3 Female Pop Stars Who Hit No. 1 in 1997 That You May Not Recall

The late 90s proved to offer a major shift when it came to popular music. The 1990s themselves were an eclectic decade with seemingly infinite twists and turns when it comes to trends and popular styles. The era opened with gangsta rap and grunge, and it ended in sunshine pop music and boy bands. Now that’s diverse! Below, however, we wanted to dive into the year 1997 to highlight three female pop stars who topped the charts. It was a strange time, though. There were only about a dozen artists who scored No. 1 hits throughout the year’s 52 weeks. Indeed, it was tough to get to the top. Yet these are three female pop stars who hit No. 1 in 1997 that you might not remember.

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“Wannabe” by Spice Girls from ‘Spice’ (1996)

Simply put, this is one of the catchiest pop songs ever created. It also helped to kick off the pop starlet and pop band movements of the late 90s. The British-born girl group known as The Spice Girls were everywhere in 1997, singing about friendship and romance. The two ideas could not be separated, they claimed, so if you wanted to be amorous, you’d better click with the clique. Incredible stuff!

“Honey” by Mariah Carey from ‘Butterfly’ (1997)

While The Spice Girls hit No. 1 in early spring of 1997, Mariah Carey hit the top spot with her song “Honey” in September of that year. Indeed, you couldn’t swing a cat in the 90s without hitting some platinum plaque belonging to Carey. She boasted No. 1 songs seemingly every year—and sometimes more than one per 12 months. She is and was a hit factory. Just take a look at her 19 No. 1 songs, a list that includes the sticky, amorous track, “Honey”.

“I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans from ‘No Way Out’ (1997)

Sadly, you can’t talk about popular music in the mid-to-late 90s and not mention the tragedy that came with it. When it comes to rap music, that meant the deaths of 2Pac and Biggie amidst the bloody East Coast-West Coast rap battles. After Biggie died, his friends made a song to honor him, and that track included his widow, Faith Evans. The singer helped keep her husband’s memory alive in this sad, emotive song, which hit No. 1 in 1997.

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