The Darkness are an English rock band who arrived in 2003 like a gleeful throwback, all spandex, guitar heroics, and Justin Hawkins's astonishing falsetto. Their calling card, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", was a riotous, knowing celebration of arena rock that became a genuine hit and won the band a clutch of awards.
They have endured longer than many remember, releasing albums and touring steadily, and they have a real cult following. Frontman Justin Hawkins's larger-than-life persona and the band's various reunions have kept them in the public eye. They even landed a beloved festive single, "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)". But nothing has matched their breakout.
On streaming, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" sits near 337 million plays, while their next most-streamed track trails at around 50 million. That puts the ratio above 6, past our 5.0 line.
By our measure The Darkness are a certified one-hit wonder. It suits a band who always seemed to understand the joke of rock stardom: they made one perfect, over-the-top anthem, and it has happily overshadowed everything since.