Gary Jules is an American singer-songwriter best known for one of the most affecting cover versions of the last few decades. Working with his friend, the composer Michael Andrews, he provided the fragile lead vocal for a stripped-back reading of Tears for Fears' "Mad World", recorded for the 2001 film Donnie Darko.
The cover turned a jittery synth-pop song into a hushed piano ballad, and as the film grew into a cult favourite the track took on a life of its own, eventually becoming the UK's Christmas number one in 2003.
On streaming, the "Mad World" recording sits near 313 million plays, while his next most-streamed track trails at around seven million. That sends the ratio above 45, far past our 5.0 line.
By our measure Gary Jules is a certified one-hit wonder. He is a real songwriter with his own albums, but the public, and the streaming charts, know him almost entirely through one quietly shattering cover. It remains the same recording credited to his collaborator Michael Andrews: a single, unforgettable moment that has stood far ahead of everything else either of them released.