Rock Alternative rock and
Perry Farrell of
Jane's Addiction in 2009. The success of Jane's Addiction helped launch the popularity of
alternative rock and
alternative metal in the United States. The unexpected success of
Ritual de lo Habitual (1990) for
Warner Records led to a signing frenzy in which major labels were "mass signing" alternative acts, including
Geffen Records' signing of
Nirvana in 1991. With the breakthrough of bands such as
Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became commercially successful during the 1990s. By the start of the 1990s, the music industry was enticed by alternative rock's commercial possibilities and major labels actively courted bands including
Alice in Chains,
Pearl Jam,
Jane's Addiction,
Dinosaur Jr., and
Nirvana. In particular,
R.E.M.'s success had become a blueprint for many alternative bands in the late 1980s and 1990s to follow; the group had outlasted many of its contemporaries and by the 1990s had become one of the most popular bands in the world.
Mazzy Star had a top 40 hit with "Fade into You" (1993) and
Smash Mouth recorded hits "Walkin' on the Sun" (1997) and "All Star" (1999).
The Red Hot Chili Peppers became an important band in the rise of alternative rock with their album
Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Combining funk rock with more conventional rock music, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were able to achieve mainstream success, culminating with the release of their 1999 album
Californication. Some of the top mainstream American alternative rock bands of the 1990s included
Hootie and The Blowfish,
Collective Soul,
Creed,
Nirvana,
Alice in Chains,
Dinosaur Jr,
the Mighty Mighty Bosstones,
Green Day,
Weezer,
Live,
311,
the Wallflowers,
Toad the Wet Sprocket,
R.E.M.,
the Offspring,
Matchbox Twenty,
Sixpence None the Richer,
The Verve Pipe,
Another Bad Creation,
No Authority,
Perfect Gentlemen,
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Soul Asylum,
Liz Phair,
the Lemonheads,
Soundgarden,
Counting Crows,
Spin Doctors,
dc Talk,
Goo Goo Dolls,
Third Eye Blind,
Smash Mouth,
the Smashing Pumpkins,
4 Non Blondes,
Seven Mary Three,
Blues Traveler,
Better Than Ezra,
Deep Blue Something,
Ben Folds Five,
Tal Bachman,
Duncan Sheik,
Shawn Mullins,
Lit,
Social Distortion,
New Radicals,
Beck,
the Breeders,
the Cranberries,
Gin Blossoms,
Foo Fighters,
Sublime,
Marcy Playground,
No Doubt,
Hole,
Cake,
Blind Melon,
E.Y.C.,
Eels,
Stone Temple Pilots,
Garbage, and
Pearl Jam. These bands were variously influenced by ska, punk, pop, metal, and many other musical genres.
Alternative metal During the early 1990s a new style of alternative music emerged, which combined elements of alternative rock with
heavy metal. This new genre, dubbed "
alternative metal", is considered a precursor to the nu metal movement of the late 1990s. This style was typified by bands such as
Tool,
Helmet and
Jane's Addiction. Other bands including
Faith No More,
Living Colour,
Primus,
Red Hot Chili Peppers and
Rage Against the Machine also blended
funk and
hip hop elements, creating subgenres of this style such as
funk metal and
rap metal.
Grunge in 1992 A subgenre of alternative rock, grunge bands were popular during the early 1990s. Grunge music, and its associated subculture, was born out of the
Pacific Northwest American states of
Washington and
Oregon in the 1980s. They delivered a more direct, less polished rock sound. Artists such as
Nirvana,
Soundgarden,
Alice in Chains,
Stone Temple Pilots and
Pearl Jam brought alternative rock to popularity in 1991. Nirvana's
Nevermind reached the
Billboard number one, and Pearl Jam's
Ten reached number two a year later. is an American rock band formed in 1990 in Seattle, Washington. During the mid-1990s, many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. The
death of Kurt Cobain in early 1994, as well as the touring problems for Pearl Jam marked the decline of the genre. In 1996, Alice in Chains played their final live shows with lead singer
Layne Staley, and in 1997, Soundgarden broke up, marking the end of the original grunge era to some.
Post-grunge As the original grunge bands went into decline, major record labels began signing and promoting bands that were emulating the genre. The term
post-grunge was coined to describe these bands, who emulated the attitudes and music of
grunge, particularly thick, distorted guitars, but with a more radio-friendly commercially oriented sound. In 1995, former Nirvana drummer
Dave Grohl's new band, the
Foo Fighters, helped popularize the post-grunge genre, becoming one of the most commercially successful rock bands in the US, aided by considerable airplay on MTV. Some of the most successful post-grunge acts of the 1990s were
Candlebox,
Bush,
Collective Soul,
Live,
Creed,
Matchbox Twenty,
Our Lady Peace,
Foo Fighters, and others. The genre would have another wave of successful acts throughout much of the 2000s, such as
Nickelback,
Lifehouse, and
3 Doors Down.
Indie rock Following the immense success of alternative rock in the 1990s, the term "
indie rock" became associated with the bands and genres that remained underground. Bands like
Sonic Youth and
Pixies set the stage for the rise of indie rock in the underground scene, with bands such as
Pavement,
Archers of Loaf,
Sleater-Kinney,
Built to Spill,
Modest Mouse,
Yo La Tengo,
the Breeders,
Superchunk,
Dinosaur Jr.,
Cat Power,
Guided by Voices,
Sebadoh,
the Jesus Lizard,
Liz Phair, and
the Flaming Lips gaining popularity throughout the decade.
The B-52's made a comeback with their 1994 cover of
Meet the Flintstones.
Ska punk By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave
ska bands such as
Reel Big Fish,
the Mighty Mighty Bosstones,
Sublime, and
No Doubt waned as other music genres gained momentum.
Skate punk and pop punk , 2015 Punk rock in the United States underwent a resurgence in the early to mid-1990s. Punk rock at that time was not commercially viable, and no major record label signed a punk rock band until
Green Day's breakthrough in 1994. Both these factors contributed to the emergence of a number of
independent record labels, often run by people in bands in order to release their own music and that of their friends. The independent labels
Lookout! Records,
Fat Wreck Chords and
Epitaph Records achieved commercial success. Skate punk broke into the mainstream in the mid-1990s, initially with the Northern California-based skate punk band
Green Day and in the late 1990s with the Southern California-based pop punk band
Blink-182 as well who all achieved massive worldwide commercial success.
Green Day's album
Dookie (1994) sold 10 million copies in the United States and another 10 million copies worldwide. Soon after the release of
Dookie,
the Offspring released the album
Smash. The album sold over 14 million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent label. In 1996,
Weezer released its sophomore album
Pinkerton, which became a major influence for many 2000s emo bands, although failing to reach the commercial success of the band's debut
Weezer (Blue Album).
Rancid's ''
Let's Go'' and
NOFX's
Punk in Drublic were also released during this period and both of them went gold as well. By the end of the year,
Dookie and
Smash had sold millions of copies. The commercial success of these two albums attracted major label interest in skate/pop punk, with bands such as
Bad Religion being offered lucrative contracts to leave their independent record labels. In 1999,
Blink-182 made a breakthrough with the release of
Enema of the State, which sold over 15 million copies worldwide receiving multi-platinum status in the
United States,
Canada,
Australia,
Italy,
New Zealand and platinum status in
Europe and the
United Kingdom.
Green Day are seen as the biggest act in punk rock whilst
Weezer and
Blink-182 are seen to have the most influence on later bands like
Fall Out Boy and
All Time Low.
Heavy metal Many
subgenres of metal developed outside of the commercial mainstream during the 1980s. In the early 1990s the
thrash metal genre achieved break-out success, mainly due to the massive success of
Metallica's
eponymous 5th album which was released in 1991 and brought thrash metal to the mainstream for the first time. Metallica's success was followed by
Megadeth's
Countdown to Extinction (1992) which hit number 2,
Anthrax,
Pantera, and
Slayer cracked the top 10, and albums by regional bands such as
Testament and
Sepultura entered the top 100. In the later half of the decade
industrial metal became popular. The top mainstream American industrial metal bands of the 1990s included
Nine Inch Nails,
Marilyn Manson,
White Zombie,
KMFDM,
Ministry, and
Fear Factory. Death Metal gained momentum in the early 1990s as well, with acts such as
Death,
Deicide,
Morbid Angel,
Cannibal Corpse and
Obituary among others. The Second wave of Black Metal gained popularity with leading force in Norway in
Mayhem,
Burzum and
Darkthrone. File:NineInchNails.jpg|
Nine Inch Nails, 2005 File:Korn_London_1997.jpg|Korn, 1997
Pop rock In the 1990s, there was a revival of the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s. This movement lasted up to about 2004 with artists like
Norah Jones,
Dido and
Sarah McLachlan. Important artists of this movement include
Alanis Morissette,
Tori Amos,
Fiona Apple,
Liz Phair,
Amy Grant,
Meredith Brooks,
Juliana Hatfield,
Edwin McCain,
Duncan Sheik,
Paula Cole,
Jewel,
Natalie Merchant,
Tracy Chapman,
Wilson Phillips,
k.d. lang,
Tal Bachman,
Shawn Mullins,
Rob Thomas,
Sheryl Crow and
Lisa Loeb. A famous album of the movement was the multi-platinum 1995 album
Jagged Little Pill by
Alanis Morissette as well as
Sheryl Crow's 1993 album
Tuesday Night Music Club and her
1996 eponymous album. Canadian artist Tom Cochrane got hit "Life is a Highway", Marc Cohn had "Walking in Memphis", and 4 Non Blondes released hit "What's Up". The trend ended in the late 1990s with
Lynda Thomas, who became the first idol of the "teen pop-rock" movement, which later in the 2000s reached its highest level of popularity with later singers such as
Avril Lavigne,
Kelly Clarkson,
P!nk,
Hilary Duff,
Miley Cyrus,
Aly & AJ, and
Ashlee Simpson. Also in the 1990s, artists such as
Jeff Buckley,
Dave Matthews,
Shania Twain,
Bryan Adams,
Elliott Smith,
Melissa Etheridge, as well as
Sheryl Crow borrowed from the singer-songwriter tradition to create new acoustic-based rock styles.
Hard rock Third wave
glam metal artists such as
Firehouse,
Warrant,
Extreme,
Slaughter, and
Skid Row experienced their greatest success at the start of the decade, but these bands' popularity waned after 1992 or so.
Mötley Crüe and
Poison, who were hugely popular in the 1980s, released successful albums in 1989 and 1990, respectively, and continued to benefit from that success in the early part of the decade.
The Black Crowes ushered in a more classic rock 'n' roll sound with their successful debut in 1990. More well-established
hard rock artists such as
Guns N' Roses,
Van Halen,
Def Leppard,
Ozzy Osbourne, and
Tom Petty released successful albums and remained very popular in the first half of the decade, while
Aerosmith,
Bon Jovi, and
Metallica maintained their popularity throughout the entire decade, largely by re-inventing themselves with each new album and exploring different sounds.
Kiss released what was claimed to be a reunion album with the original four members in the late 1990s, but it was later revealed
Ace Frehley and
Peter Criss had very limited performances on the album.
Pop British girl group
Spice Girls managed to break the US market, becoming the most commercially successful British group in
North America since
the Beatles. Their impact brings about a widespread invasion of
teen pop acts to the US charts which had been predominantly dominated by grunge and hip hop prior to the success of the group. Between 1997 and 2000, American
teen pop singers and groups including
Backstreet Boys,
*NSYNC,
98 Degrees,
Hanson,
Christina Aguilera,
Britney Spears,
Jessica Simpson,
Mandy Moore,
Jennifer Lopez,
Joey McIntyre,
Vitamin C,
Jennifer Paige,
LFO,
Aaron Carter and
Destiny's Child became popular, following the lead of the
Spice Girls by targeting early members of
Generation Y. At the end of the decade,
Britney Spears and
Christina Aguilera had huge successes with their hit singles, "
...Baby One More Time" and "
Genie in a Bottle" and respective debut albums which remain among the best selling of all time. Britney Spears's single/ album went onto the top of the US charts in early 1999. "Womanizer" (Jive) was the second No. 1 hit for Spears after her debut single, " ... Baby One More Time." Spears has the longest gap between No. 1 hits since Cher's "Believe" claimed pole position in March 1999, just 10 days shy of 25 years after "Dark Lady" landed in first place.
Madonna's
Erotica, was released in 1992 and became one of her most controversial releases. In February 1998, Madonna released the critically acclaimed
Ray of Light.
Cyndi Lauper released her first mature album
Hat Full of Stars (1993), which leaves complete the image of her first two albums, but was highly praised by critics even though it did not achieve commercial success. Larry Flick of
Billboard called
Janet Jackson's
The Velvet Rope "[t]he best American album of the year and the most empowering of her last five." Released in October 1997,
The Velvet Rope debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200. In August 1997, the album's lead single, "
Got 'til It's Gone", was released to radio, peaking at number 12 on the
Billboard Rhythmic Airplay Chart. The single
sampled the
Joni Mitchell song "
Big Yellow Taxi", and featured a cameo appearance by rapper
Q-Tip. "Got 'til It's Gone" won the 1997
Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. The album's second single "
Together Again", became her eighth number one hit on the
Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and placing her on par with
Elton John, and
the Rolling Stones. The single spent a record 46 weeks on the Hot 100, as well as spending 19 weeks on the UK singles chart.
The Velvet Rope sold over ten million albums worldwide and was certified three times platinum by the RIAA.
Celine Dion achieved worldwide success during the decade after releasing English-language albums, such as
Falling into You (1996) and ''
Let's Talk About Love (1997), which were both certified diamond by the RIAA. In December 1997, Dion released the single "My Heart Will Go On" from the Titanic''
soundtrack which became the second-best-selling single by a female artist in history. File:BSB_live2.jpg|The American
vocal group Backstreet Boys became one of the most commercially successful
boy bands of the 1990s File:Céline Dion 2012.jpg|
Celine Dion became one of the most successful pop singers of the 1990s
Adult contemporary In the early 1990s,
Mariah Carey's hit singles such as "
Vision of Love" (1990) and "
Love Takes Time" (1990), and
Whitney Houston's "
All the Man That I Need" (1990) and "
I Will Always Love You" (1992) topped the radio charts for the
adult contemporary format.
Michael W. Smith released his eight studio album,
Change Your World, which included the No. 1 adult contemporary hit "
I Will Be Here for You".
Contemporary R&B Whitney Houston's
quiet storm hits included "
All the Man That I Need" (1990) and "
I Will Always Love You" (1992), later became the best-selling physical single by a female act of all time, with sales of over 20 million copies worldwide. Her 1992 hit soundtrack
The Bodyguard, spent 20 weeks on top of the
Billboard 200, sold over 45 million copies worldwide and remains the best-selling soundtrack album of all time. According to the RIAA, Houston is the best-selling female R&B artist of the 20th century. In the 1990s,
Mariah Carey's career originated in
quiet storm, with hit singles such as "
Vision of Love" (1990) and "
Love Takes Time" (1990). Her albums
Music Box (1993) and
Daydream (1995) are some of the
best-selling albums of all time, and had R&B/HipHop influences. Richard J. Ripani wrote that Carey and Houston, "both of whom rely heavily on the gospel music vocal tradition, display an emphasis on
melisma that increased in R&B generally over the 1980s and 1990s." The popularity of ballads and
R&B led to the development of a radio format called
Urban adult contemporary. Popular African-American contemporary R&B artists included
Mariah Carey,
Mark Morrison,
Faith Evans,
112,
D'Angelo,
Lauryn Hill,
Whitney Houston,
En Vogue,
Toni Braxton,
Boyz II Men,
All-4-One,
Macy Gray,
Mary J. Blige,
Dru Hill,
Vanessa Williams,
Groove Theory,
Bell Biv Devoe,
Jodeci,
Janet Jackson,
Diana King,
Tony! Toni! Tone!,
Brownstone,
Shanice,
Brian Mcknight,
Will Smith,
Usher,
SWV,
Silk,
702,
Aaliyah,
Keith Sweat,
TLC,
Xscape,
Brandy,
Monica,
3T,
Mýa,
Total,
Tevin Campbell and
R.Kelly. In contrast to the works of Boyz II Men,
Babyface and similar artists, other R&B artists from this same period began adding even more of a hip hop sound to their work. The synthesizer-heavy rhythm tracks of new jack swing were replaced by grittier
East Coast hip hop-inspired backing tracks, resulting in a genre labelled
hip hop soul by producer
Sean Combs. The style became less popular by the end of the 1990s, but later experienced a resurgence. During the mid-1990s,
Mary J. Blige,
Mariah Carey,
Faith Evans,
TLC,
Xscape,
Whitney Houston and
Boyz II Men brought contemporary R&B to the masses. Jackson's self-titled fifth studio album
janet. (1993), which came after her historic multimillion-dollar contract with
Virgin Records, sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Houston, Boyz II Men and Carey recorded several
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits, including "
Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", "
One Sweet Day", a collaboration between Boyz II Men and Carey, which became the longest-running No. 1 hit in Hot 100 history. Carey, Boyz II Men and TLC released albums in 1994 and 1995—
Daydream,
II, and
CrazySexyCool respectively – that sold over ten million copies, earning them diamond status in the U.S. Beginning in 1995, the
Grammy Awards enacted the
Grammy Award for Best R&B Album with
II, and Boyz II Men became the first recipient. The award was later received by TLC for
CrazySexyCool in 1996. Mariah Carey's duet with Boyz II Men "
One Sweet Day" was pronounced song of the decade, charting at number one on the decade-end chart. Carey became Billboard's most successful female artist of the decade, and one of the most successful R&B acts of the 1990s. R&B artists such as
Janet Jackson,
Michael Jackson,
Whitney Houston,
R.Kelly and
Mariah Carey are some of the
best selling music artists of all time, and especially in the 1990s brought Contemporary R&B to a worldwide platform. File:Whitney Houston Welcome Home Heroes 1 cropped.jpg|
Whitney Houston was certified as the best-selling female R&B artist of the 20th century by the
Recording Industry Association of America File:Mariah Carey13 Edwards Dec 1998.jpg|
Mariah Carey was declared the Artist of the Decade of the 1990s by
Billboard Neo-soul is considered a key pioneer of the neo-soul movement. In the mid-1990s,
neo soul, which added 1970s soul influences to the hip hop soul blend, arose, led by artists such as
D'Angelo,
Erykah Badu,
Lauryn Hill, and
Maxwell.
Lauryn Hill and
Missy Elliott further blurred the line between R&B and hip hop by recording both styles.
D'Angelo's
Brown Sugar was released in June 1995. Although sales were sluggish at first, the album was eventually a hit, due in large part to "Lady," a top-ten hit on the
Billboard Hot 100 charts, peaking at No. 10. The album earned
platinum certification from the
Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of one million copies in the U.S., while its total sales have been estimated within the range of 1.5 million to over two million copies. While the album was certified platinum in the United States, indicating shipments of one million units, its total sales were adversely reported by several publications with estimations ranging from 1.5 to 2 million units. The album helped give commercial visibility to the burgeoning
Neo soul movement of the 1990s, along with debut albums by
Maxwell,
Erykah Badu, and
Lauryn Hill. The album was a critical success as well and appeared on many critics' best-of lists that year. Hill's
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) remains her only studio album; it received critical acclaim, some suggesting it was the greatest neo-soul album of all time. It debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 and sold 19 million copies worldwide, spawning the singles "
Doo Wop (That Thing)", "
Ex-Factor", and "
Everything Is Everything". At the 41st
Grammy Awards, the album earned her five
Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year. Soon after, Hill dropped out of the public-eye, mainly because of her dissatisfaction with the music industry.
Hip hop The decade is notable for the extension of the rap music scene from New York City, the center of hip hop culture throughout the 1980s, to other cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, the Bay Area, Miami, Chicago, and Memphis.
Dr. Dre's 1992 album
The Chronic provided a template for modern
gangsta rap. In addition to
The Chronic, Dre introduced a new artist known as Snoop Dogg which allowed for the success of Snoop's album,
Doggystyle, in 1993. Due to the success of
Death Row Records,
West Coast hip hop dominated hip hop during the early 1990s, alongside
the Notorious B.I.G. on the East Coast. Hip hop became the best selling music genre by the mid-1990s. High-selling rap albums released in the 1990s include
The Chronic by
Dr. Dre,
Illmatic by
Nas,
To The Extreme by
Vanilla Ice,
All Eyez on Me by
Tupac,
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by
Wu-Tang Clan,
Ready To Die by
the Notorious B.I.G., ''
Ridin' Dirty by UGK, 19 Naughty III by Naughty by Nature, and Doggystyle'' by
Snoop Dogg. In 1998,
Lauryn Hill released her debut album
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200. In 1999,
The Miseducation was nominated for 10
Grammys, winning five (which at the time was unheard of for a hip-hop artist) and eventually went on to sell over 19 million copies worldwide. The early 1990s was dominated by female rappers, such as
Queen Latifah and hip hop trio
Salt-N-Pepa. The late 1990s saw the rise of successful female rappers and a turn in
East Coast hip hop, with the debuts of
Lil' Kim (with
Hard Core) and
Foxy Brown (with
Ill Na Na), due to their use of excessive raunchy and provocative lyrics. In the early 1990s, the hip-hop/dance group
C+C Music Factory also saw huge success, especially with the song "
Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)". By the end of the 1990s, attention turned towards
dirty south and
crunk, with artists such as
Outkast,
Trick Daddy,
Trina,
Three 6 Mafia,
Master P,
Juvenile,
Missy Elliott and
Lil Wayne. The mid-1990s were marked by the deaths of the
West Coast-based rapper
Tupac and the
East Coast-based rapper
the Notorious B.I.G., which conspiracy theorists claim were killed as a result of the
East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry.
Samples and
interpolations of old songs in hip hop songs were common in the 1990s as a way to celebrate the end of the
2nd millennium and the 20th century by going
retro. Many of the following songs include samples from older songs: "
U Can't Touch This" by
MC Hammer; "
Jump Around" by
House of Pain; "
Mo Money Mo Problems" and "
Big Poppa" by
Notorious B.I.G.; "
It Was a Good Day" by
Ice Cube; "
Regulate" by
Warren G and
Nate Dogg; "
Ice Ice Baby" by
Vanilla Ice; "
I'll Be Missing You" by
Puff Daddy featuring
Faith Evans and
112; "
Ain't No Nigga" by
Jay-Z featuring
Foxy Brown; "
Killing Me Softly" by
Fugees; "
Feel So Good" by
Mase; "
Hey Lover" by
Boyz II Men featuring
LL Cool J; "
C.R.E.A.M." by
Wu-Tang Clan; "
Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" by
Dr. Dre featuring
Snoop Dogg; "
No Diggity" by
BLACKstreet; "
Gangsta's Paradise" by
Coolio featuring
L.V.; "
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" by
Missy Elliott; "
I Wish" by
Skee-Lo; "
People Everyday" and "
Tennessee" by
Arrested Development; "
The Humpty Dance" by
Digital Underground;
Tupac's "
Do for Love", "
I Get Around", and "
California Love"; and
Will Smith's "
Men in Black", and "
Wild Wild West". Some of the most prominent rap artists of the 1990s include
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony,
Tupac Shakur,
The Notorious B.I.G.,
Nas,
Ice Cube,
Dr. Dre,
LL Cool J,
Eazy-E,
Wu-Tang Clan,
Vanilla Ice,
Snoop Dogg,
Busta Rhymes,
Cypress Hill,
Warren G,
Coolio,
Big Pun,
De La Soul,
Gang Starr,
Kool Keith,
the Pharcyde,
Company Flow,
OutKast,
MC Hammer,
Fugees,
Naughty by Nature,
Mobb Deep,
A Tribe Called Quest,
Puff Daddy,
Will Smith,
DMX,
Master P,
Jay-Z and
Eminem. File:LaurynHill crop.jpg|
Lauryn Hill was one of the most successful hip hop female artists of the 1990s. File:2pac edit cropped further.jpg|
2Pac became one of the most successful hip hop artists of the 1990s. File:Dr._Dre_in_2011.jpg|
Dr. Dre Electronic music , 2009 With the explosive growth of computers, music technology and consequent reduction in the cost of equipment in the early 1990s, it became possible for a wider number of musicians to produce electronic music. Even though initially most of the electronic music was dance music, the genre developed in the 1990s as musicians started producing music which was not necessarily designed for the dance-floor but rather for home listening (later on referred to as "
Electronica") and slower-paced music which was played throughout chillout rooms—the relaxation sections of the clubs (later on referred to as "
downtempo", "
chill-out music" and "
ambient music"). Since we don't really know what was the first electronic music computer generated track ever made, in the USA we can find in the intro of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" released in 1973, a fully completed music track using only computers and machines. At the same time, in Germany, Kraftwerk is recognized as the very first band creating music only with machines and computers. Kraftwerk were the pioneers of what is electronic music nowadays. Then, the electronic music scene exploded in the world, with at the front line, Chicago for House Music, and Detroit the Techno. In the late 1990s,
Madonna had success with her album
Ray of Light which experimented with electronica sounds.
Moby achieved international success in the ambient electronica scene after releasing his critically acclaimed album
Play in 1999 which produced an impressive eight hit singles (including his most popular songs "
Porcelain", "
Natural Blues" and "
Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?"). at a nightclub. Electronic dance music was highly successful throughout the decade in Europe, particularly in Britain, Germany and Italy. Outdoor raves were popular at the start of the decade in the UK, before the government introduced its
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, leading to a higher number of superclubs opening. Among the most successful were
Ministry of Sound and
Cream. Before the ban, popular genres at these raves included
breakbeat hardcore and
techno, though in the mid-1990s these genres splintered into separate scenes, such as
happy hardcore,
jungle and
drum and bass, the latter of which received mainstream recognition through artists such as
Goldie and
Roni Size. Other notable British genres that emerged during the decade include
progressive house,
big beat,
vocal house,
trip hop and
UK garage (or
speed garage). The latter genre developed in London in the late 1990s and continued to be successful through to the early 2000s.
DJ Culture also gained momentum during the 1990s. DJs such as
Sasha,
John Digweed,
Paul Oakenfold,
Ferry Corsten and
Pete Tong became big names in the business, which was made desirable by magazines such as
Mixmag and
Muzik. Italy ended the 1980s with
Italo house, before becoming one of many countries to release
Eurodance and
Hi-NRG. Both genres were commercially successful across the world, with artists such as
2 Unlimited,
La Bouche and
Captain Hollywood promoting the genre. Countries such as Germany and Belgium, however, developed harder, darker styles of music, namely
gabber,
hard trance and techno. Trance emerged in the early 1990s and by the end of the decade had penetrated most of Europe, with artists such as
ATB,
Ferry Corsten,
WestBam and
Paul Van Dyk gaining huge commercial and underground success. European trance remained popular until the early 2000s. Goa became famed for its
goa trance parties and
Ibiza became the Number 1 clubbers' holiday destination.
Country music The popularity of country music exploded in the early 1990s. The stage had been set in 1989 with the debuts of several performers who proved to be profoundly influential on the genre during the 1990s and beyond. Most notable of that group was
Garth Brooks, who shattered records for album sales and concert attendance throughout the decade. The
RIAA has certified his recordings at a combined (128×
platinum), denoting roughly 113 million U.S. shipments. Brooks recorded primarily in a honky-tonk style, although he frequently combined elements of
soft rock and
arena rock in his songs. His songs sometimes explored social themes, such as domestic violence (in "
The Thunder Rolls") and racial harmony ("
We Shall Be Free)", while others – such as "
Friends in Low Places" — were just good-time songs with traditional country themes of heartbreak, loneliness and dealing with those emotions. Other performers who rose in popularity during the early 1990s were neo-traditionalists
Clint Black and
Alan Jackson and southern rock influenced
Travis Tritt.
Mary Chapin Carpenter had a folk-style about her, while
Lorrie Morgan (daughter of the late
George Morgan, himself a country legend) blended elements of country and pop, and occasionally operatic sounds in songs such as "Something in Red."
Trisha Yearwood was one of the top new singers of 1991, while
Diamond Rio blended traditional and bluegrass styles and
Brooks & Dunn provided a driving honky-tonk sound.
Tom Cochrane also saw huge success with his signature song "
Life Is a Highway". In 1993,
John Michael Montgomery rose to fame with hit song "
I Swear". During the early-to-middle part of the decade, several recordings were influenced by the popularity of
line dancing, including "
Boot-Scootin' Boogie" by Brooks & Dunn and "
Achy Breaky Heart" by
Billy Ray Cyrus. This influence was so great that
Chet Atkins was quoted as saying "The music has gotten pretty bad, I think. It's all that damn line dancing." A steady stream of new artists began their careers during the mid- and late-1990s. Many of these careers were short-lived, but several went on to long-lived, profitable careers. The most successful of the new artists were Yearwood,
Shania Twain,
LeAnn Rimes,
Lee Ann Womack,
Martina McBride,
Alison Krauss,
Kenny Chesney,
Collin Raye,
Faith Hill and
Tim McGraw while
Lonestar and
Dixie Chicks were the most successful new groups. Twain's
Come on Over album became the best-selling album released by a female of any genre. Yearwood became the first woman in more than 25 years to have her debut single top the Billboard Country Singles chart in 1991 with her single "
She's in Love with the Boy". Yearwood's debut album also became the first by a female country act to sell over 1 million copies, eventually going double platinum. Among artists whose success continued from the 1980s,
Reba McEntire was the most successful of the female artists, selling more than 30 million albums during the decade, gaining eight number-one hit singles on the U.S.
Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and six number one albums internationally, including her best-selling album,
Greatest Hits Vol. 2, which was released in September 1993 and has sold over an international amount of 10 million copies to date.
George Strait, a neo-traditionalist whose national success began in the early 1980s, enjoyed success as both a radio artist (17 No. 1 songs) and as a movie star (1992's
Pure Country).
Alabama, the most successful country band of the 1980s, continued their run of popularity with sell-out concerts and best-selling albums, while topping the country chart five times. Among older artists having big hits,
Conway Twitty was one of the most successful, scoring two Top 3 hits with "
Crazy in Love" and "I Couldn't See You Leaving", while
Eddie Rabbitt had a No. 1 hit with "
On Second Thought."
Dolly Parton had a No. 1 hit (with relative newcomer
Ricky Van Shelton) on "
Rockin' Years" in 1991 and had several top 15 hits. Although his 1990s singles never reached the top 20 (excepting for
a duet single with
Randy Travis),
George Jones (who had been around since the 1950s) regularly recorded and released critically acclaimed material, including the semi-autobiographical "Choices."
The Oak Ridge Boys continued their run of success with a No. 1 hit ("
No Matter How High") and several other top 40 hits; in 1995, upon the departure of William Lee Golden's replacement Steve Sanders, Golden reunited with longtime band members Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall and Richard Sterban, and the group has remained intact since then. While the Oak Ridge Boys' contemporaries
the Statler Brothers were no longer reaching the top 40, the veteran group remained highly popular with fans and their new albums continued to sell well. Other artists reaching the top 10 of the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart were
Waylon Jennings,
Anne Murray, and
Kenny Rogers.
Shawn Colvin rose to fame with her 1997 Grammy-winning song "
Sunny Came Home". became the first artist to score a No. 1 hit with "
Stay (I Missed You)" before signing to any record label. Pop-influenced country music began growing in popularity, particularly after Twain and Hill rose in popularity in the latter half of the 1990s. In 1998, Hill's "
This Kiss" and Twain's "
You're Still the One" both reached the top 10 of the
Billboard Hot 100, in addition to peaking at No. 1 on the
Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. Rimes had a multi-million selling hit with "
How Do I Live" (a song successfully covered by Yearwood), while Lonestar also had a huge crossover hit with "
Amazed." Although the occurrence of country crossing over to the pop charts goes back as far as the start of the
Billboard charts in 1940, some critics began to be troubled by a trend toward what they perceived as pop music marketed as country; they contended that radio was concentrating more on newer music while ignoring the more traditional styles of older artists such as
Merle Haggard,
George Jones, and others who continued to record and release new material.
Johnny Cash and producer Rick Rubin once purchased a full-page advertisement in
Billboard magazine – after Cash's album
Unchained won a Grammy for Best Country Album, despite a lack of support from radio – showing a young Cash displaying his
middle finger and sarcastically "thanking" radio for supporting the album. The criticism of pop-influenced and non-traditional styles in country music, however, dated back to the 1970s although it had quieted down comparably during the 1980s. In the 1990s,
alternative country came to refer to a diverse group of musicians and singers operating outside the traditions and industry of mainstream country music. In general, they eschewed the high production values and pop outlook of the Nashville-dominated industry, to produce music with a
lo-fi sound, frequently infused with a strong
punk and
rock & roll aesthetic, bending the traditional rules of country music. Lyrics were often bleak, gothic or socially aware. Other initiators include
Old 97's,
Steve Earle,
Uncle Tupelo,
Son Volt,
Ryan Adams,
My Morning Jacket,
Blitzen Trapper, and
Drive-By Truckers. A number of notable artists in country music died during the decade, including Twitty,
Webb Pierce,
Dottie West,
Tennessee Ernie Ford,
Roger Miller,
Roy Acuff,
Charlie Rich,
Minnie Pearl,
Faron Young,
John Denver,
Carl Perkins,
Grandpa Jones,
Tammy Wynette,
Eddie Rabbitt,
Gene Autry,
Roy Rogers,
Rex Allen and
Hank Snow.
Jazz Swing revival During the 1990s, concurrent with
third wave ska,
swing music made a resurgence in the form of
swing revival, which brought the jazz form into the pop charts. Reaching its commercial zenith around the time of the movie
Swingers, whose soundtrack featured numerous 1990s swing bands, the movement was exemplified by bands such as
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy,
Cherry Poppin' Daddies,
Squirrel Nut Zippers, and the
Brian Setzer Orchestra. The highest-charting song of the genre would have been "
Jump, Jive an' Wail" by the Brian Setzer Orchestra, which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. in 1998, and won the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1999. == Europe ==