50 Best Songs of 1991

1991 has a pretty lofty reputation. We remember it as a landmark year in music–the year that launched grunge, pushed hip hop into new territory, and made high fashion out of New Jack Swing.

But it was also the year that Garth Brooks put modern pop-country on the map; that contemporary Christian rocker Amy Grant scored a #1 hit (“Baby Baby”); that adult-oriented ballad belter Michael Bolton absolutely dominated in singles and album sales. 

The point is, 1991 was as much a year of triumph for Middle of the Road (MOR) radio programmers as it was for indie labels and alternative artists. 

We’ll dig a little deeper on all of this below. But first, a look back at…

The Year in History

1991 was straight up crazy. It was the year the Soviet Union collapsed. After 50 years, the Cold War was over. 

Then Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Gulf War began, the U.S. arrived in the Middle East, and we’ve been there ever since. 

In sports, The New York Giants shocked the Buffalo Bills with a 20-19 victory in Super Bowl XXV–a game famously decided by kicker Scott Norwood’s wide right field goal attempt in the closing seconds. The errant kick also began an as yet unmatched streak of four consecutive Super Bowl losses for the Bills.

On fortune’s good side, Michael Jordan netted the Chicago Bulls their first of six championships, Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves crushed it at the Academy Awards, and Sonic the Hedgehog was introduced to the world. 

And on one particularly busy July 22nd, both boxer Mike Tyson and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer were arrested for…really bad stuff. 

Speaking of bad stuff, this was also the year that motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by 6 white Los Angeles police officers. A shocking video of the incident cast a glaring spotlight on race and police brutality.

1991 was messy and chaotic. So was the year in recorded music. But it was also a monumental year. It seems, especially in reflection, that so many landmark musical achievements were concentrated around this moment. 

So how did we mark this year on the charts?

By thrusting Canadian rocker Bryan Adams into the top spot of the year with “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”. It was the theme song from another Costner blockbuster–Robinhood: Prince of Thieves. The song is aggressively cloying, unnecessarily long, and guilty of using parentheses in a really confusing way. But…I kind of…don’t hate it. 

In fairness, I was 11 when this came out. Truly, nostalgia is the enemy of good taste. 

But hey, don’t judge. This is a safe space.

Anyway, I don’t hate it…but…I do kind of resent it. This treacly slice of adult contemporary was the number one song in the same year that this happened:

Perhaps you’ve probably seen this photo. It’s not mine. But the point of it is that these albums all came out over one insane 44-day period in 1991.

If you were a teenager at the time, this was the moment that blew open your doors of perception. 

Metal’s Last Hair-ah (sorry) 

1991 was a year of transition. As the year began, hard rock, glam, and hair metal still had a stranglehold on the rock music. 

Indeed, Metallica’s “Black Album” would go on to become the year’s best selling release. 

And the only rock song to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 that whole year was Extreme’s power ballad “More Than Words”.

Still, if 1991 should be remembered as anything, it is as hair metal’s last hurrah. 

Def Leppard (Adrenalize) and Guns n’ Roses (Use Your Illusion I & II) released their last true blockbuster albums just as Nirvana (Nevermind), Pearl Jam (Ten) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik) released their first true blockbuster albums. This was just the opening salvo. Over the next year, grunge and alternative would summarily replace hair metal on the charts, and on MTV.

MTV Moves Units

College rock went mainstream (R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion”). So too did the topic of female self-gratification (The Divinyl’s “I Touch Myself”). So too did the topic of Mark Wahlberg’s self-gratification (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’s  “Good Vibrations”)

The Alt-Hip Hop Boom Looms

Beyond the Funky Bunch, Hip Hop continued its expansion into the mainstream, particularly through a new strain of groove-centric alternative rap featuring hyper-cerebral lyrics and MTV-ready performers including A Tribe Called Quest, Naughty By Nature, and Black Sheep. 

Pop Royals Rake It In

Of course, the Billboard charts remained a safe place for reliable pop acts. The year’s Top Ten is rounded out by the usual suspects–Michael Jackson (“Black or White), Mariah Carrey (“Emotions”; “I Don’t Wanna Cry”) and Madonna (“Justify My Love”).

Doin’ A Little East Coast Tour

But increasingly, these artists leaned into the beats and rhythms forged by younger artists in  emergent spaces like New Jack Swing (Boys II Men’s “Motownphilly”), hip hop (Salt ‘N Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex”) and dance pop (KLF’s “Justified & Ancient”). Speaking of which…if you weren’t there…there is no way to truly convey to you the omnipresence of C&C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”. 

For all the bombast of metal and the self-importance of grunge, it may not be off-base to argue that C & C Music Factory had the song of the year in 1991.

The 50 Best Songs of 1991

And now, in no particular order, the best songs of 1991…

TL;DR

1. “Alive” by Pearl Jam

2. “Baby, Baby” by Amy Grant

3. “Black or White” by Michael Jackson

4. “Bring Tha Noize” by Public Enemy and Anthrax”

5. “Check the Rhime” by A Tribe Called Quest

6. “The Choice is Yours” by Black Sheep

7. “Crazy” by Seal

8. “Cream” by Prince

9. “Emotions” by Mariah Carey

10. “Enter Sandman” by Metallica

11. “Girlfriend” by Matthew Sweet

12. “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” by C & C Music Factory

13. “Good Morning, Captain” by Slint

14. “Good Vibrations” by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch

15. “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog

16. “Iesha” by Another Bad Creation

17. “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred

18. “I’m Your Baby Tonight” by Whitney Houston

19. “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” by Lenny Kravitz

20. “I Touch Myself” by the Divinyls

21. “I’ve Been Thinking About You” by Londonbeat

22. “I Wanna Sex You Up” by Color Me Badd

23. “Justified & Ancient” by The KLF

24. “Justify My Love” by Madonna

25. “Learning to Fly” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

26. “Let’s Talk About Sex” by Salt-N-Pepa

27. “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M.

28. “Mama, I’m Coming Home” by Ozzy Osbourne

29. “Mama Said Knock You Out” by LL Cool J

30. “More Than Words” by Extreme

31. “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men

32. “Movin’ On Up” by Primal Scream

33. “Mysterious Ways” by U2

34. “O.P.P.” by Naughty by Nature

35. “Outshined” by Soundgarden

36. “Rhinoceros” by The Smashing Pumpkins

37. “Right Here Right Now” by Jesus Jones

38. “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” by P.M. Dawn

39. “She’s So High” by Blur

40. “The Show Must Go On” by Queen

41. “Silent Lucidity” by Queensryche

42. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana

43. “Something to Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt

44. “Strike it Up” by Black Box

45. “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

46. “There She Goes” by the La’s

47. “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega & DNA

48. “Unbelievable” by EMF

49. “Unfinished Sympathy” by Massive Attack

50. “You Could Be Mine” by Guns N’ Roses