Nico was a German singer, model, and avant-garde icon whose place on this list could hardly be more at odds with her reputation. She sang on the legendary album The Velvet Underground & Nico and made a series of stark, uncompromising solo records that remain touchstones of art rock. She is a figure of deep cultural importance, not a novelty.
But streaming gathers around one early song. "These Days", a Jackson Browne composition she recorded for her 1967 album Chelsea Girl, is a wistful, fingerpicked ballad that reached a vast new audience after featuring memorably in the film The Royal Tenenbaums.
On streaming, "These Days" sits near 141 million plays, while her next most-streamed track trails at around 18 million. That sends the ratio above 7, past our 5.0 line.
So by our strict, numbers-only measure, Nico registers as a certified one-hit wonder, and we flag the caveat as firmly as possible. This is a genuine icon with a fiercely admired, influential catalogue. It is only that one gentle, film-boosted ballad has gathered the streaming crowd far ahead of her more challenging work. There is a quiet irony in it: an artist celebrated for her austere, difficult records is now most heard through the one warm, accessible song she did not even write.