Debut albums by Alice in Chains (Facelift), Cannibal Corpse (Eaten Back to Life), Mariah Carey (Mariah Carey), Deee-Lite (World Clique), Green Day (39/Smooth), Helmet (Strap It On), Ice Cube (AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted), Primus (Frizzle Fry), Ride (Nowhere) and A Tribe Called Quest (People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm) are released.
Death of Sarah Vaughan, Leonard Bernstein, Johnnie Ray, Sammy Davis, Jr..
Milli Vanilli exposed as a music fraud.
Events
January 21 MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze
February 6 Billy Idol is involved in a serious motorcycle accident, resulting in several broken bones. Idol had been scheduled to have a major role in Oliver Stone's film The Doors, but due to his injuries, the role was reduced almost to a bit part.
February 14 50,000 fans watch The Rolling Stones play the first of 10 concerts at Tokyo's Korakuen Dome, the beginning of the Stones' first ever tour of Japan.
February 16 Ike Turner is sentenced to 4 years in prison for possession of cocaine.
February 24 The Byrds (Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman and David Crosby) reunite, for the first time in 25 years, to perform at a Los Angeles tribute to Roy Orbison. The three are joined unexpectedly on stage by Bob Dylan, who sings "Mr. Tambourine Man" with the band.
March 20 Gloria Estefan's tour bus is involved in an accident. Estefan suffers several broken bones in her back.
March 25 Mφtley Crόe's Tommy Lee is arrested for allegedly exposing his backside during a performance in Augusta, Georgia
April 4 Gloria Estefan returns to Miami, Florida after undergoing back surgery in March following a tour bus accident.
April 6 Mφtley Crόe's Tommy Lee suffers a mild concussion after falling off of scaffolding above his elevated drum kit during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut.
April 7 Neil Young, Elton John, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Guns N' Roses and Jackson Browne perform at Farm Aid IV in Indiana. John dedicates "Candle in the Wind" to AIDS patient Ryan White during his performance. White dies later that evening.
April 16 A massive tribute concert is held at Wembley Stadium for recently freed anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, who makes a 45-minute speech at the event. Performers include Anita Baker, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel, The Neville Brothers and Neil Young. The event is broadcast to 61 countries around the world.
April 24 Janet Jackson is honoured with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
April 25 Jimi Hendrix's Fender Stratocaster that he used to perform his famous version of the "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, is auctioned off in London for $295,000
May 6 Valery Leontiev show "It seems to me that I have not lived" in the Olympic Stadium.
May 18 The Rolling Stones open their Urban Jungle European tour in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
May 27 The Stone Roses stage a legendary concert at Spike Island, Cheshire
May 29
In Canada, Toronto police threaten to arrest Madonna if she performs her simulated masturbation scene during her performance of "Like a Virgin" on her Blond Ambition Tour. Madonna refuses to change her show, and the police decide not to press charges, later denying that they had ever threatened to do so (a claim refuted by footage captured during the filming of Madonna's 1991 documentary Truth or Dare).
At the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition 1990 finals, held at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, pianist Nick van Oosterum of the Netherlands takes first place.
June 10 Members of rap group 2 Live Crew are arrested and charged with obscenity after a performance in a Hollywood, Florida nightclub..
July 7 The Three Tenors give their first concert, at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.
July 14 Jean Michel Jarre's concert Paris la Defense attracts 2.5 million spectators.
August 5 Madonna ends her controversial Blond Ambition Tour in Nice, France.
August 19 Leonard Bernstein conducts his final performance at Tanglewood; he suffers a coughing fit in the middle of one piece which almost brings the concert to a premature end.
August 24 A judge rules that heavy metal band Judas Priest is not responsible for the suicide and attempted suicide of two Nevada youths who shot themselves after listening to the band's music.
September 11 After a decade of performing in the Francophone world, Cιline Dion makes her formal English-language debut in the United States with the release of her album Unison.
October 22 Pearl Jam, then named "Mookie Blaylock", play their first show as a band at the Off Ramp club in Seattle, Washington.
Fall For the first time, Amy Grant and Gary Chapman hold a night of music at their Franklin, Tennessee Riverstone Farm, for local teenagers. Performers included Rich Mullins, Rick Elias, Charlie Peacock, Wes King and Michael W. Smith. The event becomes known as "The Loft".
November 27 "Vocal" group Milli Vanilli admits to lip-synching hits such as "Girl You Know It's True." They later have their Grammy award revoked.
Unknown
Studio Fredman is Built.
Madonna's "Justify My Love" music video is banned by MTV. The singer appears on Nightline to defend the video.
The poorly received Cop Rock premieres on television, TV's first (and last) musical police drama.
Sons of Kyuss change their name to Kyuss, add new members except guitarist Josh Homme.
After a hiatus of 7 years, rock group Styx reform to record a new album and tour without long time guitarist Tommy Shaw who was committed to Damn Yankees at the time.
Tapes of the original William Walton score for the 1969 film Battle of Britain are rediscovered, having been lost since the score was abandoned in favour of one by Ron Goodwin.
Biggest Hit Singles
1. Sinιad O'Connor: Nothing Compares 2 U
2. Madonna - Vogue
3. Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
4. MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This
5. Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
6. Bon Jovi - Blaze of Glory
7. Roxette - It Must Have Been Love
8. Enigma - Sadeness
9. Mariah Carey - Vision of Love
10. Snap - The Power
Biggest Hit Albums
1. Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
2. Madonna - The Immaculate Collection
3. MC Hammer - Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em
4. Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey
5. Depeche Mode - Violator
6. Madonna - I'm Breathless
7. New Kids On The Block - Step By Step
8. Paul Simon - The Rhythm Of The Saints
9. Alannah Myles - Alannah Myles
10. Original Soundtrack - Pretty Woman
Top Hits
"ΐ toutes les filles..." Fιlix Gray and Didier Barbelivien
"Advice for the Young at Heart" Tears for Fears
"All Around the World" Lisa Stansfield
"All I Wanna Do (Is Make Love to You)" Heart
"Another Day in Paradise" Phil Collins (released in late 1989)
"Baila Esta Cumbia" Selena y Los Dinos
"Being Boring" Pet Shop Boys
"Better the Devil You Know" Kylie Minogue
"Bo le lavabo" Lagaf'
"Bird On A Wire" The Neville Brothers
"Black Cat" Janet Jackson
"Blaze of Glory" Bon Jovi
"Blue Savannah" Erasure
"Blue Sky Mine" Midnight Oil
"Candy" Iggy Pop
"Chain Reaction John Farnham
"Cherry Pie" Warrant
"Close to You" Maxi Priest
"Come Back to Me" Janet Jackson
"Cowboys from Hell" Pantera
"Crying in the Rain" A-ha
"Dancing Pompokolin" B.B.Queens
"Dangerous" Roxette
"Disappear" INXS
"Do Me!" Bell Biv DeVoe
"Don't Wanna Fall in Love" Jane Child
"Downtown Train" Rod Stewart
"Elephant Stone" The Stone Roses
"Enjoy the Silence" Depeche Mode
"Epic" Faith No More
"Escapade" Janet Jackson
"Everybody Everybody" Black Box
"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" The Blues Brothers
"Forever" Kiss
"Four Bacharach And David Songs (EP)" Deacon Blue
"Friends In Low Places" Garth Brooks
"From a Distance" Cliff Richard
"Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" C+C Music Factory
"Groove Is In The Heart" Deee-Lite
"Hanky Panky" Madonna
"Hard To Handle" The Black Crowes
"Healing Hands" Elton John
"Heart Like A Wheel" The Human League
"Heart of Stone Cher
"Heart of Stone Taylor Dayne
"Hello" The Beloved
"Higher Ground" Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Hijo de la Luna" Mecano
"Hippychick" Soho
"Hiroshima" -Sandra
"Hold On" En Vogue
"Hold On" Wilson Philips
"I Go To Extremes" Billy Joel
"I Wish It Would Rain Down" Phil Collins
"Ice Ice Baby" Vanilla Ice
"It Must Have Been Love" Roxette
"I'll Be Your Shelter" Taylor Dayne
"I'm Your Baby Tonight" Whitney Houston
"Janie's Got a Gun" Aerosmith (released in 1989)
"Jōnetsu no Bara" The Blue Hearts
"Jukebox In Siberia" Skyhooks
"Just Like Jesse James" Cher
"Justify My Love" Madonna
"Keep It Together" Madonna
"Killer" Adamski feat. Seal
"Kingston Town" UB40
"King of Wishful Thinking" Go West
"Lay Down Your Guns" Jimmy Barnes
"La Luna" Belinda Carlisle
"Le Jerk" Thierry Hazard
"Les hommes qui passent" Patricia Kaas
"Listen to Your Heart" Roxette
"Loaded" Primal Scream
"Love And Kisses" Dannii Minogue
"Love Takes Time" Mariah Carey
"Love Shack" The B-52's
"Love Will Lead You Back" Taylor Dayne
"Maldςn (la musique dans la peau) Zouk Machine
"More Than Words Can Say" Alias
"Nah Neh Nah" Vaya Con Dios
"No Man's Land" Eric Burdon, Tony Carey, Anne Haigis
"Nothing Compares 2 U" Sinιad O'Connor
"Odoru Pompokolin" B.B.Queens
"Opposites Attract" Paula Abdul
"Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice)" Gloria Estefan
"Petit Frank" Franηois Feldman
"Poison" Bell Biv DeVoe
"Policy of Truth Depeche Mode
"Rhythm Nation" Janet Jackson
"Right Here, Right Now" Jesus Jones
"Roam" The B-52's
"Sacrifice" Elton John
"Sadeness" Enigma
"Saviour's Day" Cliff Richard
"Se Me Olvidσ Otra Vez" Manα
"Serious" Duran Duran
"She Ain't Worth It" Glenn Medeiros feat. Bobby Brown
"Silhouttes" Cliff Richard
"Sixteen Tons" Eric Burdon
"Soca Dance" Charles D. Lewis
"So Close" Hall & Oates
"So Hard" Pet Shop Boys
"Star" Erasure
"Step by Step" New Kids on the Block
"Step Back in Time" Kylie Minogue
"Stronger Than That" Cliff Richard
"Suicide Blonde" INXS
"Taiyō no Komachi Angel" B'z
"Tears on My Pillow" Kylie Minogue
"Tengo Todo Excepto a Tν" Luis Miguel
"That's Freedom" John Farnham
"The Other Side" Aerosmith (released in 1989)
"The Power" Snap!
"Three Strange Days" School of Fish (debut single)
"The Thunder Rolls" Garth Brooks
"Tom's Diner" Suzanne Vega
"U Can't Touch This" M.C. Hammer
"Unbelievable" EMF (debut single)
"Un'estate italiana" Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini
"Verdammt, ich lieb' dich" Matthias Reim
"Vision of Love" Mariah Carey
"Vogue" Madonna
"Vous κtes fous!" Benny B
"Wash Your Face In My Sink" Dream Warriors
"We Can't Go Wrong" The Cover Girls
"We Gotta Get out of This Place" Katrina & The Waves feat. Eric Burdon
"What it Takes" Aerosmith
"What's a Woman?" Vaya Con Dios
"White and Black Blues" Joλlle Ursull
"With Every Beat Of My Heart" Taylor Dayne
"World In My Eyes" Depeche Mode
"Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue" Exposι
• Debut albums by Blur (Leisure), Cypress Hill (Cypress Hill), EMF (Schubert Dip), the Infectious Grooves (The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves), Kyuss (Wretch), Massive Attack (Blue Lines), Pearl Jam (Ten) and The Smashing Pumpkins (Gish) are released.
• Death of Miles Davis, Freddie Mercury, Eric Carr, Steve Clark.
• Nirvana releases the grunge-pioneering album Nevermind.
• Mariah Carey wins Grammy award for Best New Artist.
• Mariah Carey becomes the only artist in history to have their first 5 consecutive singles reach number one in the US.
Events
Summary
The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year. Followed immediately by other grunge bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, in 1992 by Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, grunge dominates the U.S. charts for the next few years. Its success effectively ended the reign of the glam metal groups that enjoyed massive success in the 1980s like Mφtley Crόe, Poison, Warrant, Cinderella, and Ratt whose sales and critical viability were beginning to decline for about two years previously. Even so, the rock band Guns N' Roses's popularity flourishes with the release of their albums Use Your Illusion I & Use Your Illusion II, both selling over 15 million copies each. Def Leppard's next album Adrenalize, released in March 1992, would go on to reach multi-platinum status and prove to be the last major commercial success for 1980s pop metal. A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory is released this year; it would go on to be considered one of the best hip hop albums of the 1990s. A Tribe Called Quest, along with De La Soul, Dream Warriors, Gang Starr and the Poor Righteous Teachers, help define what comes to be known as alternative rap with important releases this year.
On November 24 both Kiss drummer Eric Carr and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury died. Mercury was at home in London on November 24, due to AIDS complications. Rumors had been circulating that Mercury had AIDS, but the death comes as a shock to millions of fans and the music industry. The remaining members of Queen form the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the following year, a tribute concert is staged in Wembley Stadium. A sell-out crowd in attendance witness the three surviving members reuniting to play along with performances by the likes of David Bowie, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Metallica, Annie Lennox, and George Michael. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" goes to number one for the second time in the U.K., which is one of the few times a single has gone to number one in the same version more than once (another example is Chubby Checkers' "The Twist," which was #1 in 1960 & 1962). It is also the only time a single has gone to number one more than once on the UK Christmas charts. It has now spent a total of 14 weeks on top of the UK charts.
1991 is also the year CCM, or contemporary Christian music, reaches a new peak. Amy Grant, who had already crossed back and forth between CCM and Contemporary Pop in the mid-80s, achieves her first solo #1 hit on the pop charts with the hit single "Baby Baby," becoming the first single by a CCM artist to reach #1 (despite the fact the song was a pop song and was void of any Christian references). Another single, "That's What Love Is For," would also top the charts, this time in the Adult Contemporary field. Meanwhile, Grant's album Heart In Motion reaches #11 on the pop chart and #1 on the Christian chart despite its non-religious objective, and quickly becomes a best-seller. Another CCM crossover artist in 1991 is Michael W. Smith, who achieves a Top Ten pop hit with his single "Place In This World." The subsequent album, Go West Young Man, is also a hit. Jon Gibson's hit "Jesus Loves Ya" still holds the record as the longest playing hit single in Christian music history. The track spent eleven weeks at #1 and became the top selling CCM single of 1991.[2] Only three artists received more airplay on Christian radio stations in that year other than Gibson; Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and BeBe & CeCe Winans.
The massive success of Garth Brooks in this year sets the stage for the mid-1990s influx of pop-oriented country musicians. In addition, several soon-to-be pivotal bands form or release debuts, including Dave Matthews Band, Live, Phish, Spin Doctors and stoner metal (Kyuss, Sleep, The Obsessed). Massive Attack's Blue Lines, while unique at the time, pioneers the sound that would eventually become known as trip hop. Entombed's Clandestine and Dismember's Like an Ever Flowing Stream are early releases from the Scandinavian metal scene. On the other side of the Atlantic, New York death metal band Suffocation release their debut full-length Effigy of the Forgotten, often considered one of the most influential extreme metal albums ever recorded. Trance music rises to prominence in the underground dance scene of Frankfurt, Germany, pioneered by such producers as Dance 2 Trance and Resistance D. U2 release their seventh album Achtung Baby, considered by many of their fans to be their best album. Metallica also release their most commercially successful self-titled album, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers break through to the mainstream with their critically and commercially acclaimed Blood Sugar Sex Magik. R.E.M. release their massive commercial breakthrough album Out of Time. 1991 also brought us the revolutionary Sailing the Seas of Cheese, the first release of a Primus album on a major label. When it came to music, 1991 was one of the most successful years of the 1990s.
Timeline
• January 18 – Three people are crushed to death during an AC/DC concert in Salt Lake City, Utah when audience members rush the stage.
• January 27 – Whitney Houston sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl. The recording is then released and becomes a hit single.
• February 27 – James Brown is granted an early parole and released from jail, following his arrest after a high-speed car chase through two states in 1989. Pop Will Eat Itself documented the affair with their song, "Not Now James, We're Busy".
• February 28 – Hollywood's Record Plant Studios recording studio closes its doors. Among the albums recorded at the Record Plant were The Eagles' Hotel California, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life
• March 11 – Janet Jackson signs a $30 million (US) contract with Virgin Records, making her the highest paid female recording artist ever.
• March 16 – Seven members of country music singer Reba McEntire's band and her road manager are killed when their private plane crashes in California, near the U.S.-Mexico border. McEntire travels on a separate plane.
• March 20
o Michael Jackson signs a contract with Sony which could generate 1 billion dollars for the company.
o Eric Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, dies after falling 49 stories from a New York City apartment window, which would inspire Clapton to write the hit single "Tears in Heaven".
• March 24 – The Black Crowes are dropped as the opening act of ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly insulting the tour's sponsor, Miller Beer.
• March 27 – New Kids on the Block star Donnie Wahlberg is arrested in Louisville, Kentucky for allegedly setting his hotel room on fire.
• March 28 – George Harrison, Phil Collins and others attend funeral services for Eric Clapton's late son, Conor.
• April 28 – Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York.
• May 4 – The Eurovision Song Contest 1991 is held in Rome, Italy and, after a highly controversial voting segment, Sweden's Fεngad av en stormvind by Carola is declared the winner.
• May 7 – In Macon, Georgia, a judge dismisses a wrongful death lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne. The suit was filed by a local couple that believed their son was inspired to attempt suicide by Osbourne's music.
• May 10 – Truth or Dare, a documentary chronicling singer Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, is released to theatres.
• May 24 – Guns N' Roses kicked off their 26 months world tour Use Your Illusion Tour in Alpine Valley in East Troy.
• May 25 – The Billboard 200 album chart starts incorporating electronically monitored sales data provided by Nielsen SoundScan, thus beginning what chart aficionados tag as the "SoundScan era".
• May 28 - The Smashing Pumpkins releases their debut album Gish, establishing the band as one of the most important of the alternative scene.
• June 21 – founding of the Mιrida State Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela
• July
o Launch of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.
o During the Use Your Illusion Tour, Axl Rose assaults a member of the audience watching the show on camera, after security fails to respond to the singer's orders to confiscate the camera. After the attack, Rose angrily stomps off stage saying, "Thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm goin' home!"
• July 13 – Pianist Keith Jarrett records his Vienna Concert at the Vienna Staatsoper.
• August 13 – Metallica releases their most successful album, "Metallica" (also called "The Black Album"). This album is somewhat of a departure from the thrash metal sound they helped pioneer. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time
• August 15 – Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, August 15, 1991, takes place in Central Park.
• August 27
o Pearl Jam releases their debut album, "Ten". While initially slow to sell, it became #2 on the Billboard charts within a year and has since become certified thirteen times Platinum in the United States.[6]
o Dr. Dre pleads no contest to charges that he beat up a woman at a West Hollywood nightclub. Dr. Dre is sentenced to 24 months probation.
• Tupac Shakur's solo career begins with his first album, 2Pacalypse Now, however it does not do well. Six-year-old Qa'id Walker is shot dead by a stray bullet during a confrontation between Tupac's entourage and a rival group.
• September 17 - Rock band Guns N' Roses release their first full length follow up to their debut album Appetite for Destruction in the form of the double album Use Your Illusion 1 & Use Your Illusion 2. Both go on to sell a combined excess of 1.3 million on their first week of sale in the USA alone.
• September 24 - Seattle based band Nirvana releases their second album Nevermind, that in the beginning of 1992 replaces Michael Jackson's album Dangerous at number one on the Billboard charts. Nevermind would then make the Grunge movement explode and become one of the most famous rock albums of all time. It is considered the emblem of the Generation X.
• October 25 – Steely Dan spontaneously reunites.
• November 7 – Bryan Adams 16 week long stay at the top of the U.K. Singles Chart is finally ended by U2 single The Fly. Nevertheless, a new record is set for the longest consecutive stay at the top of the UK Singles Chart.
• November 24 – Lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, dies of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS; he had revealed the previous day that he had the disease.
• November 26- Pop music icon Michael Jackson releases his worldwide hit album Dangerous the album went on to sale over 7 million copies in the U.S. and more than 32 million worldwide becoming the second best seller of Jackson's career (following Thriller) and one of the biggest albums of all-time.
• November 30 – Following on the steps of the Billboard 200, the Billboard Hot 100 also begins a new era by incorporating and merging electronically measured sales and airplay data from SoundScan and BDS respectively.
• December – A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert, featuring Kathleen Battle and Frederica von Stade, a jazz band led by Wynton Marsalis, and orchestra & chorus conducted by Andre Previn, is recorded for television.
Undated
• Country music legend Kenny Rogers starts his restaurant chain, "Kenny Rogers Roasters," serving up tasty chicken.
• Perry Farrell organizes the first Lollapalooza tour as a farewell for his just-dissolved band, Jane's Addiction
Biggest Hit Singles
1. Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do it For You
2. Michael Jackson - Black Or White
3. R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
4. Roxette - Joyride
5. Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
6. Extreme - More Than Words
7. C&C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
8. The Scorpions - Wind of Change
9. Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
10. George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me
Biggest Hit Albums
1. Nirvana - Nevermind
2. Metallica - Metallica
3. U2 - Achtung Baby
4. R.E.M. - Out Of Time
5. Pearl Jam - Ten
6. Michael Jackson - Dangerous
7. Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusion II
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
9. Bryan Adams - Waking Up The Neighbours
10. Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusion I
Top Hits
"ΐ nos actes manquιs" – Fredericks, Goldman, Jones
"Alive" – Pearl Jam
"All the Man That I Need" – Whitney Houston
"American Music" – Violent Femmes
"Baby Baby" – Amy Grant
"Black Or White" – Michael Jackson
"Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are the Days of Our Lives" – Queen
"Bring The Noise" – Public Enemy and Anthrax
"Call My Name" – OMD
"Can't Stop This Thing We Started" – Bryan Adams
"Can't Let Go" – Mariah Carey
"Chocolate Cake" – Crowded House
"Chorus" – Erasure
"Cover My Eyes" – Marillion
"Coming Out of the Dark" – Gloria Estefan
"Crucified" – Army of Lovers
"Deep, Deep Trouble" – The Simpsons
"Dιsenchantιe" – Mylθne Farmer
"Do the Bartman" – The Simpsons
"Do You Remember?" – Phil Collins
"Do Anything" – Natural Selection
"Don't Cry" – Guns N' Roses
"Emotions" – Mariah Carey
"Enter Sandman" – Metallica
"Every Heartbeat" – Amy Grant
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" – Bryan Adams
"Everyday Sunshine – Fishbone
"Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave) – Roxette
"Fall at Your Feet" – Crowded House
"Get Here" – Oleta Adams
"Get Ready for This" – 2 Unlimited
"Get The Funk Out" – Extreme
"The Globe" – Big Audio Dynamite II
"Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" – C&C Music Factory
"God Bless the Child" – The Simpsons
"Good For Me" – Amy Grant
"Good Times" – INXS and Jimmy Barnes
"Give it Away" – Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless) – Crystal Waters
"Holding On" – Beverley Craven
"I Can't Make You Love Me" – Bonnie Raitt
"I Don't Wanna Cry" – Mariah Carey
"I Touch Myself" – Divinyls
"I Wanna Sex You Up" – Color Me Badd
"It's in His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)" – Cher
"It's Only Natural" – Crowded House
"Learning to Fly" – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Let's Talk About Sex" – Salt-N-Pepa
"Live and Let Die" – Guns N' Roses
"Feed My Frankenstein" – Alice Cooper
"Live For Loving You" – Gloria Estefan
"Losing My Religion" – R.E.M.
"Love To Hate You" – Erasure
"More Than Words" – Extreme
"More to Life" – Cliff Richard
"Motownphily" – Boyz II Men
"Mysterious Ways" – U2
"No more tears" – Ozzy Osbourne
"No Son of Mine" – Genesis
"O.P.P." – Naughty by Nature
"Qui a le droit... (live)" – Patrick Bruel
"Pandora's Box" – OMD
"People Are Strange" – Echo & the Bunnymen
"Pop Goes The Weasel" – 3rd Bass
"Poundcake" – Van Halen
"Radio Song" – R.E.M.
"Radio Wall of Sound" – Slade
"Right Now" – Van Halen
"Right Here, Right Now" – Jesus Jones
"Rescue Me" – Madonna
"Romantic" – Karyn White
"Rush" – Big Audio Dynamite II
"Rush Rush" – Paula Abdul
"Saga Africa" – Yannick Noah
"Sailing on the Seven Seas" – OMD
"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss"- P.M. Dawn
"Sexuality" – Billy Bragg
"Senza una donna" – Zucchero & Paul Young
"Shameless" – Garth Brooks
"Shiny Happy People" – R.E.M.
"Sit Down" – James
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" – Nirvana
"Someday" – Mariah Carey
"Something To Talk About" – Bonnie Raitt
"Sunless Saturday – Fishbone
"Temptation" – Corina
"That's What Love Is For" – Amy Grant
"The Fly" - U2
"The Unforgiven" – Metallica
"The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" – Cher
"The Show Must Go On" – Queen
"There's No Other Way" – Blur
"Top of the World" – Van Halen
"Touch Me (All Night Long)" – Cathy Dennis
"Train in Vain (Stand By Me)" – The Clash
"Twist and Shout" – Deacon Blue
"Unbelievable" – EMF
"Under The Bridge" – Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Walking in Memphis" – Marc Cohn
"We Should Be Together" – Cliff Richard
"When Something's Wrong With My Baby" – John Farnham + Jimmy Barnes
"Who Said I Would" – Phil Collins
"When a Man Loves a Woman" – Michael Bolton
"What Comes Naturally" – Sheena Easton
"Where Does My Heart Beat Now" – Celine Dion
"Wind of Change" – Scorpions
"Violent Blue" – Chagall Guevara
"You Could Be Mine" – Guns N' Roses
"You Got the Love" – Candi Staton
I don't blame them, actually. People forgot how good music was back in the days. Radios are the ones to blame. They keep playing the same current garbage over and over. I don't think music is completely bad now but nothing can beat the 90s.
I'm going to do this until the 2011 year, with or without comments.
Summary
The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year. Followed immediately by other grunge bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, in 1992 by Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, grunge dominates the U.S. charts for the next few years.
The European Top 20 was my main source of music in those days
MTV's European Top 20 - 23.11.91
TW LW #Weeks Title Artist
1. 1. 5 The Fly U2
2. 3. 3 No Son Of Mine Genesis
3. 2. 6 Let's Talk About Sex Salt'n'Pepa
4. 5. 4 Change Lisa Stansfield
5. 4. 8 Something Got Me Started Simply Red
6. 8. 3 DJ Culture Pet Shop Boys
7. 9. 8 Good Vibrations Marky Mark
8. NEW 1 Black Or White Michael Jackson
9. 7. 7 Cream Prince
10. 11. 6 Everybody's Free Rozalla
11. 12. 3 I Love To Hate You Erasure
12. 6. 8 Can't Stop This Thing We Started Bryan Adams
13. 17. 2 Caribbean Blue Enya
14. 10. 9 Set Adrift On Memory Bliss PM Dawn
15. NEW 1 Obsession Army Of Lovers
16. 16. 9 I'm Too Sexy Right Said Fred
17. 13. 6 Emotions Mariah Carey
18. 20. 2 Hole Hearted Extreme
19. NEW 1 You Ten Sharp
20. 14. 5 Don't Cry Guns'n'Roses
Debut albums by Body Count (Body Count), Dr. Dre (The Chronic), Pavement (Slanted and Enchanted), Rage Against the Machine (Rage Against the Machine), Stone Temple Pilots (Core), Sublime (40oz. to Freedom), Therapy? (Nurse) and Ugly Kid Joe (America's Least Wanted) are released.
Death of John Cage, Yutaka Ozaki.
U2 start the Biggest Concert of The World: Zoo TV Tour.
Madonna releases the sexually provocative "SEX" book which was accompanied by the double Platinum album Erotica.
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.
Events
JanuaryFebruary
January 11 Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s.
Paul Simon is the first major artist to tour South Africa after the end of the United Nations cultural boycott.
January 16 Mick Jagger attends the Hollywood premiere of his new movie, Freejack, at Mann's Chinese Theatre.
February 18 Vince Neil leaves Mφtley Crόe after 11 years as the band's lead singer, to spend more time on his career as a racing car driver.
February 24
Nirvana's Kurt Cobain marries Hole's Courtney Love.
The U.S. Postal Service unveils two potential designs for its proposed Elvis Presley postage stamp for fans to vote on. One design is of a young, 1950s Elvis, and the other is of a much older, 1970s Elvis. The young Elvis wins the vote, and the stamp is issued the following January.
MarchApril
March 10 At the 1992 Soul Train Music Awards, Prince wins the "Heritage" award for lifetime achievement.
March 14 Farm Aid Five takes place in Irving, Texas, USA, hosted by Willie Nelson. Artists performing at the event include John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Paul Simon. Approximately 40,000 people attend the event.
March 24 A Chicago, Illinois, USA judge approves cash rebates of up to US$3 to anyone proving they bought Milli-Vanilli recordings prior to when the lip synching scandal began on November 27, 1990.
April 1 Billy Idol, on trial for punching a woman in the face, pleads no contest. Idol is fined and ordered to make public service announcements against alcohol and drug abuse.
April 24 David Bowie marries fashion model Iman.
April 30 In Los Angeles, California, USA, Madonna's bustier is stolen from a display in Frederick's of Hollywood. A US$1,000 reward is offered for its return.
MayJune
May The first Europδisches Jugendchorfestival,(EJCF) (European Festival of Youth Choirs) is held in Basel, Switzerland. It is decided to make it a triennial event.
May 6 Selena releases her album Entre A Mi Mundo which contains her first #1 hit, "Como La Flor".
May 7 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers leaves the band prior to the publication of a Rolling Stone magazine cover featuring them; he has to be digitally edited out of the photo. Frusciante returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1998.
May 11 A. R. Rahman's debut film Roja was released. Roja (soundtrack) is regarded as a milestone that changed the face of Tamil film music and subsequently contemporary Indian music. Time magazine's noted film critic, Richard Corliss stated in 2005 that the "astonishing debut work parades Rahman's gift for alchemizing outside influences until they are totally Tamil, totally Rahman," naming it one of the magazine's "10 Best Soundtracks" of all time.
June 27 Michael Jackson starts the Dangerous World tour, supporting his Dangerous album in Munich, Germany.
June "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses enters the world record books when it becomes the longest single, at 8 minutes, 57 seconds, to reach the US Top 20. The single's video has a budget of over US$1.5 million, becoming the most expensive at the time.
JulyAugust
July The BudaFest Summer Opera and Ballet Festival is launched in Budapest, Hungary.
July 4 Mark Heard suffers a heart attack while performing at the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois, USA. Heard goes to hospital immediately after finishing his set, but dies two weeks after being discharged in August.
July 18 Whitney Houston marries Bobby Brown.
August
Rozalla becomes the first artist from Zimbabwe to chart on the US Billboard magazine chart.
Former Beatle, George Harrison, tells Billboard magazine that he recently discovered that he was born on February 24, and not February 25 as he had thought for most of his life.
Haitian military authorities ban the playing of RAM's single "Fθy"; first performed at the Port-au-Prince Carnival in February, the song was widely interpreted as an anthem of support for exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.[11]
August 27 John Lennon's original handwritten lyrics to "A Day in the Life" are auctioned and sold for US$87,000.[citation needed]
SeptemberOctober
October 3 Sinιad O'Connor stirs up controversy when she rips up a picture of the Pope on the US television show, Saturday Night Live.
October 31 "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men posts a 12th consecutive week at #1 in the US charts, ending a 36-year record previously held by Elvis Presley. Boyz II Men's record was broken on March 6, 1993 by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".
NovemberDecember
November 9 Australian-born singer Kylie Minogue ends her working relationship with UK songwriters and record producers Stock Aitken Waterman and the record label PWL.
November 15 Megan Jasper of Sub Pop creates the grunge speak hoax, tricking The New York Times into printing an article on a supposed slang used in the grunge scene in Seattle, USA.
December 17 - The Music Copyright Society of China is founded.
December 31 - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau announces his retirement from the stage to an audience at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
Biggest Hit Singles
1. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
2. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
3. Boyz II Men - End of the Road
4. Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
5. Mr Big - To Be With You
6. Kris Kross - Jump
7. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
8. Snap - Rhythm is a Dancer
9. U2 - One
10. Vanessa Williams - Save the Best For Last
Biggest Hit Albums
1. R.E.M - Automatic For The People
2. Eric Clapton - Unplugged
3. Abba - Gold (Greatest Hits)
4. Garth Brooks - Ropin' the Wind
5. Def Leppard - Adrenalize
6. Billy Ray Cyrus - Some Gave All
7. Peter Gabriel - Us
8. Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion
9. Elton John - The One
10. Annie Lennox - Diva
Top Hits
"All 4 Love" Color Me Badd
"All I Want" Toad the Wet Sprocket
"Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg TLC
"Angry Chair" - Alice in Chains
"Atesle Barut" Sertab Erener
"Baby-Baby-Baby TLC
"Be My Baby" Vanessa Paradis
"Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" Mint Condition
"Come as You Are" Nirvana
"Connected" Stereo MCs
"Diamonds and Pearls" Prince
"Digging in the Dirt" Peter Gabriel
"Dur dur d'κtre bιbι" Jordy
"Dixie-Narco (EP)" Primal Scream
"Drive" R.E.M.
"El Visa" Cheb Hasni
"End of the Road" Boyz II Men
"Erotica" Madonna
"Even Better Than The Real Thing" U2
"Even Flow" Pearl Jam
"Everytime We Touch" Maggie Reilly
"Forever Love" Color Me Badd
"Free Your Mind" En Vogue
"Friday I'm In Love" The Cure
"God Gave Rock and Roll to You II" Kiss
"Heal the World" Michael Jackson
"Heaven Sent" INXS
"Hold on My Heart" Genesis
"House of Love" East 17
"Human Touch" Bruce Springsteen
"I Adore Mi Amore" Color Me Badd
"I Can't Dance" Genesis
"I Still Believe in You" Cliff Richard
"In Bloom" Nirvana
"In the Closet" Michael Jackson
"Invisible Touch" (Live) Genesis
"I'll Be There" Mariah Carey
"I Palindrome I" They Might Be Giants
"It's Only Natural" Crowded House
"I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston
"It Was a Good Day" Ice Cube
"Jam" Michael Jackson
"Jeremy" Pearl Jam
"Jesus He Knows Me" Genesis
"Jimmy Olsen's Blues" Spin Doctors
"Joy" Franηois Feldman
"Jump" Kris Kross
"Jump Around" House of Pain
"Just Another Day" Jon Secada
"Keep the Faith" Bon Jovi
"Killing in the Name" Rage Against the Machine
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" Guns N' Roses
"Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" Tears For Fears
"Layla" Eric Clapton
"Le Chat" Pow woW
"Let's Get Rocked" Def Leppard
"Lithium" Nirvana
"Life Is a Highway" Tom Cochrane
"Man on the Moon" R.E.M.
"Motorcycle Emptiness" Manic Street Preachers
"Mrs. Robinson" Lemonheads
"My Lovin' (Never Gonna Get It)" En Vogue
"Never a Time" Genesis
"No Ordinary Love" Sade
"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg
"Nothing Else Matters" Metallica
"November Rain" Guns N' Roses
"One" U2
"Passin' Me By" The Pharcyde
"Real Love" Mary J. Blige featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
"Remedy" The Black Crowes
"Remember The Time" Michael Jackson
"Runaway Train" Soul Asylum
"Save the Best for Last" Vanessa L. Williams
"Sliver" Nirvana
"Slow Motion" Color Me Badd
"Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" Patty Smyth and Don Henley
"Song of Ocarina" Jean-Philippe Audin and Diego Modena
"Stay" Shakespears Sister
"Step It Up" Stereo MCs
"Supermodel (You Better Work)" RuPaul
"Sweet Lullaby" Deep Forest
"Tears in Heaven" Eric Clapton
"Them Bones" Alice in Chains