Rockers Who Became Mega-Successful Off Their First Single Ever

All it took for some hugely successful rock stars to set out on the path to legendary status was one single — and their very first one, at that. A release that resonated with the public and became the first of many big hits. Most all rock bands and singers pay their dues and hone their sound through years of shows at increasingly larger venues as they develop their songwriting skills. It's still more common than not to commercially release some material out into the world and have it either go unnoticed or totally flop. It's rather rare for a rocker to experience virtual overnight stardom with a debut single that lands near the top of the pop chart.

In the 1970s, it was clear from the jump that certain rock bands and rock-adjacent musicians were destined for greatness. These are the classic rock acts who managed to churn out a debut single that would become one of their biggest hits ever and a precursor of massive things to come. From Boston to Jackson Browne, here are five of them.

In the early 1970s, engineer and Polaroid product developer Tom Scholz spent his free time in his self-built basement studio recording and perfecting his guitar rock songs. In addition to recruiting members of the Boston band Mother's Milk, his pristine recordings made their way to CBS/Epic Records, which signed the new group, Boston, in 1975. With Brad Delp's soaring vocals combining with Scholz's technically perfect guitar theatrics, Boston got famous very quickly. Their self-titled LP hit stores in September 1976, right around the time that the band released their first single to radio and retail, the crunchy and hooky "More Than a Feeling." 

By the end of the year, the song had sold more than 500,000 copies and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Long Time" and "Peace of Mind" subsequently hit the Top 40, but the LP that spawned all those songs was a sales monster. The "Boston" album went on to sell 17 million units, one of the best showings for a '70s LP. The 1978 follow-up LP "Don't Look Back" inspired an additional 7 million purchases and set forth three more hit singles.

A legendary '70s band that waited years for a No. 1 hit, regular radio listeners nevertheless couldn't get away from arena rock stalwarts Foreigner even if they tried. With the supercharged vocals of Lou Gramm melding with the anthemic riffs of guitarist Mick Jones, Foreigner churned out instantly classic rock classics with impressive regularity. Among the band's 16 Top 40 hits: "Cold as Ice," "Hot Blooded," "Double Vision," "Head Games," "Urgent," "Juke Box Hero," "Waiting for a Girl Like You," and the chart-topping 1984-made power ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is." Since their creation in 1976, Foreigner has sold an estimated 45 million albums, and in 2024, the group was enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

But it all had to start somewhere, and Foreigner's journey began with one of their biggest and best-known songs. It's a bit cheeky to use a song with a title like "Feels Like the First Time" as one's initial single, but that's what Foreigner did. The shimmering, swirling, and hard-charging love song was made available in early 1977. In June of that year, "Feels Like the First Time" reached its peak of No. 4 on the Hot 100.

Long before he got the chance to release material under his own name, Jackson Browne was an important figure in the Los Angeles and New York music scenes of the late 1960s and early 1970s as both a songwriter and a sideman. At just 16, Browne wrote "These Days," a nearly perfect song that many artists covered, including singer Nico, who ultimately recorded multiple of the artist's songs. Browne's compositions also appeared on albums by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (for whom he was briefly a member), Linda Ronstadt, and the Byrds. In 1971, Browne's reputation, and a promising demo, got him a recording deal with Asylum Records.

Jackson Browne's self-titled solo premiere was issued in the early months of 1972, as was the LP's first single, "Doctor My Eyes." Less than two months after entering the Hot 100, the song, which showed off Browne's crystal-clear voice and aptitude for lyrical complexity, reached the No. 8 position. A career worthy of induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was finally underway. Browne would make it into the Top 40 with another 10 singles throughout the '70s and '80s, including classic rock staples like "Running on Empty," "Lawyers in Love," and "Somebody's Baby."

Responsible for the most underrated '70s rock song, Bad Company also served as proof of concept that a supergroup was a viable option for journeyman rock 'n' rollers. Equally devoted to straightforward hard rock, arena rock, and the blues, Bad Company brought together Boz Burrell of King Crimson, Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople, and Simon Kirke and Paul Rodgers of Free. The project coalesced in 1973, and Bad Company released their first album, a self-titled affair, in June 1974.

Fans of all those other bands followed the musicians to the new project, and they sent Bad Company's album to No. 1 in the United States. The first cut on the record was also the band's first commercially issued single, and it was a big deal right away. The bluesy, boogieing, and rocking "Can't Get Enough" shot up to No. 5 on the Hot 100. That preceded a string of Top 40 hits and well-known entries in the classic rock canon for Bad Company, such as "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy."

In the early 1970s, Linda Ronstadt was looking to take her solo career to a new level. Working with producer John Boylan, the pair set about assembling the best backing band possible from Los Angeles' most highly regarded country rock musicians. Drummer Don Henley pursued an invite, and they hired Ronstadt's then-partner J.D. Souther's musical collaborator Glenn Frey to play guitar. After hitting the road with Ronstadt in 1971, the duo announced their intention to form a splinter band, along with fellow band members Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.

That new group called themselves Eagles and released their first, self-titled album in 1972. The LP's twangy, folky lead-off track, "Take It Easy" (written by Frey and Jackson Browne), was selected as the first promotional single. It performed remarkably well for a debut by a relatively unknown band, reaching No. 12 on the pop chart in the summer of 1972. That was the first of 17 lifetime Top 40 hits for the band, which would go on to be one of the best-selling acts of the decade and in all of recorded music history. The Eagles' "Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975" is the top-selling album ever in the U.S., with 40 million copies sold, and "Hotel California," with 28 million, is the third-best-selling LP of all time.