In the world of music, as with life in general, change is a given. Since the 1920s we’ve witnessed the dominance and relative decline of blues, jazz, and swing, the rise of R&B and rock & roll in the ’40s and ’50s, the emergence of king rock in the ’60s and ’70s, a local, little movement born in ’73 in the Bronx known as hip-hop, and a dizzying plethora of styles that can loosely be termed pop.

            By the start of the 1990s hip-hop was well into its golden age with the likes of LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, the political heavyweights Public Enemy, and the gangsta rappers N.W.A. By 1997 Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. were both dead and the golden age was receding into memory.

            The ’90s was also the era of grunge and alternative rock. With the explosive emergence of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, suddenly Seattle was ground zero for what became known as the grunge rock sound, with Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam hot on their heels. The alternative scene featured the likes of ’80s holdovers R.E.M. and U2 and newcomers Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead.

            In the R&B, dance, and pop vein, Madonna, Whitney, and Michael stayed hot, though Jackson’s star was beginning to dim and, for a brief time, it appeared his sister Janet was beginning to emerge as perhaps his equal in popularity, if not in talent. There were a couple of newly emerging giants as well- Mariah Carey, with her astonishing vocal ability and an equally impressive talent for selling records; the French Canadian crossover songstress, Celine Dion; and another Canadian, the rocking Alanis Morissette who released one of the decade’s most successful LPs. This was also the decade of TLC, Boyz II Men, boy bands, and country powerhouses, Garth Brooks and Shania Twain.

            By the early ’90s, CDs had replaced cassettes as the favored medium for listening to recorded music, but streaming was just around the corner. Cher gave us the first auto-tuned vocals, and we all know where that has led.

            Steve Williams (10/2/23) Greatest Recording Artists Blog Post #50