Top Ten Songs by American Artists that Were a Lot More Successful in the German Charts Than in the U.S. Charts
Note: this list is not about the songs with the biggest difference in success, it just contains songs which have a notable difference but ranked by the way TopTenners like them. There are songs that topped the German charts and didn't chart at all in the US, but also ones that peak at number 6 in Germany and at number 50 in the US. If you like the latter more, vote for it.She's very underrated in North America. She's got a great powerful voice and she can sing without autotune.
My explanation is: her music is pop in general but it's not cheesy enough to top the charts. She adds to her songs elements from rock, soul, R&B, funk and other genres, and her songs sound different and deeper than your average typical pop song. This also explains why I like her and respect her (while not being a pop fan).
Her career was slowed down by cancer - she's a cancer survivor and did many things for charity.
I have absolutely no explanation for why Anastacia managed to conquer the music markets of much of the world, while being completely ignored in her home countrey.
In the 2000s, she was one of the ultimate leading forces in pop music, and much like P! nk, her independent rock-ish sound was loved even by people who usually aren't into pop. In the 2010s, she isn't as successful anymore, but still a household name, and she also still infrequently performs on German music shows.
She's a star on my original remix as I am a fan. The artist with the most items are the Backstreet Boys, because ever since their debut single up to 2005 everything became a hit, while in the US the success came with their second album and lasted until the new millennium. Girlgroups and boybands were highly popular in the 90s and 2000s.
I see Anastacia is the star on this list and I don't mind.
I think there are mainly two reasons for the Bloodhound Gang's bigger success in Germany: firstly, in the US, their very sexual lyrics and videos were not aired uncensored or during daytime, thus not getting as much media attention, in Germany they were - and at least for Austria (or as I call it Little Germany) I can say that this song still gets frequently played.
The second reason is that Germans dig this kind of humor, as they do this mix of genres, much more than the US.
This has absolutely stunned me, for two reasons. Firstly, Americans frequently quote it as his second best song after Lose Yourself, secondly whenever an American hip hop song is successful in Germany, it's mostly for the music, not so much the lyrics, and "Stan" is foremost a storytelling track.
This is one of those songs that was not a big hit at the time (in the US) but becomes very popular later "My Name Is" also follows that trend only reaching number 36.
Oh just one thing I am the person who commented on some of your other lists anonymously I finally made an account.
Again, I have no explanation for this. While the Black Eyed Peas are known in the US, their career really started a bit later on this scale. The "Elephunk" album immediately made them superstars over here. In the US, it was successful but not as, then they slower became bigger and bigger from single to single until "I Gotta Feeling". And again, the band was a whole lot better received over here, except for their last album "The Beginning", which was seen as a huge disappointment.
There was a hype around Timbaland in the mid-2000s as on a worldwide scale his productions sold millions. Both as a producer and as a main artist he was unavoidable at that time, he was jokingly called a Midas. When his album "Shock Value II" was released, the hype was over in the US, but not in Germany, plus the featured artists on the albums were all highly popular (on this track Nelly Furtado). It's as simple as that. Germany wanted more of Timbaland, America not so much.
Yep, out of her more popular songs, this one is the closest to the expectations of the average mainstream music listener. That's why it was noticed.
Fun fact: her only American chart position ever, and it was her debut single. Maybe her different careers were built on first impressions
On P! nk's discography you can see a strange preference: in the beginning she was advised to perform RnB, which she herself didn't like, but it was successful in the US, but ignored in Germany. This song is pop rock and it was popular in Germany, but not in the US. Her (exceptionally great) pop was successful in both countries.
Okay, in this case Anastacia is only half responsible for the success, as the two artists attracted the two major target groups in Germany: Anastacia attracted the almighty pop audience and the Italian Eros Ramazzotti is very popular with the schlager audience. Even though he's not technically schlager, traditional sounding European music is something that can also be found at schlager shows.
I accidentally voted for this, I then decided to listen to it because of that and the result: Garbage.
Melanie Thornton was an American pop and soul singer who unfortunately died in a plane crash at age 34, in 2001. First she was a member of the eurodance group La Bouche (according to different websites the group is classified as American or German, so I didn't include anything by them) - with that genre it was a safe bet that she would have success in Europe. She then tried to pursue a solo career, but with soul pop. She probably would have succeeded if she didn't die shortly after her debut solo album was released. The same year Sarah Connor arrived with the same style and became a megastar in Germany, so I guess people were just waiting for it. "Wonderful Dream" became her biggest and only solo hit single, and in the following years became an annual christmas classic in Germany - but it can be enjoyed throughout the year.
This was pure luck: even though the lyrics have nothing to do with it, the song collided with the reunion of East and West Germany, and due to its chorus about looking for freedom (duh), it became an inofficial anthem for this event. This in turn had indirect impact in the US, as "Baywatch" was about to be cancelled but Hasselhoff used the money he eaened from the sudden popularity in Germany to finance the show, and after that it became a hit.
Something I don't get: there are phases when each new single from a popular artist becomes highly successful. However, for some reason in the American charts there are often one or two singles in between this phase that are simply not that successful for whatever reason.