Who are some musical artists that sealed their fate early on?

Often, an artist will release a song that is comedic, or that appeals to a certain (usually younger) audience, and they gain their fifteen minutes of fame.





Later on, however, that same artist will attempt to record something more mature or left of center, only to find their public image is carved in stone, and that the general public cannot and will not take them seriously. Any examples?

Who are some musical artists that sealed their fate early on?
Vanilla Ice


Snow


Sugar Ray


Smash Mouth
Reply:Snow. When he came out with 12 inches of snow it was definitely classified as bubble gum pop.. His carreer has never been the same since...





Milli Vanilli- When their debut album came out it was for one genre.. One has committed suicide, the other once again was never the same music wise...





Debbie Gibson- Electric Youth. 80s album, 80s fame, never the same afterwards...





Pretty much a lot of the one hit wonders from the 80s and 90s never reached the fame that their first hit did..... But one last artist I can think of that will suit this question to a tee is Billy Ray Cyrus...





Acky Breaky Heart.. Sent him to superstardom.. Then he faded away in the music industry.......
Reply:Elton John.
Reply:Hanson. Dexy's Midnight Runners (Although I do love "Come on Eileen"...). All of those boy bands...
Reply:Presidents of the United States of America
Reply:Todd Snider.... he of the Dylan-esque tongue-in-cheek "Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues".





He was immediately shoved into a "parody" category, and up until he released another comedic song entitled "Beer Run" several years later, his career stalled... unfortunate because he is a wonderfully talented song writer and musician.





The same case could be made for 90% of the metal bands of the 80s. Bands like Poison, Warrant, Dokken, and similar artists will always be associated with eye-liner, spandex, and Aqua-Net in the pink can, no matter how serious the music they make these days might be. (Case in point, Poison's Native Tongue album and Warrant's Dog Eat Dog album).