The 90s were full of memorable pop hits. Here are a few songs from the decade that were not only major successes but also artists’ first No. 1 hits.
“End Of The Road” by Boyz II Men
“End Of The Road” by Boyz II Men not only topped the Billboard Hot 100, but it also spent 13 weeks at No. 1, which was a record-breaking amount of time back then. Real relationship problems inspired the concept for this song.
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“At the time, Kenny (Babyface) had been through a divorce, and I was going through a divorce,” Daryl Simmons explained to Songwriter Universe. “So here we go with this concept, thinking about the end of the road. That’s how the concept came along. So we know this is sad… we know it’s just a sad story. So we hit on it… ‘Damn, I think we got something.’”
“Wannabe” by Spice Girls
“Wannabe” was not only the Spice Girls’ debut single, but also their first No. 1. Matt Rowe, who helped pen this song, once commented on the Spice Girls’ peculiar method of songwriting to David Sinclair.
“They made all these different bits up, not thinking in terms of verse, chorus, bridge or what was going to go where,” he explained. “Just coming up with all these sections of chanting, rapping and singing, which we recorded all higgledy-piggledy. And then we just sewed it together…”
“Kiss From A Rose” by Seal
“Kiss From A Rose”, which was used in the Batman Forever soundtrack, was Seal’s first No. 1 in the US. Even though this song is kind of his magnum opus, the melodies in it are pretty different from what most people are used to hearing. In an interview with Rick Beato, Seal talked about why he wrote “Kiss From A Rose” that way. For him, writing the song was kind of an experiment.
“The best explanation I can come up with is that I didn’t know that you couldn’t really do those things or those things were really unusual,” he explained. “It just felt like the, you know, like the right thing to do. When I wrote that song, interestingly enough, I couldn’t play an instrument, you know…”
Photo by: Ray Burmiston/Avalon/Getty Images
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English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney rehearsing with his band Wings before their British Tour, 7th April 1973. (Photo by Jack Kay/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) -
(Original Caption) : 1987- Picture shows singer, Phil Collins, holding a microphone on stage during a concert. He is wearing a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He is shown from the waist up leaning back slightly. (Photo by LGI Stock/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images) -
Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band perform in concert during the last show of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, October 2, 1985 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images) -
GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND – JUNE 24: Johanna Soderberg and Klara Soderberg of First Aid Kit perform on the Other stage at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 24, 2022 in Glastonbury, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage)
