1990s Music: Top Songs, Genres And Trends

Rave, Britpop, the Spice Girls and the decade the CD single ruled the chart.

Below: the albums worth owning from the 1990s, the artists who defined it, how people listened at the time, and the biggest song of every year from 1990 to 1999.

Good for building a party playlist, setting a quiz round or working out what someone grew up listening to.

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Shop prints and posters Look back to 1990 Look back to 1991 Look back to 1992

Song and lyric prints, drawn and printed by us

Music and milestone art prints and funny cards, printed in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.

99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Cunt Rude A6 Postcard Cunt Rude A6 Postcard £3.00 Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print £12.99

Shop prints and posters

Years covered in the 1990s

  • 1990 - Thatcher resigned, Gazza cried, and the country spent a fortnight thinking England might actually win it. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1990
  • 1991 - Bryan Adams would not get off the top of the chart, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and Freddie Mercury died. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1991
  • 1992 - Black Wednesday, a general election nobody predicted correctly, and the Premier League arrived. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1992
  • 1993 - Mr Blobby was Christmas number one, which is somehow not the strangest thing about the year. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1993
  • 1994 - The Lottery started, the Channel Tunnel opened, and Wet Wet Wet would not leave the number one spot. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1994
  • 1995 - Blur against Oasis on the Six O'Clock News, and Toy Story changed films for good. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1995
  • 1996 - Football came home, nearly, and the Spice Girls arrived and took the entire decade with them. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1996
  • 1997 - A landslide in May, a death in August, and the best-selling single in British history. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1997
  • 1998 - The Good Friday Agreement, a World Cup sending off nobody forgave, and Furby. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1998
  • 1999 - An eclipse over Cornwall, a millennium everybody was quietly worried about, and boy bands everywhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1999
  • That is every 1990s year we have written up so far: 1990 to 1999.

Albums of the 1990s

  • Oasis, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995).
  • Blur, Parklife (1994).
  • Radiohead, OK Computer (1997).
  • The Verve, Urban Hymns (1997).
  • Massive Attack, Blue Lines (1991).
  • Spice Girls, Spice (1996).
  • Nirvana, Nevermind (1991).

Artists who defined the 1990s

  • Oasis and Blur, and the chart race of August 1995.
  • Spice Girls, Take That and Boyzone.
  • The Prodigy, Underworld and the dance acts that crossed into the chart.
  • Robbie Williams solo from 1996; All Saints and Steps at the end of the decade.
  • Elton John's Candle in the Wind 1997, the best-selling UK single ever.

Genres of the 1990s

  • Rave, hardcore and jungle in the early nineties.
  • Britpop from 1994, and the Blur-Oasis rivalry.
  • Trip hop out of Bristol.
  • Manufactured pop and the girl and boy band era.
  • Drum and bass, big beat and superclub dance.

Music trends of the 1990s

  • The CD single peaks and vinyl nearly disappears from the high street.
  • Superclubs and the DJ as headline act.
  • Napster arrives in 1999 and the download era begins.
  • The Criminal Justice Act 1994 targets rave culture.

Biggest songs, year by year

  • 1990 - The Righteous Brothers' 'Unchained Melody', re-released after the film Ghost, was the best-selling single of the year in the UK.
  • 1991 - Bryan Adams spent sixteen consecutive weeks at number one with '(Everything I Do) I Do It for You', from the Robin Hood film - still the longest unbroken run in UK chart history.
  • 1992 - Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You', from The Bodyguard, was Christmas number one and went on to be the best-selling single of 1992 and much of 1993.
  • 1993 - Meat Loaf's 'I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)' spent seven weeks at number one and was the best-selling single of the year.
  • 1994 - Wet Wet Wet's 'Love Is All Around', from Four Weddings and a Funeral, spent fifteen weeks at number one. The band eventually deleted it themselves to stop it.
  • 1995 - The Britpop chart battle: Blur's 'Country House' against Oasis's 'Roll With It' in the week of 20 August. Blur won, and it led the national news.
  • 1996 - The Fugees' 'Killing Me Softly' was the best-selling single of the year.
  • 1997 - 'Candle in the Wind 1997' by Elton John, released after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, became the best-selling single in UK chart history.
  • 1998 - Cher's 'Believe' was Christmas number one and the best-selling single of the year, built on the vocal effect that defined the next decade of pop.
  • 1999 - Britney Spears' '...Baby One More Time' was the best-selling single of the year.

How people listened

  • CD singles, usually three tracks, bought on a Monday to affect Sunday's chart.
  • The Chart Show, TFI Friday and Top of the Pops.
  • Napster arrives in 1999 and nothing is quite the same afterwards.

How to use this

  • Party: take the running order from the 1990s playlist and pull extra tracks from the artists above.
  • Quiz round: read the year and the song, and ask for the other one.
  • Reminiscence session: the songs people sang at eighteen get the most talking.
  • Present: a print of a song from 1990-1999 beats another mug.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1990 Look back to 1991 Look back to 1992

How to write it so it lands

  • Download the tracks rather than streaming them if the party is somewhere with bad signal.
  • One song from the year someone turned eighteen does more than a whole decade playlist.
  • Check for clean versions before a family party - some of these are ruder than people remember.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

What are the best albums of the 1990s?

Oasis, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995). The full list above gives real records with their release years, not a ranking - pick by what the person actually listened to.

What music genres were popular in the 1990s?

Rave, hardcore and jungle in the early nineties. Britpop from 1994, and the Blur-Oasis rivalry. Trip hop out of Bristol. The genres section above has the full list.

Who were the biggest artists of the 1990s?

Oasis and Blur, and the chart race of August 1995. The rest are listed above, including the British acts that mattered more here than anywhere else.

What was the biggest song of each year in the 1990s?

The year-by-year list above gives the chart facts for each year of the decade, taken from the same checked data as our year pages.

Do you sell records?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including song and lyric prints. For the records themselves, charity shops and independent record shops are the honest answer.

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