It’s official. 1990s music has reached the status that 1980s Music reached in the 2000s and 2010s, namely “Epic”.
It’s a fact that a lot of good music was released in the 1990s. The decade brought us grunge, more gangsta rap, some epic hip-hop and R&B and pop music that at times made us cringe, but had us singing along to it anyway.
Here are 110 Interesting 1990s Music Facts That You Might Not Know:
1. Dave Grohl wasn’t the first drummer for Nirvana
When Grohl joined the band, he was the 5th person to get behind a drumkit for the band. He auditioned after his previous band (Scream) disbanded.
2. “You Ougtha Know” featured 2 guys from the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Dave Navarro played guitar and Flea played bass on this classic Alanis Morisssette song from the 1990s
3. Taylor Hawkins played drums for Alanis Morissette in the 1990s
Before he joined Foo Fighters in 1997, Hawkins was the Canadian singer’s touring drummer. He also appeared in the music videos for “You Oughta Know” and “All I Really Want”.
4. “Wonderwall” originally had a different title
The now infamous Oasis song’s original title was actually “Wishing Stone”. The song was written by Noel Gallagher who has said that it’s about “an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself”.
5. Peter Buck composed the mandolin parts of “Losing My Religion” by accident
This happened while the REM guitarist was teaching himself to play the instrument. The song reached number in the USA in 1991. REM frontman Michael Stipe has said that this song is about “someone who pines for someone else. It’s unrequited love, what have you.”
6. “Believe” was the first pop song to deliberately distort a singer’s vocals
Yes folks, you read correctly, this Cher song was the first ever pop song to use Auto-Tune. The 1998 song reached number 1 in the USA, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland, Poland and the Netherlands.
Cher holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest female solo artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in USA thanks to this song.
7. “Whats My Age Again?” was originally titled “Peter Pan Syndrome”
This 1999 Blink-182 song was written by Mark Hoppus (who based it on personal experience). MCA records forced the band to change to song title because they found the song’s reference to an allusion to the pop-psychology concept too obscure.
“What’s My Age Again?” reached number 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart, number 17 in the UK and number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100.
8. Massive Attack‘s “Teardrop” almost featured vocals from Madonna
The 1998 track was sent to Madonna by Mushroom (one of Massive Attack‘s members). Even though she was interested, that collaboration never happened and in the end the band kept Elizabeth Fraser’s vocals on the record. She was the lead singer for the Scottish rock band Cocteau Twins.
The song was used as the theme song for television’s House MD (which aired on Fox between 2004 and 2012).
9. Underworld‘s Karl Hyde wrote “Born Slippy” from the point of view of an alcoholic
Hyde did this while he drinking on a night out. He struggled with alcoholism himself and was “horrified” when fans saw the song as a drinking anthem.
10. Chris Cornell’s voice broke microphones when he was recording Soundgarden‘s Superunknown album
According the album’s producer, Cornell had two different vocal ranges. This required several mics to capture them each properly. Chris Cornell literally blew through a bunch of condenser mics. This happened when he was singing high notes very loudly. The album made its debut at #1 on the Billboard chart in 1994.
11. Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” got it’s title from a deodorant
Kurt Cobain came up with the song’s title when his friend Kathleen Hanna (from the band Bikini Kill) wrote “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” on his wall. She was actually referring to Teen Spirit deodorant.
Cobain said that he was unaware of the deodorant until months after the single was released. He had interpreted it as a revolutionary slogan, as they had been discussing anarchism and punk rock.
12. “November Rain” is the longest song that has reached the top 10 in the Billboard Hot 100
This Guns N’ Roses power ballad was released in 1992 and is 8 minutes and 57 seconds long. It was written by the band’s lead singer Axl Rose. Slash has said that an 18 minute version of song was actually recorded, but it was never released.
13. Rage Against The Machine ordered 300 doughnuts for police officers in 1999
Rage Against The Machine was one of the most famous in America at the time. They used songs to express their anti-war, anti-racism, and anti-police violence thoughts. The band’s sarcastic order for doughnuts for protesting cops is their sarcasm toward the police.
Yet there is a hard-time story behind the origin of the Donuts and the Police. Their close bond originated in the years after World War II, when police officers had long worked overtime, and doughnuts were the police’s best food option in the deep nights.
Even now that late-night food options are expanding and cops can eat lots of other things, the joke lives on. Little things like doughnut T-shirt, pins, or doughnut police challenge coins became a funny police gift choice for people who has friends or family in the police.
14. Counting Crows – “Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby” is about a real person
Although it’s never been confirmed, that person is likely actress Monica Potter. As the story goes, Adam Duritz saw a movie (probably 1998’s Patch Adams) and dreamed up the song as a love letter to the blonde actress. The song is 7 minutes 46 seconds long – That’s a pretty long love letter if you ask me.
15. Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke recorded the vocals to ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ after watching Jeff Buckley play
This allegedly happened in 1994. Apparently Yorke was inspired and rushed back to the studio. He did two takes and then broke down in tears.
16. Collective Soul‘s name is name derrived from a passage in a book
The passage is in The Fountainhead (a book by Ayn Rand). The book was published in 1943.
Here’s the passage where the name comes from:
“Humanity is meant by collective soul and that in the less favorable sense.”
Some folks claim that Collective Soul chose its name in the firm belief to be so good that it will easily be able to gather large multitudes of related souls around them.
17. The Verve didn’t make a penny from 1997’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony” for 22 years
The band had to forfeit royalties to The Rolling Stones. The song was embroiled in a legal battle shortly after its release. It samples an orchestral version of The Stones‘ song “The Last Time.”
Despite this, the song reached number 2 on the UK singles chart and number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards only signed over all their publishing rights for “Bitter Sweet Symphony” in April 2019.
18. Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” was written about the death of his son
Clapton’s 4-year-old son Conor died after falling from the 53rd-floor window of a New York City apartment belonging to Conor’s mother’s friend in March 1991. He dealt with the grief of his son’s death by co-writing the song for the soundtrack of Rush with Will Jennings.
To quote Clapton: “I almost subconsciously used music for myself as a healing agent, and lo and behold, it worked… I have got a great deal of happiness and a great deal of healing from music.”
19. Tori Amos’ “Crucify” was banned in the Bible-Belt region of the USA
The folks in the Bible-Belt thought she was being sacrilegous. They felt that it was detrimental material for their children and that it was blasphemous.
In case you did not know, the Bible Belt is an informal region in the Southern United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism plays a strong role in society and politics. Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the average in the USA.
20. Weezer released “Buddy Holly” on the day that would’ve been the legendary singer-songwriter’s 58th birthday
“Buddy Holly” was released in 1994. The lyrics reference the song’s 1950s namesake and actress Mary Tyler Moore. It reached number two and number 34 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, respectively.
The song also reached number six in Canada, number 12 in the United Kingdom, number 13 in Iceland and number 14 in Sweden.
21. “Gangsta’s Paradise” doesn’t contain profanity for a reason
The 1995 song samples the Steve Wonder song “Pastime Paradise”. Coolio wrote a version with dirty words in it, but Stevie Wonder wasn’t happy with it, so he changed it. According to Coolio, Wonder thought that it was “incredible” when he heard it.
The song was listed at number 85 on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of All-Time and number one biggest selling single of 1995 on US Billboard. In 2008, it was ranked number 38 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
22. Eminem’s mom filed a $10 million slander lawsuit against him in 1999
Eminem (Marshall Mathers) insinuated that his mom (Debbie Mathers) does drugs in the lyrics for “My Name Is”. The lawsuit was eventually settled in 2001 for $25,000.
Debbie received only $1,600, after the judge ruled that $23,354.25 of the $25,000 settlement should go to Fred Gibson (her former attorney).
23. Johnny Depp appeared in the music video for “Into The Great Wide Open”
This Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers track was released in 1991. In the song “Eddie” (Johnny Depp in the video) moves to Los Angeles as a teenager to seek rock stardom. Gabrielle Anwar, Faye Dunaway, Matt LeBlanc, Terence Trent D’Arby and Chynna Phillips also appeared in the video.
24. Billy Corgan wrote “Today” about a day in which he was having suicidal thoughts
This is exemplified by the reference to depression and anger under the bridge. The Smashing Pumpkins song seems upbeat, but it contains dark lyrics. It was the first song that Billy Corgan wrote for the 1993 album Siamese Dream.
25. Aerosmith‘s “Livin’ On The Edge” was inspired by the 1992 Los Angeles riots
This is according to the band’s autobiography, Walk This Way. Steven Tyler also mentions in the book that the song features the sound of a bass drum he stole from his high school. Four loud beats are heard from that drum in a pause between the final verse and chorus.
The song was the first single off their 1993 album, Get A Grip. It reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 19 in the UK. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal in 1994.
26. Boo! was almost named “Yellow Lilo” or “Die Wit Ding Wat in Die Pad Lê”
It was Chris Chameleon’s dream to play to the sound of a stadium boo-ing the band. This eventually won the battle of the band’s name. The band was formed in Brixton, Johannesburg in 1997.
Although the South African band’s name was designed to thwart any chances of feedback on a bad performance, this contingency was never required.
Boo! became one of the best bands of all time in SA. They also became one of the country’s proudest musical exports to both Europe and North America.
To get an idea of their live vibe, check out their performance at RAMFest 2010 below:
27. Wonderboom were originally known as “The Electric Petal Groove Machine”
This South African band was formed in 1996. The original name was a combination of “The Eight Legged Groove Machine” (Martin & Cito’s first band) and “The Electric Petals” (Danny De Wet’s band). The band changed their name to Wonderboom in 1997 after Cito saw a road sign in the Free State province.
28. Before 1999 Southern Gypsey Queen was known as “Bombay Duck”
This was when lead singer Gareth Wilson was still in high school. He formed the band with his brother Paul and the neighbour’s kid Thys Smit. They changed their name to Southern Gypsey Queen when their friend Tammy Jones joined the band in 1999.
29. Pearl Jam was formed in November 1990
This happened after the demise of Mother Love Bone (Stone Gossard & Jeff Ament’s first band). Mother Love Bone were active between 1987 and 1990. Lead singer Andrew Wood died only a few days before their debut was going to be released.
Stone Gossard & Jeff Ament were part of Temple of The Dog (a band project envisioned by Chris Cornell paying tribute to Andrew Wood). They eventually joined Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready to form Pearl Jam.
30. “Dookie” is actually a slang word for a nuclear bomb
Green Day chose the 1994 album title in reference to their poor tour diets (which often gave them diarrhea). They referred to the unhealthy bowel movement as a “liquid dookie”. They dropped the “liquid” part from the album title because they thought it was too gross.
31. Fuzigish formed in 1997
This South African ska punk band originated in the Gauteng province. The original members of Fuzigish were Jay Bones (Jean-Pierre du Preez) Capt. Rudabar (Mike Martin), Alistair Crouch and Matt ‘Loppy’ Laubscher. They released their debut EP in the same year and headlined Oppikoppi festival in 1998.
The band is still going strong. Fuzigish played a set at Fokofpolisiekar’s 16th birthday celebration show in July 2019 and they totally owned it!
32. Springbok Nude Girls formed in 1994
There was a Stellenbosh Rock Explosion in the 1990s in South Africa. These SA rock legends were a huge part of it. They released their debut album (Neanderthal 1) in August 1995.
33. Elton John re-recorded “Candle In The Wind” to honour Princess Diana in 1997
Princess Diana died in August 1997. Entrepeneur Richard Branson asked Elton John if he could rewrite the lyrics to his 1973 song “Candle In The Wind” to honour her and sing them at the funeral.
Princess Diana was one of Elton John’s best friends. He contacted his songwriter Bernie Taupin and asked him to rewrite the lyrics to honour her. “Candle In The Wind 1997” was eventually recorded at Townhouse Studios in West London.
Elton John has only performed the 1997 version of the song once at her funeral. He has repeatedly denied requests to perform the song live since then.
The song became the fastest-selling single in the UK, selling 658,000 copies on its first day of release, and over 1.5 million in its first week.
34. Sublime disbanded in 1996
This happened after the band lead vocalist / guitarist Bradley Nowell died of heroin overdose on the 25th of May 1996. He died a day after their last show.
Sublime had just completed their self-titled third studio album. The band were not touring to promote the album, but it sold 5 million copies in the US by the end of the decade. Their track the “What I Got” reached the number 1 spot on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.
35. Kurt Cobain quoted Neil Young in his suicide note
The Nirvana front man died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound on the 5th of April 1994. He quoted a phrase from Neil Young’s “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” in his suicide note. The phrase he used was “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
36. Silverchair were originally called something else
The Aussie Alternative Rock band was originally formed as Innocent Criminals in New South Wales in 1992. They changed their name to Silverchair in 1994. It was later revealed that they were named for the C. S. Lewis-penned novel The Silver Chair from The Chronicles of Narnia series.
37. Shannon Hoon sang backing vocals on “Don’t Cry”
The Blind Melon front man was friends with Axl Rose (the Guns N’ Roses frontman). He also sang backing vocals on “The Garden”. Hoon was the front man of Blind Melon until his death (from a cocaine overdose) in 1995.
38. The Grateful Dead performed their last show with Jerry Garcia in July 1995
The Dead‘s last show with Garcia happened at Soldier Field in Chicago. Garcia died of a heart attack on the 9th of August 1995.
39. The Offspring‘s 1994 release Smash has sold 11 million copies worldwide
This figure makes it the best-selling album released by an independent record label. When it was released, The Offspring was still signed to Epitaph records (which is owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz).
40. Korn have been around since 1993
The Nu Metal band was formed in Bakerfield, California by three members of the band L.A.P.D: James Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, and David Silveria. The band was known as Creep for a short while until they enlisted Brian Welch and Jonathan Davis to form the band that eventually became Korn.
41. “…Baby One More Time” was not originally written for Britney Spears
The song was originally written for American boy band, The Backstreet Boys and the R&B group TLC, but they rejected it. The label also thought the song would work for the English group Five, but they also passed on it.
Britney Spears – “…Baby One More Time” was released on October 23, 1998 through Jive Records. It reached number one in at least 18 countries (including the USA and the UK). More than 10 million copies of the single have been sold.
42. Destiny’s Child was originally known as Girl’s Tyme
The group was originally formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas in the USA. They were signed to Columbia Records in 1997 as Destiny’s Child. They disbanded in 2006 after selling more than 60 million worldwide.
43. Metallica‘s Black Album was remixed three times
The album cost more than $1 million to produce and also ended three marriages. The album was recorded between October 1990 and June 1991. It was produced by James Hetfield, Bob Rock and Lars Ulrich. It debuted at number one in 10 countries and spent 4 consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200.
44. The acoustic guitar riff in “No Diggity” comes from a Bill Withers song
The 1996 R&B song featured an altered sample from the beginning of “Grandma’s Hands”. Despite many of the group’s members not liking the song, it ended the “Macarena”‘s 14-week reign atop the Billboard Hot 100.
45. Billy Joel only released in one album in 1990s
That’s 5 less albums than he released in 1980s. He released River of Dreams in 1993. The album cover was a painting by his then-wife Christie Brinkley. The title track reached number 3 in the UK and the USA and number 1 in Australia and New Zealand.
46. Live – Throwing Copper‘s cover is a painting by Peter Howson
The Scottish artist’s painting is titled “Sisters of Mercy”. It has been suggested that the painting explores the themes of betrayal, revenge, and fear and that it shows a group of prostitutes urging a man holding a bible to throw himself off a cliff. The painting was sold for $186,000 by Christie’s in New York in 2005.
47. “Insane In the Brain” was a diss track
According to B-Real the 1993 track was aimed at Chubb Rock. Cypress Hill felt Chubb had ridiculed their style on his 1992 album I Gotta Get Mine Yo.
48. House of Pain‘s name is a reference to an H.G. Wells novel
The hip hop trio made up out of DJ Lethal (who also spins turntables for Limp Bizkit), Everlast (who eventually had a successful solo career) and Danny Boy got their name from the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau.
49. (What’s The Story) Morning Glory was the best selling album in the UK in the 1990s
This 1995 Oasis album has sold more than 22 million copies worldwide. More than 5.1 million copies of the album have been sold in the UK alone.
50. Mariah Carey had 15 Number 1 Singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1990s
The following Mariah Carey songs reached number 1 in the USA:
“Heartbreaker”, “My All”, “Honey”, “Always Be My Baby”, “One Sweet Day” featuring Boyz II Men, “Fantasy”, “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, “Hero”, “Dream Lover”, “I’ll Be There” (featuring Trey Lorenz), “Emotions”, “I Don’t Wanna Cry”, “Someday”, “Love Takes Time” and “Vision Of Love”.
51. Milli Vanilli had to give back the Grammy Award They Won for New Artist in 1990
The German pop duo was forced to give it back after it was discovered that their breakout album (Girl You Know It’s True) featured vocals that didn’t belong to either of them.
Shortly after the controversy, Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan recorded a follow-up album that only sold around 2,000 copies in the USA. I think it’s safe to say their reputation was ruined.
52. Sinead O’Connor caused controversy on Saturday Night Live
On October 3rd, 1992, O’Connor appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Her first performance of the evening went off without a hitch, but it was during her second performance that she made worldwide headlines.
She covered Bob Marley’s classic song “War” in protest over the sexual abuse in the Catholic church, while showing a picture of the Pope to the camera, singing the word “evil” and proceeding to tear the picture to shreds.
Saturday Night Live had no knowledge of her plans for the performance and received thousands of calls from people upset with this.
53. Napster launched in 1999
The music-sharing program had 26.4 million users within only 2 years. It was developed by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker.
54. Nsync owes their name to Justin Timberlake’s mom
Yes folks, Justin Timberlake’s mom came up with this 1990s boy band’s name. It was made up out of the last letter of each band member’s name.
55. “Ice Ice Baby” wasn’t supposed to be a hit
It was originally a B-side, and the song only caught on when a radio DJ (David Morales) played it on a radio station in Georgia in the USA.
“Ice Ice Baby” was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.
The Vanilla Ice song was based on the bassline of “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie. They did not receive songwriting credit or royalties until after the song had become a hit.
56. Freddie Mercury died on the 24th of November 1991
The Queen frontman announced that he had AIDS less than 24 hours before he died. The cause of death was bronchopneumonia (a complication of AIDS).
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was re-released as a single in the year he -died. It’s the only song to top the UK Christmas chart twice and the only one to be number one in four different years (1975, 1976, 1991, and 1992).
57. Kurt Cobain’s MTV Unplugged Sweater was sold for $334,000 in October 2019
Yes folks, that’s how much his green cardigan sweater fetched at an auction. In case you didn’t know, that’s a new record for the most expensive sweater ever sold at an auction
58. Jimi Hendrix’s Fender Stratocaster was sold for $295,000 in 1990
This happened at an auction in London in April 1990. It was the guitar he used to performed his famous version of the “Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock in 1969.
59. Pearl Jam was originally known as Mookie Blaylock
“Mookie Blaylock” played their first show in Seattle in October 1990. They got their name for a professional American Basketball player.
60. Queens of the Stone Age were originally known as Gammy Ray
Josh Homme formed Gammy Ray after his first band Kyuss disbanded in the mid 1990s. A German Power Metal Band (which had the same name) threatened them with a lawsuit, so the band changed their name to Queens of The Stone Age in 1997.
61. The Black Crowes were dropped as an opening act for ZZ Top’s tour in 1991
They were dropped because they repeatedly insulted the tour’s sponsor, Miller Beer.
In more recent news: The Black Crowes recently announced announced a 2020 tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Shake Your Money Maker.
62. Bryan Adams – Waking Up The Neighbours caused controversy in Canada
Although Bryan Adams was one of Canada’s biggest recording stars at the time, the specific nature of his collaboration with non-Canadians, coupled with his decision to primarily record the 1991 album outside Canada. This meant that the album and all its songs were not considered Canadian content for purposes of Canadian radio airplay.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission eventually changed the rules. The new rule allows non-Canadians to contribute up to 50% of the finished content to each of both the music and the lyrics of a recorded piece, and this still qualifies for Canadian content status —provided that the recording artist is Canadian, or the song is recorded in Canada.
63. Savuka dissolved in 1993
The band was originally referred to as Johnny Clegg & Savuka. The band dissolved after percussionist Dudu Zulu was shot and killed while attempting to mediate a taxi war in 1992. Savuka’s song “The Crossing” was written as a tribute to him.
64. 2Pac died in 1996
On September 7, 1996, the rapper was shot four times by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He died six days later and the gunman was never captured. He released 4 studio albums between 1991 and 1996.
65. The Notorious B.I.G. died in 1997
This rapper, songwriter, and actor was killed in drive-by-shooting by an unknown assailant in Los Angeles on the 9th of March 1997. His second album (ironically titled Life After Death)was released 2 weeks later. The album reached number 1 on the Billboard 200.
66. Justin Bieber was born in 1994
Yes folks, the Biebs turned 25 in 2019. He was born in London, Ontario, Canada on the 1st of March 1994. Not that it matters, but his middle name is Drew (in case you did not know).
67. Rage Against The Machine get their name from one of Karl Marx’s speeches
In his speech, the German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary asked people to “rage against the machine”.
68. Jimmy Eat World have been around for longer than you think
The band was formed in Mesa, Arizona in 1993 and actually released three studio albums in the 1990s before becoming pretty popular in the early 2000s.
69. Blink 182 were originally known as Duct Tape
This was even before they were known as Blink. They had to add the “182” part because there was an Irish Pop band who had the same name.
70. Nickelback were originally known as Village Idiot
Village Idiot was originally a cover band who played covers of Led Zeppelin and Metallica songs. The band was formed by brothers Mike and Chad Kroeger with their cousin Brandon Kroeger and Ryan Peake in 1995.
71. Slipknot were originally known as Meld
The band was founded in 1995 in Des Moine, Iowa by percussionist Shawn Crahan, drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray. Corey Taylor only joined Slipknot in 1997. He was recruited from Stone Sour.
72. Snow Patrol were originally known as Shrug
The band was originally formed in early 1994 by college students Gary Lightbody, Mark McClelland, and Michael Morrison in Dundee, Scotland. After this they were briefly known as Polarbear before changing their name to Snow Patrol in 1997.
73. Shirley Manson was part of Angelfish before she joined Garbage
The music video for the Angelfish song “Suffocate Me” was aired once by MTV during 120 Minutes, where it was seen by Garbage co-founder Steve Marker. Manson was asked to join the band and she accepted.
74. The Sopranos Opening theme song is performed by Alabama 3
Their song “Woke Up This Morning” was originally released on their 1997 album Exile on Coldharbour Lane. In case you did not know, Alabama 3 are a British Electronic Band from Brixton.
75. Biffy Clyro were originally known as Skrewfish
The band was formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland in 1995. Guitarist Simon Neil was only 15 years old back then. There were originally 4 members, but one member left the band in 1997.
76. U2 – “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” was a tribute to Frank Sinatra
The most traditionally U2-sounding song on Zooropa is also one of the band’s best, and it was a tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes. The track was also born from the Achtung Baby sessions and was titled “Sinatra,” named after the Edge’s attempt to “summon up the singer’s spirit” with a Tin Pan Alley piano melody.
77. “Zombie” was a protest song
The Cranberries song was written about the 1993 IRA bombing in Warrington, and in memory of two young victims, Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry.
78. Butch Vig did more than just produce Nevermind
Vig also co-produced Siamese Dream and Gish with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. He’s also a member of the band Garbage. Butch was actually the first Garbage vocalist, but was eventually replaced by Shirley Manson (because the band wanted a female lead singer).
79. Nada Surf were originally known as Helicopter
According to Matthew Caws (the lead vocalist of the band) the name change made sense because it’s “actually referring to something much more existential, it’s just surfing on nothing. Being lost in your head or in your imagination but you know, whenever I listen to music I always find myself off somewhere. Somewhere in space. You know, in mental space and it’s a reference to that.”
80. Spin Doctors were originally known as Trucking Company
This was before the New York City based band gained fame for their two singles “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and “Two Princes” in 1992 & 1993.
81. Two music videos were made for Soul Asylum‘s “Runaway Train”
The video for the US version begins with a fade to a black screen with a big, white blocked text reading: “There are over one million youth lost on the streets of America”, while the UK version begins with “100,000 youth are lost on the streets of Britain”.
82. Green Day Have a Fourth Member
The fourth member is Jason White. He’s touring musician with the band since 1999. He officially became a member in 2012. White also happens to be the lead singer of Billie Joe Armstrong’s other band, Pinhead Gunpowder.
83. Nirvana‘s Nevermind and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Blood Sugar Sex Magik were released on the same day
Both albums were released on the 24th of September 1991. To date more than 13 million copies of the Red Hot Chili Peppers album has been sold worldwide. The Nirvana album has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
84. Cher’s “Walking in Memphis” is a cover song
Cher included the song (which was originally written and performed by Marc Cohn) on her 1995 album, It’s A Man’s World. The original was way better than her version (in my humble opinion). The Marc Cohn version was nominated for Song Of The Year at the 1992 Grammy Awards.
85. Bette Midler’s “From A Distance” was a cover song
The song was written by Julie Gold in 1985. Nanci Griffith recorded the first version of the song in 1987. The Bette Midler version was released in 1990 and won the Grammy Award for Song of The Year in 1991.
86. A Note on a piano inspired the Roxette hit “Joyride”
Per Gessle has said that the opening line of the song was inspired by a note his girlfriend (now wife) left on his piano, which read: “Hej, din tok, jag älskar dig” (“Hello, you fool, I love you”).
Its title was derived from an interview in which Paul McCartney compared writing songs with John Lennon to “a long joyride”.
87. Michael Hutchence died on the 22nd of November 1997
The INXS frontman was found dead in his hotel room in Sydney. His death was reported by the New South Wales Coroner to be the result of suicide by hanging.
88. Michael Jackson’s Dangerous has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide
The album has been certified as 8x Platinum in the USA. Dangerous was released in November 1991 and featured “Black And White”, “Remember The Time”, “Jam” and “Heal The World”.
89. Incubus have been around since 1991
The band was formed by vocalist Brandon Boyd, guitarist Mike Einziger, bassist Alex Katunich and drummer José Pasillas, while the members were in high school. They existed as a band for some time without a name and chose the name Incubus when they were required to supply a band name for an upcoming show.
90. The members of Kris Kross were very young when they recorded “Jump”
Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith were only twelve and thirteen years old when they recorded the song in 1991. It was the fastest selling single in fifteen years and stayed on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks in 1992.
91. “Mr Wendal” was written about the plight of the homeless
The 1993 Arrested Development track encourages people not to ignore the homeless just because of their status or how they look, but instead to learn from their non-materialistic lifestyles.
92. “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” only became a hit in the USA in 1993
The Proclaimers song was actually originally released on their 1988 album Sunshine on Leith. In 1993, following its appearance in the American film Benny & Joon, the song was released in North America and many other countries around the world. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA in August 1993.
93. Ace Of Base are the third-most successful Swedish band of all time
The two other Swedish bands / groups are ABBA & Roxette. They hold the third placed thanks to be Happy Nation being one of the best-selling debut albums of all time. It was certified nine times platinum in the USA.
It was the first debut album to produce three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: “All That She Wants”, “The Sign” and “Don’t Turn Around”.
94. Big Mountain’s “Baby I Love Your Way” is a cover song
“Baby I Love Your Way” was originally written and performed by English singer Peter Frampton. It was released in September 1975 and was first featured on Frampton’s 1975 album, Frampton.
95. TLC is actually an acronym for the member’s names
Perri “Pebbles” Reid renamed the group (who were originally called “2nd Nature”). The members names were Tionne, Lisa, and Crystal. Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopez died in a car crash in 2002. Instead of replacing her, the remaining members chose to continue as a duo.
96. Bon Jovi‘s music video for “Always” featured 2 now-famous actresses
The music video featured Keri Russell (famous for her role on Felicity and in other films like August Rush) and Carla Cugino (famous for her role in 2005’s Sin City, 2009’s Watchmen and other films).
97. The lyrics for Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do” is based on a poem
The lyrics for the 1994 song are based on the poem “Fun” by Wyn Cooper. The song earned Cooper considerable royalties, and helped to promote his book. His book was originally published in a run of only 500 copies in 1987. He sold more after the song was released.
98. Desperado‘s score was written and performed by Los Lobos
They performed Chicano rock and traditional Ranchera music for for the 1995 Robert Rodriguez film. Los Lobos gained international stardom in 1987 when their cover version of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” topped the charts in the USA, UK and several other countries.
99. The Alice in Chains album Facelift was the first Grunge album to receive a Gold Certification
The 1990 album featured “We Die Young”, “Man in the Box”, “Sea of Sorrow” and “Bleed the Freak” and to date it has sold more than 2 million copies in the USA alone. It received it’s Gold’s status in 1991.
100. “Sex And Candy” was written in less than half an hour
The song was written by John Wozniak (the lead singer / guitarist of Marcy Playground) in 1992/1993 in his bedroom at 4 AM. “Sex and Candy” stemmed from a moment in the late 1980s when Wozniak was in his girlfriend’s dormitory at Bryn Mawr College.
While he and his girlfriend were having sex in her dorm room, another young woman walked in following coitus interruptus. She said the room smelled like “sex and candy”. The phrase struck Wozniak as “weird and cool.”
101. “Semi-Charmed Life” actually focuses on crystal meth addiction
The 1997 Third Eye Blind song sounds like an easygoing pop song, but it’s actually a pretty serious song. According to lead singer Stephan Jenkins: “It’s a dirty, filthy song about snorting speed and getting blow jobs.”
102. Kyuss disbanded in 1995
Since then, the members of this rock band (which was based in Palm Desert, California) have gone on to form or play in several notable bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Screaming Trees, Fu Manchu, Dwarves, Eagles of Death Metal, Mondo Generator, Hermano, Unida, Slo Burn and Them Crooked Vultures. Josh Homme, John Garcia, Scott Reeder, Alfredo Hernández, Chris Cockrell, Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri were members of Kyuss.
103. Blind Melon‘s music video for “No Rain” featured a girl in a bee costume
The video became immensely popular and the bee girl, played by Heather DeLoach, became an iconic figure associated with the band.
104. The Backstreet Boys‘ opening notes of “I Want It That Way” was inspired by a Metallica song
This is according to co-songwriter Andreas Carlsson, The song in question was “Nothing Else Matters”.
105. East 17 only had one chart-topping hit in the form of “Stay Another Day,”
The track was released in 1994. The arrangement contains almost no drums (something that didn’t really happen to song in the 1990s). To appeal to the Christmas shoppers in December 1994, Christmas bells were added to the song. The single sold close to a million copies in the UK.
106. Jon Bon Jovi’s song “Blaze of Glory” was featured in the movie Young Guns II (a film starring Emilio Estevez)
According to an article in Entertainment Weekly, Jon Bon Jovi wrote the song after borrowing a script from the movie from his friend (Estevez). Jon showed up on the set in New Mexico with an acoustic guitar, and played the song for the film’s screenwriter John Fusco, who had used “Wanted Dead Or Alive” as “Mood Music” while writing the first Young Guns. Jon Bon Jovi played the song for Fusco, who loved it, so he put it in the movie.
107. Alice In Chains Guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote “Would?” for Andrew Wood
Andrew Wood was the lead singer of Mother Love Bone. He was very influential figure in the Seattle music scene. He died of a heroin overdose in 1990. Two of his band mates in Mother Love Bone, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, went on to form Pearl Jam.
108. Nirvana‘s “Polly”is about the actual kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl
In 1987, she was returning from a concert in Tacoma, Washington when she was abducted by a man named Gerald Friend. He took her back to his mobile home and raped her. The girl, whose name was not released, was tortured with a whip, a razor, and a blowtorch. She managed to escape when Friend took her for a ride and stopped for gas. He was arrested and sent to jail.
109. “Under The Bridge” was originally just a poem that Anthony Kiedis wrote
He didn’t write it for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was a very personal poem that he thought he might use somewhere else. Their producer Rick Rubin found it in one of his notebooks and told Anthony that it could be a great song. At first, he didn’t want to sing it or share it with anyone, but he eventually came around. The song is about Keidis’ days as a heroin addict and the loneliness that went with it. The bridge mentioned in the song is a place where he sometimes went to buy drugs and get high.
110. Hanson‘s “MMMbop” is surprisingly profound lyrically
According to Hanson Drummer Zac Hanson “What that song talks about is, you’ve got to hold on to the things that really matter. MMMBop represents a frame of time or the futility of life. Things are going to be gone, whether it’s your age and your youth, or maybe the money you have, and all that’s going to be left are the people you’ve nurtured and have really built to be your backbone and your support system.”
Well, there you have it, 110 Interesting 1990s Music Facts That You Might Not Have Known. If you have a 1990s music that belongs on this list, feel free to leave a comment below. Feedback is appreciated and welcome here.
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