Top songs of 1990

What was the number one song of 1990?

The number one song of 1990 was “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips, the top song on Billboard's year-end Hot 100 for 1990. It spent 1 week at number one on the weekly chart, starting with the chart dated June 9, 1990.

“Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O'Connor, “Vision of Love” by Mariah Carey and “Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” by Stevie B were each number one for 4 weeks of 1990, the most of any song that year.

Born in 1990? The birthday number one finder shows the song at number one in the exact week of your birthday, and the number one on every birthday since.

Chart data: Billboard Hot 100, as compiled on Wikipedia (number ones of 1990, year-end Hot 100 of 1990).

How many songs reached number one in 1990?

25 songs reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 1990. Counting “Another Day in Paradise”, which was already at number one when the year began, 26 songs held the top spot across the year's 52 weekly charts.

Of the songs that first reached number one in 1990, “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O'Connor stayed there longest: 4 weeks in total, from the chart dated April 21, 1990.

Weeks at No. 1 counts every week the song spent at the top, including weeks in other years; the number in brackets is the weeks on charts dated 1990. Dates are chart issue dates.

Which artists had more than one number one in 1990?

3 acts had more than one number one in 1990, counting lead and featured credits. Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Wilson Phillips had 2 each.

• Janet Jackson: “Escapade” and “Black Cat”
• Mariah Carey: “Vision of Love” and “Love Takes Time”
• Wilson Phillips: “Hold On” and “Release Me”

What were the biggest songs of 1990?

The five biggest songs of 1990 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 were “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips, “It Must Have Been Love” by Roxette, “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O'Connor, “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe and “Vogue” by Madonna.

The year-end chart ranks songs by how they performed on the weekly Hot 100 across Billboard’s chart year, so a song that peaked late in the year can rank lower than its weekly peak suggests, or count toward the next year’s list. The top 30 below show each song’s length where we could match the recording.

Numbers 31 to 100

31. “Sending All My Love” Linear
32. “Unskinny Bop” Poison
33. “Step by Step” New Kids on the Block
34. “Dangerous” Roxette
35. “We Didn't Start the Fire” Billy Joel
36. “I Don't Have the Heart” James Ingram
37. “Downtown Train” Rod Stewart
38. “Rhythm Nation” Janet Jackson
39. “I'll Be Your Everything” Tommy Page
40. “Roam” The B-52's
41. “Everything” Jody Watley
42. “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)” Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler
43. “Here and Now” Luther Vandross
44. “Alright” Janet Jackson
45. “Ice Ice Baby” Vanilla Ice
46. “Blame It on the Rain” Milli Vanilli
47. “Have You Seen Her” MC Hammer
48. “With Every Beat of My Heart” Taylor Dayne
49. “Come Back to Me” Janet Jackson
50. “No More Lies” Michel'le
51. “Praying for Time” George Michael
52. “How Can We Be Lovers” Michael Bolton
53. “Do You Remember?” Phil Collins
54. “Ready or Not” After 7
55. “U Can't Touch This” MC Hammer
56. “I Wish It Would Rain Down” Phil Collins
57. “Just Between You and Me” Lou Gramm
58. “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven” Phil Collins
59. “Black Cat” Janet Jackson
60. “Can't Stop” After 7
61. “Janie's Got a Gun” Aerosmith
62. “The Humpty Dance” Digital Underground
63. “I'll Be Your Shelter” Taylor Dayne
64. “Free Fallin'” Tom Petty
65. “Giving You the Benefit” Pebbles
66. “Enjoy the Silence” Depeche Mode
67. “Love Song” Tesla
68. “Price of Love” Bad English
69. “Girls Nite Out” Tyler Collins
70. “King of Wishful Thinking” Go West
71. “What Kind of Man Would I Be?” Chicago
72. “I Remember You” Skid Row
73. “Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)” Technotronic featuring Ya Kid K
74. “Here We Are” Gloria Estefan
75. “Epic” Faith No More
76. “Love Takes Time” Mariah Carey
77. “Just Like Jesse James” Cher
78. “Love Shack” The B-52's
79. “All or Nothing” Milli Vanilli
80. “Romeo” Dino
81. “Everybody Everybody” Black Box
82. “I Go to Extremes” Billy Joel
83. “Whip Appeal” Babyface
84. “Oh Girl” Paul Young
85. “C'mon and Get My Love” D Mob with Cathy Dennis
86. “(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me” Paula Abdul
87. “We Can't Go Wrong” The Cover Girls
88. “When I'm Back on My Feet Again” Michael Bolton
89. “Make You Sweat” Keith Sweat
90. “This One's for the Children” New Kids on the Block
91. “What It Takes” Aerosmith
92. “Forever” Kiss
93. “Jerk Out” The Time
94. “Just a Friend” Biz Markie
95. “Whole Wide World” A'me Lorain
96. “Without You” Mötley Crüe
97. “Swing the Mood” Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers
98. “Thieves in the Temple” Prince
99. “Mentirosa” Mellow Man Ace
100. “Tic-Tac-Toe” Kyper

Chart data: Billboard Hot 100, as compiled on Wikipedia (number ones of 1990, year-end Hot 100 of 1990).

What songs should go on a 1990 mix CD?

A 1990 mix that fits one 80-minute CD holds 16 of the year's biggest songs, opening with “Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Collins and closing with “Close to You” by Maxi Priest, for 77:42 of music.

We built it from the year-end top 30 and every number one of 1990, taking songs in year-end order until the disc was full, then sequenced it to follow the year: the number ones in the order they reached the top, with the year’s other big hits placed between them. With a 2-second gap before each track it runs 78:14, under the 79 minutes we fill a CD to.

Lengths are the recordings matched in Deezer’s catalog. Single edits, album versions and remasters can run a little longer or shorter, so check your own playlist before you burn it.

Turn 1990 into a CD. Send us this list, or your own 1990 songs, and we burn it to a real audio CD, test-play it and post it. It makes a good gift for a birth year, a graduation year or a wedding year.

To change the songs, paste the list into the playlist length calculator to keep it under 80 minutes, then print an insert with the CD case template. Our guide to making a mixtape covers sequencing, and nostalgic gift ideas has more ways to give a year as a present.

What was popular music like in the 1990s?

Popular music in the 1990s was shaped by R&B, hip-hop, pop ballads and alternative rock, and by changes in how the Hot 100 was counted. The chart dated November 30, 1991 was the first Hot 100 compiled with Nielsen SoundScan sales data, and from the chart dated December 5, 1998, songs that were never released as a commercial single could chart.

From 1990 to 1999, 140 songs reached number one on the Hot 100, and 11 songs stayed there for 10 weeks or more. Of those 140, “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men spent the most weeks at number one: 16 in total. Mariah Carey had the most number ones that reached the top in these years, with 14. The typical number one of these years ran 4:24 (the median of the 121 with a known length).