90's Music
Relive the biggest hits of the 90's. Find all your favorite 90's artists and the hit songs you love!
The 90's brought us some of the greatest music ever made. Legendary icons like Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston emerged in the 80's, but it was in the 90's they crated some of their most memorable hits. Songs like "I Will Always Love You" and "Black Or White" became more than chart topping hits, they became timeless classics.
The 90's brought us some of the greatest music ever made. Legendary icons like Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston emerged in the 80's, but it was in the 90's they crated some of their most memorable hits. Songs like "I Will Always Love You" and "Black Or White" became more than chart topping hits, they became timeless classics.
Madonna
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Whitney Houston
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R&B Music evolved from New Jack Swing to Hip Hop, giving rise to artists like Bell Biv DeVoe, TLC and Mary J. Blige. Classic Soul was given new life by vocal groups like Boyz II Men, Jodeci and Dru Hill. Girl Groups hit the charts with a presence that had not been heard since the 60's. En Vogue, SWV, Xscape and Destiny's Child were just a few of the female dominated acts that became popular during the 90's.
A wide array of dance music would lead to the evolution of EDM. Freestyle Dance pulsated from the clubs of Miami to airwaves across the county. Stevie B, Sweet Sensation and Timmy T all gained National attention with #1 hits. Techno artists like The Movement and L.A. Style created a new sound that would go from underground warehouse parties to the Soundtrack of nearly every spots stadium. Madonna's "Vogue" and Los Del Rio's "Macarena" revived the Dance Craze phenomena. The clubs were in full effect and nearly every hit song had a remix for the occasion. In some cases, artists even had entire remix albums.
A wide array of dance music would lead to the evolution of EDM. Freestyle Dance pulsated from the clubs of Miami to airwaves across the county. Stevie B, Sweet Sensation and Timmy T all gained National attention with #1 hits. Techno artists like The Movement and L.A. Style created a new sound that would go from underground warehouse parties to the Soundtrack of nearly every spots stadium. Madonna's "Vogue" and Los Del Rio's "Macarena" revived the Dance Craze phenomena. The clubs were in full effect and nearly every hit song had a remix for the occasion. In some cases, artists even had entire remix albums.
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Dance music, and the evolution of R&B also helped introduce Rap to the mainstream. C & C Music Factory, Deee-Lite and Technotronic helped usher in a blend of Dance Music with Rap. Public Enemy, 2 Live Crew & N.W.A. come out swinging with lyrics too controversial for radio airplay. However pop based acts like MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice and Kriss Kross softened the blow. Their radio friendly lyrics and familiar samples eased the crossover of this up and coming genre. By the end of the decade, Rap was a mainstay and artist like Jay-Z, Eminem, 2 Pac & The Notorious B.I.G. were no strangers to the Top 40.
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C & C Music Factory
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Nirvana
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Just as R&B found new direction in the 90's, Rock music had found new growth. The decade started off right where the 80's had ended. Poison, Warrant and Aerosmith rocked the hair and the eyeliner. Emerging 90's bands tamed their hair, unplugged their guitars and found huge success. Extreme, Mr. Big and Firehouse were some of the most promising bands of the early 90's. But just as quickly as those bands found success, they would be a thing of the past. Nirvana, along with groups like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, would reconfigure the sound of Rock music. Alternative Rock would become anything but an alternative. Spandex pants were replaced with flannel shirts. Apathy was in!
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At the beginning of the decade, there were many ways to purchase music. The cassette tape was still the most common means of buying music. Not only could you buy a cassette of an entire album, but you could also buy a cassette single of virtually every song on the charts. Typically the cassette single, sometimes referred to as the cassingle, included the hit song and a secondary song. In some cases it was an instrumental version of the song, or a remix of the song. Vinyl was starting to slow down in production and sales. LP albums were available for most titles, and in some instances the 45 rpm was still available. The CD was finally gaining momentum and by the end of the decade, the preferred format of music. The end of the decade also saw the birth of Napster. During the 90's, record companies began to fear they were losing money from people copying cassettes and CDs, or downloading music for free. These changes in buying patterns also changed the way music was sold, and in turn changed the way music appeared on the charts.
Garth Brooks became one of the biggest selling artists of all time. Despite having excessive sales, Garth Brooks never reached the Top 40 (other than his stint as Chris Gaines). The reason for this was because he never officially released the songs as singles. During the early 90's if a song was not available to purchase as a single, it was ineligible to chart on the Top 100. By the mid 90's Record Companies began noticing that when artists with this kind of popularity only made the songs available on the album, they could make more money. To try to increase sales, retail singles became more infrequent. Acts like No Doubt, Matchbox 20 and Alanis Morissette were among the first mainstream artists to release singles for radio only airplay. Because these songs were not available to purchase as singles, they then became ineligible to appear on the Top 40. More and more record companies began following this practice. For a few years, it became a little weird. The majority of songs on the radio were not on the Top 40. It created an skewed reflection of popular music. Songs that were huge hits like "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia or "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls were nowhere to be found on the Top 100 and instead appeared on Radio Airplay Charts. The lack of accuracy impacted the integrity of the charts. By the end of the 90's, the charts were adjusted to reflect radio play as well as sales.
With the newly reconstructed charts, Country Music found new life in the 90's. Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Shania Twain played a part in bringing the genre new life. During the final years of the decade, Country superstars like Blake Shelton, Lee Ann Womack, Brad Paisley and George Strait were hitting the Top 40 on a regular basis.
Regardless of whether you listened to Pop, R&B, Rap, Rock, Alternative or Country, it's hard not to love 90's Music.
Garth Brooks became one of the biggest selling artists of all time. Despite having excessive sales, Garth Brooks never reached the Top 40 (other than his stint as Chris Gaines). The reason for this was because he never officially released the songs as singles. During the early 90's if a song was not available to purchase as a single, it was ineligible to chart on the Top 100. By the mid 90's Record Companies began noticing that when artists with this kind of popularity only made the songs available on the album, they could make more money. To try to increase sales, retail singles became more infrequent. Acts like No Doubt, Matchbox 20 and Alanis Morissette were among the first mainstream artists to release singles for radio only airplay. Because these songs were not available to purchase as singles, they then became ineligible to appear on the Top 40. More and more record companies began following this practice. For a few years, it became a little weird. The majority of songs on the radio were not on the Top 40. It created an skewed reflection of popular music. Songs that were huge hits like "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia or "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls were nowhere to be found on the Top 100 and instead appeared on Radio Airplay Charts. The lack of accuracy impacted the integrity of the charts. By the end of the 90's, the charts were adjusted to reflect radio play as well as sales.
With the newly reconstructed charts, Country Music found new life in the 90's. Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Shania Twain played a part in bringing the genre new life. During the final years of the decade, Country superstars like Blake Shelton, Lee Ann Womack, Brad Paisley and George Strait were hitting the Top 40 on a regular basis.
Regardless of whether you listened to Pop, R&B, Rap, Rock, Alternative or Country, it's hard not to love 90's Music.