Barrett Strong was an American singer and songwriter whose place on this list barely hints at his importance to popular music. As a performer he sang "Money (That's What I Want)", released in 1959, the raw, driving record that gave Motown its first big hit and was later covered by The Beatles and many others.
But his greater legacy was as a writer: alongside Norman Whitfield he co-wrote a string of classics for the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine".
On streaming, "Money (That's What I Want)" sits near 86 million plays, while his next most-streamed track trails at under two million. That sends the ratio above 50, far past our 5.0 line.
So by our strict, numbers-only measure, Barrett Strong registers as a certified one-hit wonder as a performer, and we flag the caveat as firmly as we can. This was one of the most important songwriters in soul history. It is only that, among the records where he is the singer, one foundational Motown hit stands far ahead of everything else he recorded.