to sell at least 500,000 copies, as well as the group's first Grammy award for the single "You Got Me"[[note]]Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, 2000[[/note]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Pop ]]
* '''Olivia Newton John''': She had some success in the United Kingdom and her native Australia, but in the United States, her big break came with the 1971 single "If Not For You." On the pop side, the song just missed reaching the top 20, but it was a sign of things to come for the beautiful Australian. Although a follow-up hit eluded her for the next two years, she continued to have several hits worldwide ... and then in 1973, she really broke through with "Let Me Be There," her first huge country smash hit and a top 10 pop hit as well. She had arrived, reaching the pinnacle of mutli-genre success in 1978 with her starring role in ''{{Grease}}'' and in 1981 with her huge hit "Physical."
* "Just Dance" for Music/LadyGaga, after several years in the business and a [[GenreShift shift from being]] a piano-pop-type singer/songwriter.
* The album ''Off the Wall'' and its lead single "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" codified much of what made MichaelJackson famous, helping establish him as the definitive musician of TheEighties. He was already noted as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, and already had a solo career started even while he was with them (he had one #1 hit and two other top 10 hits at that point), but ''Off the Wall'' established what he would be known for for many years to come.
* "Fireflies" for Music/OwlCity.
* After three years of mild success (but only in Canada), CarlyRaeJepsen skyrocketed to fame after the release of "Call Me Maybe." Most people aren't even aware the single came from an EP, or that she released a full album three years earlier.
* "Baby" for Music/JustinBieber. This is also his first released single and his SignatureSong.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: R&B, Blues, and Soul ]]
* '''{{Music/Prince}}''' Many consider his 1983 hit "Little Red Corvette" to be his breakthrough hit, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1983. Nobody, it seems, remembers his true breakthrough: "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which stopped just short of the top 10 in January 1980, some three years earlier. Additionally, his second bonafide hit, "1999," is considered to have come ''after'' "Little Red Corvette" (No. 12 in the summer of '83), forgetting that "1999" was climbing the charts in October 1982 (stopping at No. 44).
* '''Billy Ocean''' The Trindad-born R&B singer had a moderate hit in 1976 in the United States with "Love Really Hurts Without You"; that, plus at least two other late 1970s songs, were huge hits in the United Kingdom. But his real U.S. breakthrough didn't come until 1984, when he scored with "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)."
* '''ArethaFranklin''': The Queen of Soul had a top 10 pop hit early in 1967 with "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," but that bluesy soul song is all but forgotten today. Aretha's follow up would gain far more "Respect," and forever be ingrained in American pop culture.
* "Run It!" for Music/ChrisBrown.
* "I Got a Woman" for Music/RayCharles. It introduced his revolutionary fusion of R&B with Gospel, which would later become the Soul genre, and was his first #1 on the R&B chart.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Rock and Metal ]]
* '''Rick Springfield''': Although he peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the folkish "Speak to the Sky" in 1972, the song sounds nothing like the song most regard as his true breakthrough hit "Jessie's Girl," from 1981. In fact, given that most of Springfield's later hits had the power pop sound of "Jessie's Girl," fans generally are unaware that "Speak to the Sky" was ever associated with him.
* '''FleetwoodMac''': Hardcore fans knew this Anglo-American band as a British blues-oriented rock group, featuring the two men whose names make up the band's name (Mick Fleetwood and John [=McVie=]). Formed in 1967, they had major success in Great Britain but, except for a few alternative stations, weren't really that well known in the United States. That is, until 1975 when the band -- with newcomer members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks having joined the fold (Christine [=McVie=] came on board in 1970) -- the band released an album, titled, appropriately enough, ''Fleetwood Mac''. This new album showcased their pop-oriented sound, and featured their U.S. Top 40 radio breakthrough songs, starting off with "Over My Head," "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" and "Say You Love Me." Christine [=McVie=] has since retired, but Fleetwood, John [=McVie=], Buckingham and Nicks (along with other rotating members) has remained intact since.
* "You Really Got Me" for TheKinks, who, prior to this, had two unsuccessful singles.
* Music/EltonJohn's SelfTitledAlbum and "Your Song" were his breakthroughs. His first album ''Empty Sky'', which was released under his real name Reginald Dwight, was unsuccessful.
* "Born to Run" for BruceSpringsteen. He never had a Top 10 hit until 1980's "Hungry Heart," though.
* Music/PinkFloyd hit it big with the album ''TheDarkSideOfTheMoon''. For a specific song, [[MoneySong "Money"]] is probably the best fit.
* "Piano Man" for BillyJoel. His first top 10 hit was 1977's "Just The Way You Are."
* Music/{{Supertramp}}'s first two albums were commercial failures, and then ''Crime of the Century'' was released to commercial and critical acclaim, with "Dreamer" being a major hit.
* 1972's "Starman", a last-minute addition to ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (because RCA wanted a song they could push as a single), finally established DavidBowie as a topflight act after four previous albums and only one Top 5 hit -- he'd been recording since 1964.
* The RedHotChiliPeppers started to chart in the US with "Knock Me Down", worldwide with their cover of StevieWonder's "Higher Ground", and became superstars after a label change and ''Blood Sugar Sex Magik''.
* {{Nirvana}}'s "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
* {{Metallica}}'s mainstream sucess begun with "One" (which was even their first music video).
* GreenDay's "When I Come Around". Their first two albums didn't have much commercial traction, and while previous ''Dookie'' singles had had major rock radio airplay (particularly "Basket Case" and "Longview"), it was "When I Come Around" that broke them in a big way to general pop audiences.
* TheOffspring's "Come Out and Play".
* While {{REM}}'s first albums had some popularity, particularly on college radio, they only broke into the mainstream with "The One I Love".
* "Heartbreak Hotel" for Music/ElvisPresley. It was his first single under RCA, his first number one, and the best-selling single of 1956.
* [[Music/ThreeEleven 311's]] "Down" in 1995.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''MagicTheGathering'' for RichardGarfield and WizardsOfTheCoast
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' for GaryGygax.
* While WarhammerFantasy made GamesWorkshop popular enough to begin their own gaming system, {{Warhammer40000}} and the strategy game based off it DawnOfWar would be what eventually put them on the map.
* TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade for WhiteWolf.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'' for AndrewLloydWebber.
* ''Tancredi'' for GioachinoRossini.
* ''Ernani'' for GiuseppeVerdi.
* Rodgers and Hart made their breakthrough with ''Garrick Gaieties'', a 1925 revue that began as a benefit concert put on to furnish the Theater Guild's new home.
* ''Rienzi'' was Creator/RichardWagner's third opera and the first to be produced to success. Wagner later disowned it, however.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' for Creator/{{Nintendo}} (and Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto). ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' would later be their breakthrough in the console games business. As for Nintendo's first- and second-party developers:
** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' for {{Rare}} (before they were bought by Microsoft).
** ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' for HAL Laboratory (and Masahiro Sakurai).
** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' for RetroStudios.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'' for Monolith Soft (as a first-party developer for Nintendo).
* ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' for Game Freak. The company produced a few games [[VideoGame/MendelPalace before]] ''Pokιmon'' (and a few [[VideoGame/DrillDozer after]]), all of which have faded into obscurity.
* The original ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' for {{Sega}} and SonicTeam. Before then, {{Sega}} remained in the shadow of Creator/{{Nintendo}} as a console developer.
* ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life|1}}'' for Creator/ValveSoftware.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' for [[Creator/SquareEnix Square]]. It was originally titled as such because it was thought the company would go under after making the game. As of this writing, the series is in its fourteenth edition, with many different branches and spin-off series.
** It can be argued that ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' was just as much of a breakthrough, since that game took the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise from popular but cult to international JRPG phenomenon. ''FFVII'' was also the breakthrough of character designer Creator/TetsuyaNomura. ''VII'' was also the first installment released in Europe, so the series was unknown there until then.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'' for [[Creator/SquareEnix Enix]], the {{JRPG}} [[Creator/SquareEnix juggernaut's]] other half.
* ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' for {{Creator/Bungie}} (and for Microsoft in the game business). Bungie did make several games before, most notably the ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' series, but didn't achieve mainstream popularity before ''Halo''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}: Orcs and Humans'' for {{Blizzard}}.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}'' for PopCapGames.
* ''VideoGame/{{Crash Bandicoot|1996}}'' for NaughtyDog.
* ''VideoGame/{{Spyro the Dragon|1998}}'' for InsomniacGames.
* ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' for Creator/NipponIchi Software.
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' for Keiji Inafune and {{Capcom}}.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' for Michel Ancel and Creator/{{Ubisoft}}.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' for Rocksteady Studios.
* ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' for Creator/CloverStudios and later ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' for Creator/PlatinumGames.
* ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}'' for 5th Cell.
* ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' for [=Team17=].
* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' (NES/Famicom game) for Creator/{{Tecmo}}.
* ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' for Taito Corporation.
* ''VideoGame/PacMan'' for [[Creator/NamcoBandai Namco]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' for Creator/GearboxSoftware.
* ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'' for Creator/{{Suda51}}.
* ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'' for Creator/WorkingDesigns.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' for Creator/TakeTwoInteractive's Rockstar Games branch, and ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'' for its 2K Games branch.
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' for Creator/{{Bioware}}.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' for Creator/{{Atlus}} in Japan, ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' worldwide.
* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' for Creator/{{Konami}} on home consoles, its fame owed mainly to [[KonamiCode a certain cheat code]] in the NES version.
* ''VideoGame/{{Tomb Raider}}'' for Eidos Interactive.
* ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' for Creator/{{Activision}} in the {{Atari 2600}} era, and ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' from the PlayStation era onward.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' for Creator/LittleKuriboh.
* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' for Creator/JamesRolfe.
* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' for Creator/DougWalker. First, the ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' review made such a great impression on the internet, majorly thanks to the [[BerserkButton Bat Credit Card]], but these days, Doug kinda regretted that he could've done better for the review. The one review that solidifies this trope and the time when Doug got the best firm of balance of funny and thoughtful review would be the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'' review.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation (Excluding Film)]]
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and ''WesternAnimation/MerrieMelodies'': PorkyPig, introduced in 1935's "I Haven't Got a Hat," was their breakthrough star. Incidentally, Porky wasn't the main star of this film: the twin dog duo of Ham and Ex (who sing the title theme), were earmarked as the future stars of Warner Bros. cartoons.
* ''WesternAnimation/SteamboatWillie'' for Creator/WaltDisney.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' for Creator/{{Klasky-Csupo}} studios and the entire Nickelodeon network.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' for Creator/GenndyTartakovsky and Creator/CartoonNetwork as a whole, and Creator/CraigMcCracken as a writer.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' for Creator/CraigMcCracken as a producer, also giving a start to Creator/LaurenFaust as a writer and director.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} animator Butch Hartman.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' for Creator/PaulDini and Creator/BruceTimm.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' for Creator/GregWeisman.
* Creator/JohnKricfalusi had a long career before then, but ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' is what made him truly famous.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' for Creator/MattGroening and for the Creator/{{Fox}} network.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' for Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' for Creator/SethMacFarlane. It also gave a start for [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Dan Povenmire]] via its "Road To" episodes.
* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' for Van Partible. It also gave a start to the aforementioned SethMacFarlane and Butch Hartman (as well as [[SonnyWithAChance Steve Marmel]]) in the art of writing.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' for Man of Action.
* ''WesternAnimation/GeraldMcBoingBoing'' for {{UPA}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and/or ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' for Creator/TheHub network.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' for Dave Filoni.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' for Creator/BryanKonietzko and Creator/MichaelDanteDiMartino.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ducktales}}'' for Walt Disney Television Animation.
* ''[[{{SixTeen}} 6teen]]'' for FreshTV.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' for Jumbo Pictures.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' for Paul Germain, Joe Ansolabehere, and OneSaturdayMorning.
[[/folder]]
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