Is he ‘the one and only’, or just a one-hit wonder? Thrillz has the story.
Chesney Lee Hawkes is an English pop singer, songwriter and actor, who was only 19 years old when he won a lead role in the movie Buddy’s Song released in March of 1991. Unfortunately, the film itself was not a massive success however, a specific song ‘The One and Only’ written by Nik Kershaw kick-started Hawkes’ career turning him into an overnight teenage sensation which is what he is best known for.
Chesney Hawkes became one of the first teenagers in pop history to bag the number one spot with his debut release ‘The One and Only’, which stayed at the top of the UK charts for five whole weeks. This marked the first time both father and son had a number one hit single, Chesney’s father is Chip Hawkes who was in an English band The Tremeloes, best known for their number one hit ‘Silence is Golden’. Chesney Hawkes’ ‘The One and Only’ song also went on becoming the global teenage anthem of 1991 while crashing the Top 10 official charts worldwide, including in America and Japan which are exceptionally difficult markets to reach.
Having the song reach the top of the charts globally Chesney Hawkes ended off 1991 with sell-out tours (with his band) where he played his hit single. The song has gone on to be the subject of TV ads, TV theme music, film soundtracks and compilation albums.
Music and life after his hit single
Soon after, Chesney slowly began to outgrow his ‘teen idol’ stereotype, so he decided it was time to move forward while challenging himself to become a songwriter.
In 1993 he released his newest single at the time ‘What’s Wrong With This Picture’ however, it only reached number 63 in the UK charts. This is when he realised the irony of the title of his hit single, because that song unfortunately was his ‘one and only’ hit.
Since then he failed to record any new music which had a significant impact on chart entries as a performer. Hawkes told the Irish Mirror: “When you have a huge number one hit like that, it’s incredibly difficult to follow it up. Everything else just gets compared to it”. As a songwriter Chesney did have some successes as he worked with various artists, writing song lyrics that were featured for their upcoming album or music video. Singer Caprice charted in March 2001 with her track ‘Once Around The Sun’ which was written by Chesney.
Related reading: Chesney Hawkes What Are The Pop Stars Most Amazing Achievements So Far
Chesney refused to play ‘The One and Only’ for over seven years, as he didn’t want it to define him. In 2001 he decided to bite the bullet and do a ‘mini’ tour, which had an amazing turnout as the word spread. His ‘small’ tour exceeded over 600 dates and shows which was his biggest tour since 1991.
From 2008 Chesney decided to take a new path with singing and took his musical skill to the stage, he performed in the musical show ‘Can’t Smile Without You’ which featured songs by Barry Manilow. This showcased how incredibly versatile Chesney is, making him an ideal addition to any occasion or event there is!
What the future holds
Even though his career in the limelight was short-lived Chesney is so much more than a one-hit wonder he hasn’t allowed his past music to define him, he is still writing songs, producing music, performing and even touring. The One and Only to this day is still a hit, with over 39 million plays on Spotify.