By Cynthia Retamozo

In a decade when Bill Clinton was president and the dot-com bubble was going strong, one-hit wonders were making musical marks. The News took a look at some of the most popular artists – from their beginnings to where they are now.

Semisonic

In 1998, Rolling Stone magazine predicted that alternative rock band Semisonic would take off with the release of their sophomore album, Feeling Strangely Fine. If wrong, the magazine prophesied,”we can go ahead and hammer that last nail into the fast-sinking coffin of American rock worth believing in.” Late ’90s hits like “Closing Time” and “Singing in My Sleep” put the group on the path to stardom. In 2001, the band released its third album, All About the Chemistry, which was received well in the United Kingdom, but was a commercial disappointment in the United States.

Today, the band is not officially broken up, but the band members are pursuing individual careers, according to allmusic.com. Lead singer Dan Wilson is recording solo while percussionist Jacob Slichter is pursuing a writing career. Slichter’s first novel “So You Wanna Be a Rock ‘ Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer’s Life” was published in 2004. In the summer of 2006, the group performed together for the first time since 2001 at the Minneapolis Aquatennial, where they played the songs that made them famous.

K-Ci and JoJo

K-Ci and JoJo’s 1998 hit “All My Life,” from their album of the same name was one of the most popular slow songs at high school dances. The love ballad earned the duo a No. 1 spot on the pop and R’B charts in early 1998. The duo’s next album It’s Real, had a sound similar to its predecessor’s, and also became a Top Ten, platinum-selling hit with the single “Tell Me It’s Real.” It was at this point things began to go downhill for K-Ci and JoJo. Their subsequent album, X, became a semi-hit with it’s single “Crazy,” which was also featured on the “Save the Last Dance” soundtrack in 2000. That same year, at the KIIS-FM Jingle Ball concert in Los Angeles, K-Ci was seen fondling his genitals on stage, and was later charged with indecent exposure and placed on probation according to allmusic.com.

Emotional, the duo’s fourth album, was released in 2002, and failed to meet the commercial success of its predecessors. In 2006, K-Ci released his first solo album, My Book. The duo has not officially broken up, according to allmusic.com.

Third-Eye Blind

Third-Eye Blind earned a dedicated fanbase in San Francisco, catching the attention of several record labels in the mid-’90s. The band’s performance in the 1996 Oasis Concert at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium sparked a bidding war among major record labels, according to allmusic.com. After choosing Elektra/Asylum Records, the group put out it’s self-titled debut album in 1997, which went on to sell six million copies worldwide, according to allmusic.com. Their hits, “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper” and “How’s It Going To Be” became ’90s modern rock classics. Their second album, Blue (1999), was met with moderate success while their third album, Out of the Veins (2003), bombed on the charts.

In 2001, the group opted for time off to do charity work. By 2004, Elektra/Asylum was in the midst of being taken over by Atlantic Records, which lead singer Stephen Jenkins said made the group less of a priority to the industry. Atlantic records compiled the band’s biggest hits in a 2006 release, A Collection (The Best Of).

Eve 6

Eve 6’s 2001 hit “Here’s To The Night” is on many high school playlists alongside Vitamin C’s “Graduation” and Green Day’s “Time of Your Life.” Though their first hit single, 1998’s “Inside Out,” off their self-titled debut album put the alternative rock trio on music’s radar, it wasn’t until the release of 2000’s Horrorscope that they reached gold status with the Top 40 hits “Promise” and “Here’s To The Night.”

As the group went on to prepare for the next album, lead vocalist Max Collins was arrested for indecent exposure in 2003, according to allmusic.com. It’s All In Your Head, the group’s fourth album, was released that year, but it didn’t reach the same success as Horrorscope. Shortly after, RCA Records dropped the band from the label, and they broke up in 2004. Guitarist John Siebels went to play with the group Monsters Are Waiting while Collins and percussionist Tony Fagenson formed the band Sugi Tap in 2006.