Top 20 Comeback Singles

Top 20 Comeback Singles: Great comebacks aren’t just reserved for sporting heroes, they’re also the stuff of legend in the pop music world… 

Music history reveals that even the most popular and revered of acts endured a period of commercial decline before getting their careers back on track, and there are plenty of examples of a return to form in our latest countdown.

Additionally, we’ve focused on acts who returned after a lengthy break, as well as those who successfully overcame tragedy or a change in personnel. Many readers will correctly observe that some of the artists and bands in our list never went away, but it’s fair to say that some of these acts’ careers had creatively and commercially stagnated, before they bounced back with a special record that rekindled their fortunes…

2O GARY NUMAN – A QUESTION OF FAITH (1994)

Gary Numan’s career hit rock bottom in 1992 with Machine + Soul, an LP of pop-funk workouts that tested the patience of even devoted Numanoids. His fortunes changed after fan and future wife Gemma O’Neill encouraged a direction change. Inspired by Depeche Mode’s Songs Of Faith And Devotion, he adopted a more industrial sound. Numan then emerged with Sacrifice, its dark soundscapes typified by lead single A Question Of Faith. Though not a hit, it marked the beginning of his renaissance.

19 SPARKS – WHEN DO I GET TO SING ‘MY WAY’?  (1994)

The charts weren’t big enough for Ron and Russell Mael in the 80s, and after a slew of identikit synth-pop releases failed to connect with the MTV generation, their fortunes declined further when director Tim Burton passed on their musical adaptation of manga series Mai, The Psychic Girl. Embracing contemporary dance, they came back fighting with the European hit When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’?, which ruminated on their fading star with customary Sparks wit. Thirty years on, they’re still doing it their way.

18 ULTRAVOX – BRILL!ANT  (2012)

Having rekindled the magic while on the Return To Eden Tour, the members of Ultravox holed up in Midge Ure’s Montreal cabin to secretly record a new album, their first as a quartet since 1984’s Lament. While the resulting Brill!ant album didn’t quite live up to its name, it did include one classic in its digital-only single title track. Ure explained to Stereoboard it was a “bittersweet comment on pop culture. It’s about the other side of fame and success… the bright young things that ignore the consequences of fame.” 

17 KATE BUSH – KING OF THE MOUNTAIN  (2005)

Prioritising motherhood and domestic solitude over the release of new material, Kate Bush evaded public attention for over a decade following 1993’s The Red Shoes, before returning with ambitious double album Aerial. Replete with vocal slurs that mimicked Elvis, her typically quirky comeback meditated on the King’s stardom, and playfully pondered the possibility of him riding Citizen Kane’s sled in some snow-capped utopia. A Top 10 hit, it included a take on Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing on the B-side.

16 THE HUMAN LEAGUE – TELL ME WHEN (1994)

The League were devastated after being dropped by Virgin in 1992, although Philip Oakey conceded they’d lost their way, telling Billboard: “We went in some silly directions after Dare, trying to bring in acoustic instruments and trying to make white soul music.” A trip to Japan to work with the famed Yellow Magic Orchestra restored their confidence, and after signing to East West, Tell Me When gave them their biggest hit since 1986’s Human, while the success of parent LP Octopus gave them the platform to tour for the first time in eight years.

15 MADNESS – LOVESTRUCK (1999)

Following the successful re-release of It Must Be Love and the Divine Madness retrospective, the classic Nutty Boys line-up reformed for the legendary Madstock! shows in 1992. Bored of playing the hits on subsequent tours, they reunited with producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley to record the Wonderful LP. Detailing a drunken night out, in which the sloshed and melancholy protagonist ends up pouring his heart out to a lamppost, lead single Lovestruck staggered into the Top 10, their biggest self-penned UK hit since 1983’s The Sun And The Rain.

14 TEARS FOR FEARS – THE TIPPING POINT (2021)

Ostensibly favouring the lucrative live circuit, Tears For Fears weren’t in a hurry to record a follow-up to 2004’s reunion album Everybody Loves A Happy Ending, and they almost split for good following a largely fruitless attempt to work with contemporary hitmakers. In the end they went back to basics, channelling personal experience into their songs, with Please Be Happy and the title track of their extraordinary comeback album The Tipping Point rooted in Roland Orzabal’s pain of watching his late wife’s health deteriorate. 

13 NEW ORDER – RESTLESS (2015)

Rallying in the wake of Peter Hook’s acrimonious departure, New Order recorded the guest-packed Music Complete, their first album in a decade, and arguably their finest since 1989’s Technique. Setting the standard was lead single Restless. “It’s an observation on how society has become consumerism driven,” Bernard Sumner told The Quietus. “How we are sold things through television, how we are sold things directly into our homes, how we are sold directly into our half-asleep brains, how it’s rammed down our throats.”   

12 DAVID BOWIE – WHERE ARE WE NOW? (2013)

Presumed retired since a heart attack had curtailed his A Reality Tour in 2004, it came as a shock when this dropped on the lesser spotted chameleon’s 66th birthday. Somehow, he’d recorded comeback album The Next Day in secret with long-time collaborator Tony Visconti, evading the rumour mill and the invasive clutches of social media. A reflective ballad with nostalgic snapshots of the Thin White Duke’s time in Berlin in the late 70s, Where Are We Now? was well worth the decade-long wait.

11 MORRISSEY – IRISH BLOOD, ENGLISH HEART (2004)

Following 1997’s failed album Maladjusted, Morrissey holed himself up in La La Land, only leaving home to road-test new material. He returned in 2004, brandishing a Tommy gun on the sleeve of hit-packed album You Are The Quarry. A celebration of his Anglo-Irish heritage, incendiary lead single Irish Blood, English Heart also saw Moz taking aim at British politicians and a monarchy he claimed still “salute” Oliver Cromwell, the man responsible for the brutal conquest of his motherland.

1O A-HA – SUMMER MOVED ON (2000)

With a-ha on hiatus since 1994, its members immersed themselves in various projects, until an invitation to the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998 gave them the ideal opportunity to reform. Guitarist Pål Waaktaar-Savoy rose to the occasion by penning Summer Moved On, which doubled up as their comeback single. Notable for its orchestral sweeps and lyrics that touched upon their strained relationships, it was a huge European hit, while Morten Harket’s sustained note earned a spot in the record books. 

O9 OMD – SAILING ON THE SEVEN SEAS (1991)

Burned out after years chasing the American dream, the classic OMD line-up split in 1989, but frontman Andy McCluskey would later win the rights to the band name, leaving Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes to record as The Listening Pool. Writing with local musicians Stuart Kershaw and Lloyd Massett, McCluskey returned with the hit Sugar Tax, preceded by Sailing On The Seven Seas, whose glam drums, Casio keyboard solo and earworm chorus gave OMD their biggest UK hit since 1984. 

O8 THE STONE ROSES – LOVE SPREADS (1994)

Having not released new music for over four years, anticipation had reached fever pitch by the time The Stone Roses unveiled Second Coming in December 1994, by which time the musical landscape had significantly altered in the wake of grunge and Britpop. A dirtier rock sound that leant heavily on Led Zeppelin and Hendrix surprised fans, but Love Spreads gave the Madchester favourites their biggest hit to date. “This is more how we want to sound,” Ian Brown told The Big Issue. “It’s much stronger and we sound like a proper live band.” 

O7 TAKE THAT – PATIENCE (2006)

Following the airing of a new documentary, the greatest boy band of all time announced they were to reform – sans Robbie Williams – for a major tour, nearly a decade after hotlines were set up to help devastated teens deal with Take That’s split. Capitalising on their renewed popularity, the boys picked up where they’d left off with ninth chart-topper Patience. The well-crafted ballad later drew an unlikely champion in Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire, who boldly told The Guardian that it was “the greatest comeback single in history.” 

O6 MANIC STREET PREACHERS – A DESIGN FOR LIFE (1996)

After considering splitting up in the aftermath of Richey Edwards’ disappearance in 1995, the remaining Manics admirably resolved to finish the album they’d started with the talismanic guitarist. Boasting an opening line that had taken its inspiration from the stone inscription above the door of a Newport library, Nicky Wire wrote the lyrics for A Design For Life in response to what he perceived as “the patronisation of the working class”. It was to be a breakthrough single at UK No.2. 

O5 GEORGE MICHAEL – JESUS TO A CHILD (1996)

Having extricated himself from his contract with Sony (who’d emerged victorious following a well-publicised court battle), George Michael returned to chart action after an absence of three years with this masterpiece, a tribute to former lover Anselmo Feleppa, who’d died from an AIDs-related brain haemorrhage in March 1993. The first of six hits to be lifted from comeback album Older, it was the singer’s first self-penned UK chart-topper since A Different Corner in 1986. George secretly donated all of the song’s royalties to Childline.

O4 ABBA – DON’T SHUT ME DOWN (2021)

Even a reported billion dollars couldn’t tempt the Swedish superstars out of retirement, so the announcement in 2021 that their ‘virtual’ residency at the ABBA Arena would be preceded by their first studio album in 40 years sent shockwaves across the globe. Purposely swerving contemporary chart sounds, Voyage recaptured the magic of yore, as evidenced by the simultaneously released singles I Still Have Faith In You and Don’t Shut Me Down, the former a moving, self-referencing ballad, the latter an Abba Gold-worthy nugget.

O3 ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN – NOTHING LASTS FOREVER (1997)

After Ian McCulloch’s departure and the tragic death of drummer Pete de Freitas, the remaining Bunnymen kept the name alive with new singer Noel Burke, before disbanding after flop album Reverberation. “Once me and Will Sergeant got back together,” McCulloch told The Guardian, “everything about daily life felt good again.” Following one album as Electrafixion, the pair reformed the Bunnymen, and unleashed an evergreen classic in Nothing Lasts Forever, whose anthemic qualities chimed with the Britpop crowd.

O2 BLONDIE – MARIA (1999)

Following the success of various remix projects and retrospectives, Blondie responded to an upsurge in popularity by reforming for a series of festival shows in 1997, but the legendary New Yorkers weren’t content to just tread the nostalgia circuit, they wanted to record a new album, their first since drug-addled flop The Hunter in 1982. Hooking up with original producer Craig Leon, they emerged with No Exit, which yielded an instant classic in Maria. Penned by keyboardist Jimmy Destri, it was a worldwide hit, and their sixth UK chart-topper.

O1 DURAN DURAN – ORDINARY WORLD  (1992)

By the turn of the 90s, Birmingham’s finest had steered the good ship Duran Duran through some stormy waters – the departures of Andy and Roger Taylor being two notable setbacks – and had continued to rack up the hits, with Notorious and I Don’t Want Your Love doing particularly well at home and across the pond. But by the time of the Liberty album, their creative well appeared to have dried up, and the Serious single became their first to miss the UK’s Top 40. Rather than allowing their career to mothball, they almost immediately began working on a new album at guitarist Warren Cuccurullo’s home studio.

By now Cuccurullo had become an official member of the band and a vital cog in the Duran machine, and his contributions would prove pivotal, not least on comeback single Ordinary World, which was characterised by his masterful solo. The second in a trilogy of songs that reflected on the death of one of Simon Le Bon’s closest childhood friends, the sophisticated ballad’s themes of loss and hope resonated with a worldwide audience, giving Duran one of their biggest hits, and a deserved Ivor Novello nomination.

The Wedding Album would also spawn further hits in Come Undone and Too Much Information, making 1993 one of the most successful years in their career. Just don’t mention what happened next… 

Words Barry Page

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