The 1990s had such a dynamic range of music. In the early years popular radio had soft melodies and synthesizers as a hangover of the 80s and ended with what I would call modern pop with artists like Britney Spears charting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the decade.
Other genres such as grunge and gangsta rap also emerged. But the clear leader of the decade was R&B. If you lived in the 90s there is really only one name that covers what R&B was, Mariah Carey.
Mariah Carey is the best-selling female artist of all time with more than 200 million albums sold to date and 19 Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles (18 self-penned), more than any solo artist in history. At the time of writing she is the #9 ranked artist in the world according to plays and follows on Spotify. Carey had 14 #1 hits within the 90s and held position for 60-weeks.
Not to be overlooked, Bozy II Men did hold their own. Rolling Stone included them in their list of the 9 most influential boy bands in an article published in 2012. Boyz II Men had 5 chart-topping #1 hits in the decade and racked up a total of 50 weeks holding this spot.
The combination of Carey and Boyz II Men on "One Sweet Day" earned the title of "Best Collaboration of All Time" in a reader's poll by Rolling Stone in 2011, even with it's release date of 1995.
"One Sweet Day" (of course) spent 16 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the longest-running number-one song in the chart's history at the time.
Sources:
- (Web Archive) Rolling Stone - Readers Poll: Best Collaborations of All Time
- (Web Archive) Rolling Stone - 100 Greatest Singers of All Time
- (Web Archive) Rolling Stone - The 9 Most Influential Boy Bands: Then and Now
- Wikipedia - One Sweet Day
- Wikipedia - List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of the 1990s
- Spotify - Mariah Carey: About the Artist
Photo Credit: Billboard