John Waite is an English singer whose career spans three different chapters: as frontman of the power-pop band The Babys, as the voice of the supergroup Bad English, and as a solo artist. It is that middle, solo path that defines him here, through one enormous ballad.
"Missing You", released in 1984, is a yearning, instantly recognisable pop-rock song built around a memorable hook and a clever lyric of denial, and it became a US number-one hit and the signature of his whole career.
On streaming, "Missing You" sits near 323 million plays, while his next most-streamed track trails at around 11 million. That sends the ratio above 27, far past our 5.0 line.
By our measure John Waite is a certified one-hit wonder, with the caveat that he had real success in his bands too, including Bad English's chart-topping "When I See You Smile". As a solo artist, though, the numbers are stark: one polished, heartbroken ballad has carried his name through the decades, and on streams it stands almost entirely alone above the rest of his solo work. For a singer who fronted multiple chart-topping acts across two decades, it is a curious fate to be remembered, above everything else, for one heartbroken refrain.